Has anyone heard of WWOOF? Hi there,
I am wondering if anyone has heard of or knows anything about WWOOF? It stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms. This program is when someone works on a farm. In return for a full day’s work, the owner of the farm gives the worker a place to stay and feeds them. It’s basically a work exchange program and can last from several days to months.
I’m a college student from the United States and I love to travel. I’ve been to Australia and it was spectacular. I recently got to do a conservation program through Conservation Volunteers New Zealand. I picked New Zealand because I’ve never been there before. But I probably should have picked to do a project in Australia instead because I’d eventually like to live there some day. No offense to New Zealand; I just really liked Australia!
CVNZ was amazing and a great cause, but it was a bit pricey. It cost me nearly $2,000 to do the project plus the airfare (another $1,200) to get over there. I’d love to do another project but I’m a college student–not like I have a ton of money! But I’d really like some experience in Australia rather than just being a tourist if one day I try to immigrate. I’m perfectly fine for buying a plane ticket and working for my keep–room and board. I see it as a reward for getting to be in Australia. Having to pay for the project to do volunteer work makes it difficult. People over here also thought I was crazy to pay so much money to go work for free; they gave me strange looks when I told them about the program.
I’m looking for any feedback you can give me on WWOOF and whether or not you think it is a good program. I’d also very much appreciate any other advice on volunteer projects if you know of any other programs. Thank you!
Have you considered coming over on a working holiday visa. You can do casual work, like in hospitality or retail and get paid. You do need to pay your own accomodation but there is plenty of good hostels around. This sort of work pays around $20 a hour so you can easily survive on it if you work a couple of days a week. You will also get days off to go and actually see the place. You could start in Sydney and travel to Melbourne or any where you like. The only rules are you must be under 35 and can only work for one employer for a max of 6 months.
It has an excellent reputation and allows you to see a country without having to pay exorbitant accommodation fees. There is also a variety of jobs available not all of them are manual labour.
I assume you have looked at what is on offer in Australia on their web site?
I have had experience with Conservation Volunteers as well. The Hindmarsh Island Landcare have a team come and help us once a year on our Murray Mouth Restoration Project. We get such a great bunch of people through the program. There has been 100,000 trees planted in 7 years on the island and a lot is because people like you come and volunteer and help out. It is all very much appreciated.
I have had a look at this website a couple of times in the past, and it seems like a good idea to me. If I were in a more convenient location I would be happy to have someone stay and help with gardening etc. Trouble is, a lot of us don’t really live too close to public transport. References :
I agree with Mel that you should get a 12 month Work and Holiday visa. You can work wherever you wish at any type of job and the only restriction is that you can’t work for longer than 6 months for any one employer. http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/working-holiday/462/index.htm
If you are under 26 then a work visa might be the way to go as a lot of the backpacker hostels will find work for you and also tranport to and from work.
The work is mainly farm work ie picking tomatoes melons or whatever is in season. References :
February 22nd, 2010 | 
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Has anyone heard of WWOOF?
Hi there,
I am wondering if anyone has heard of or knows anything about WWOOF? It stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms. This program is when someone works on a farm. In return for a full day’s work, the owner of the farm gives the worker a place to stay and feeds them. It’s basically a work exchange program and can last from several days to months.
I’m a college student from the United States and I love to travel. I’ve been to Australia and it was spectacular. I recently got to do a conservation program through Conservation Volunteers New Zealand. I picked New Zealand because I’ve never been there before. But I probably should have picked to do a project in Australia instead because I’d eventually like to live there some day. No offense to New Zealand; I just really liked Australia!
CVNZ was amazing and a great cause, but it was a bit pricey. It cost me nearly $2,000 to do the project plus the airfare (another $1,200) to get over there. I’d love to do another project but I’m a college student–not like I have a ton of money! But I’d really like some experience in Australia rather than just being a tourist if one day I try to immigrate. I’m perfectly fine for buying a plane ticket and working for my keep–room and board. I see it as a reward for getting to be in Australia. Having to pay for the project to do volunteer work makes it difficult. People over here also thought I was crazy to pay so much money to go work for free; they gave me strange looks when I told them about the program.
I’m looking for any feedback you can give me on WWOOF and whether or not you think it is a good program. I’d also very much appreciate any other advice on volunteer projects if you know of any other programs. Thank you!
Have you considered coming over on a working holiday visa. You can do casual work, like in hospitality or retail and get paid. You do need to pay your own accomodation but there is plenty of good hostels around. This sort of work pays around $20 a hour so you can easily survive on it if you work a couple of days a week. You will also get days off to go and actually see the place. You could start in Sydney and travel to Melbourne or any where you like. The only rules are you must be under 35 and can only work for one employer for a max of 6 months.
Look into in http://www.immi.gov.au
References :
I have friends who WWOOF all around the world.
It has an excellent reputation and allows you to see a country without having to pay exorbitant accommodation fees. There is also a variety of jobs available not all of them are manual labour.
I assume you have looked at what is on offer in Australia on their web site?
I have had experience with Conservation Volunteers as well. The Hindmarsh Island Landcare have a team come and help us once a year on our Murray Mouth Restoration Project. We get such a great bunch of people through the program. There has been 100,000 trees planted in 7 years on the island and a lot is because people like you come and volunteer and help out. It is all very much appreciated.
References :
I have had a look at this website a couple of times in the past, and it seems like a good idea to me. If I were in a more convenient location I would be happy to have someone stay and help with gardening etc. Trouble is, a lot of us don’t really live too close to public transport.
References :
I agree with Mel that you should get a 12 month Work and Holiday visa. You can work wherever you wish at any type of job and the only restriction is that you can’t work for longer than 6 months for any one employer.
http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/working-holiday/462/index.htm
You could intersperse paid work with volunteer work if you like. I’m not too sure how I’d feel about paying to work for free on someone’s commercial farm for nothing more than room and board, but there will be plenty of volunteer wildlife and nature conservation work here.
http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Individual/Volunteer/Volunteerforaconservationexperience.htm
References :
If you are under 26 then a work visa might be the way to go as a lot of the backpacker hostels will find work for you and also tranport to and from work.
The work is mainly farm work ie picking tomatoes melons or whatever is in season.
References :