Mildura Fruit Picking

Arrived in Mildura for my grape picking job. Northwest of Victoria, Mildura is famous for its large production of grapes - providing 80% of Victoria's grapes - and a major producer of citrus fruits.

Our dorm room on the grape farm. 

On our first break day my roommates and I went to the supermarket for some groceries for the rest of the week. Since between us and the backpackers in the other room there is only one car for us to drive, we were forced to take a two-hour walk to town as the other group had taken the car.

As soon as we reached the bifurcation point at the end of the pathway of our dormitory, one of my roommates said, "maybe we should turn back; it's not too late".

Maybe we should go back and call for a taxi, I pondered.

"What other options are there? Taxi is way too expensive for us." Another backpacker read my mind.

I had no idea what had taken over us when we decided to take a two-hour walk in a 35°C day; though at that time we didn't really have a choice.

During the walk we had plenty of time to get to know each other better, as this was still the second day of our jobs. I learned about each of their places of origin and the local culture. Three of my roommates are from Taiwan, while the other is from Hong Kong. One of them - 右右 is from Taiwan I-Lan (宜蘭). Their local culture involves an annual festival called International Children's Folklore and Folkgame Festival (宜蘭國際童玩藝術節), in which children from various places of the world gather together and perform their individual cultural dances. "It is fantastic to see a variety of different cultures gathered together to perform. It's also a great chance to do many water activities you otherwise couldn't."

I explained to him traditional Hong Kong festivals such as the annual Cheung Chau Bun Festival (包山節), in which contestants have to climb a mountain of buns to collect buns for points.

We bought simple ingredients for the following week. These included cabbage, rice, eggs, carrots, chicken drumsticks, green beans and a bag of frozen veggies; which encompasses all six essential nutrients of a meal - carbohydrates, protein, fat, minerals, vitamins and water.

Our dinner for the first night. 

Cooking for yourself when traveling is the easiest way to save money and eat according to your own flavour palette. For the second night we made use of our drumsticks by slow cooking it in a pan with sweet garlic sauce with soy sauce and two packs of instant soups plus some green beans and carrots.

We shared travel stories over the dinner table (or coffee table) and had a great time making new friends. Working together with these irreplaceable people will surely make this an enjoyable experience.