After receiving my White Card and Bupa card, I said goodbye to my lovely Korean roommate and old Serbian gentleman. I took a taxi and arrived in a town called Murray Bridge early Saturday morning, waiting for my new colleague to pick me up. A half-hour passed, and I saw a white ute with olive bottles sign parked at the train station. A 21-year-old boy waved at me with a timid smile. He took me to the supermarket to buy food, then drove me to the olive farm in Coonalpyn.
On the way to the farm, I chatted with him casually, asking him about his life after getting off work and on weekends. He replied with a smile: "Playing games, fishing...... I went to Bendigo to hang out with my friends last week. I accidentally stepped on a pool of gasoline that was on fire, and almost burned my shoes!"
"Okay." I thought to myself, this person is too cute.
南澳氣候環境 | 在真沙漠中重新認知荒涼的定義
Coonalpyn is a small town of just over 200 people located at the edge of a desert. The name of the town comes from the Aboriginal language. It was one of the routes for transporting gold mines during the Victorian Gold Rush in the early days. Now, the whole area produces various crops, such as wheat, barley, canola, beans, and peas. There are endless grain fields along the road, also a Silo in the town, which is specially used for farmers to store grain and transport it to other parts of Australia. The Silo of Coonalpyn has a giant mural served as a local sightseeing spot.
The olive grove is about 12.32 square kilometers, with more than 70,000 olive trees planted, and the land has a sandy texture.影片The video was taken by me standing on a hill in an olive grove. The climate in winter wasn't very stable. Sometimes it can rain for the whole day, or it can rain for 5 minutes. The work might be suspended for a while if the rain is too heavy. The rain could cause chainsaws to break down and staff to catch a cold. There are also wild kangaroos, glas, emus, brown snakes, and spiders in the grove from time to time.
橄欖園生活起居 | 住起來比大學宿舍舒服太多
I live in a single trailer with a bed, chair, lamp, and desk. There are communal kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms in the shed. Every Friday my colleague will drive me to Coles in Murray Bridge to buy food. Occasionally, the boss will invite employees to Coonalpyn Hotel for Schnitzel Night.
My favorite thing in the shed is the washing machine. I had no experience using a good washing machine in a rental house in Taiwan before. Top-loading washing machines are much more common in Taiwan. There are not many functions to choose from and are often broken.
The kitchen provides dishes, tableware, and all kinds of kitchen utensils, just like all the backpackers I have stayed before.
橄欖園工作內容 | 強迫症患者的福音
我原先以為我是來採收橄欖……抵達以後我才知道要修剪橄欖枝。管理員把員工分成女子組與男子組，女生會使用電剪剪小棵的橄欖樹，男生則會使用電鋸鋸大棵的樹。前兩週我跟著同事用電剪剪枝，後來我自願去幫忙男生砍樹。電鋸工作比電剪好玩但也非常危險，需要配戴更多防護裝備，第一個禮拜工作也會強制配戴從腰到腳踝的護腿。
電鋸比電剪需要更多的技術，大約每砍一小時就需要重新加一次機油與潤滑油。有時候角度不對或是砍到鐵絲，鏈條會脫落或嚴重磨損。電鋸本身也很重，大約4公斤、啟動不易，使用上起來需要花非常大的力氣。初期我常常需要請同事幫我啟動，後來我終於學會快速啟動，非常開心。
每天早上會有一個同事開車帶我們到定點工作（見影片），有時會遇到大量的綿羊。養在橄欖園的綿羊主要是協助吃雜草，季節到了也會需要剃毛。
一天大約有兩次的休息時間，澳洲人都叫休息時間Smoko。半小時的午餐時間大家會聚在一個地點一起吃午餐聊天，吃完再回去上班。平常我會帶自己做的炒飯、三明治、墨西哥捲餅或飯糰，休息時間會喝點果汁或餅乾。
時薪其實蠻好的，一小時30元澳幣。雖然工時不太穩定，但是薪水已經讓我繳掉很多初期準備來澳的花費，以及過去在台灣尚未付清的電腦課程帳單。其他的福利就是會長滿肌肉，如果有強迫症的話，砍完一排樹會覺得很療癒。
橄欖園的同事 | 認真工作的人在哪裡都讓人欽佩
我很喜歡當地的澳洲同事，其中一個同事T還在我生日的時候買蘋果派給我吃。她有自己的小農場，白天她在橄欖園上班，下班又回到自家的農場照顧各種牲畜，是個工作非常認真的年輕人。
反而後面歐洲來的背包客每天都在抱怨工作跟澳洲的食物，煩不勝煩，兩個月後我無奈地辭職了。管理員便詢問我願不願意到一小時車程外的另一個橄欖園繼續幫他工作，我就搬到了另一個鎮Keith。
在Keith的同事幾乎都是純樸熱情的澳洲當地人，所以我適應得很好，工作了又一個月，我終於集完了第二年的簽證。
感謝閱讀到這裡的你。
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