Sunny Day Jobs
Sun Herald
Sunday November 18, 2001
Summer's almost here and there are plenty of seasonal jobs around, Matthew Benns reports.
FOR SOME people it is just a summer job for others it is a way of life. Every Sunday during the summer Matthew Rose drives his boat around Sydney Harbour, selling ice creams to boaties and beach-goers.
``I was driving water taxis while I was at uni when the chance came up to buy the ice cream boat as a business for $12,000," he said.
Rose, now 29, jumped at the chance and the work through the summer has funded his studies, as well as indirectly opening some doors to his future career.
``I usually put the boat in at midday on a Sunday and come back in at 6pm," he said. ``The sweet tooth normally kicks in after lunch when people are a bit sunburnt and dehydrated. I head to the national parks and the northern harbour beaches. On a good day I can have 20 people lined up at the front of the boat waiting for ice creams."
When he began he faced a problem with local councils, particularly Mosman, which disputed his right to approach the beaches. The matter went to court, but was dropped before it was resolved. ``Now I just leave those beaches alone there are plenty of other places to go," Rose said.
On an average Sunday afternoon in summer Rose sells $1,000 worth of ice creams from his boat, which will net him a profit close to $600. ``But on the big days like New Year's Eve and Australia Day, I can sell 4,000 ice creams in 12 hours and make $3,500."
Mr Rose's boat has been equipped by Streets, which provided the freezer and sells him ice creams at a discount. It keeps a strict cap on the number of ice cream boats it endorses.
``All I needed was a boat licence and a loud Mambo shirt and I was in business," Rose said.
``It is important to have good boat-handling skills and some insurance, because some of the yachts you are driving up to are worth more than$1 million."
Rose had taken an environmental studies degree, but his constant contact with boats began to crystallise into the idea that he could make a career out of his summer work.
``I have passed my Masters V boating licence and this year am going for a dive master qualification," Rose said.
``The idea is that I can keep working in boats with these qualifications. Most of us get into the marine industry so we can just chase the summer many of my friends have worked in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. I would now like to spend my life working in endless summer."
Rose also takes tourists to sea on a dive boat, skippers larger craft for private owners and works as a boat wrangler for TV shows including Water Rats, The Bill and most recently the British production of Cold Feet in Sydney.
As his qualifications have increased, so have his opportunities for travel and for well-paid summer work.
``I was just offered a job on Hayman Island as the water sports co-ordinator, but after food and accommodation was taken out I was only left with $300 a week and that was just not enough," Rose said.
But for many people not looking to make a career out of a summer job, that would be an ideal job.
The author of Work Around Australia, David Sheehan, said: ``There are a variety of options open to people after a seasonal job in Australia."
The first category includes the hospitality industry. ``In summer, cafes and restaurants need staff and resorts need all sorts of workers including all those people in the background such as cleaners," Sheehan said.
Then there is the option of working with children on a children's summer camp, as a swimming teacher or as a council lifeguard at a pool or beach, all jobs which require a bronze level lifesaving qualification.
Other options include work on farms as a fruit picker or volunteer work, which gives people experience but no money.
``Organic farms have an organisation where they ask people to work three or four hours a day in return for board and lodging," Sheehan said.
``It is a sensational way of seeing the country without it costing any money."
People who possessed skills and qualifications should also use them during the summer months, Sheehan said.
``In the six weeks after Christmas many white collar workers go on holiday, so firms that don't shut down need people for data entry and administration work," he said.
WORK FOR THE PICKING
Summer workers can follow the harvest trail across NSW:
* Batlow: 2,000 apple and pear pickers needed between December and May.
* Bourke: 1,000 cotton chippers needed from April to May and 400 for the grape harvest from December to February.
* Griffith: Up to 10,000 pickers and pruners needed all year round for a wide variety of crops from lemons to onions.
* Leeton: Orange harvest begins in December and requires 800 pickers while the grape harvest in February needs another 500.
* Narrabri: Australia's cotton capital needs 2,000 people for all stages of the cotton process between September and February.
* Orange: 1,500 apple pickers needed in March and April and 500 cherry pickers in December.
* Young: 4,000 pickers are needed in December for the cherry harvest and 600 to pick prunes in February and March.
More information is available in Work Around Australia published by Global Exchange or on the internet at www.travelalternatives.com.au.
© 2001 Sun Herald