01.11.2015 Banana farm, Atherton Tablelands, corrupt agency

Corrupt agency? Working in Walkamin

Tonight we arrived in Atherthon or Walkamin at our accommodation for the job on the banana farm. First impression was very good, we have our own room, WiFi, and a small gym. We live here in a house with two other guys (an Italian and a German) and a girl (a Finn). According to the agency, we should start work today (Monday). Jack, the actual farmer, received us very nicely and showed us everything. So far, so good... Jack told us that we have to pay $210 per person per week for rent and $200 bond. The agency told us that there is no bond -.-. Well, we will get the bond back, so not a big deal. Then Jack told us that Jenny will start working on Monday, but he doesn't know when he will have work for Mike. (As the agency said, we both can start on Monday)

When we talked to Jacob, Hannah, and Nico (the people we share the house with), a lot of things came to light. The agency only arranges the accommodation and the "actual farmer" Jack is just the owner of the accommodation. Jack arranges jobs on the farms around here, which means that we may not even work on the same farm. Hannah also told us that she sometimes only works 11 hours per week. (not the promised 40 hours by the agency) The problem is, if we only work 11 hours per week, that also means not many days and therefore we won't accumulate our days for the second visa quickly. We were already so afraid that we would have to pay $420 for rent and not even earn that much in a week... So we decided to approach the matter without prejudice and Jenny's work started on Monday. The evening was very cozy, we all watched TV together (of course in English) and communicating in English is honestly no problem anymore. =)=)