The first Ekka was held in 1876 and was primarily an agricultural show. Today, the Ekka is still the greater Brisbane area’s biggest annual agricultural fair where farmers bring their best cattle, horses, chickens, sheep, and everything else you can find on a farm to compete in shows. There are also competititons for the best and largest fruit and veg, agricultural display competitions, and horticulture exhibitions. The whole thing takes place over a week and to describe everything that goes on there would take forever and a half.
Tag Archives: Brisbane
Manual vs. Automatic
I had thought that most car rental companies rent automatic-drive vehicles, but I was very much mistaken. Some campervan rental companies (ex. Hippie) only rent manual-drive vehicles. Other campervan rental companies (ex. Wicked Campers) have both, but the majority of their vehicles are manual-drive. You can request an automative-drive vehicle, but they might not have enough to go around so give them lots of notice if you require automatic-drive.
Deja Vu
It’s 9:08am and I’m clicking refresh on the Island Reef Job site every 30 seconds. I wonder how rich I’d be if I got a $1 from every time I refreshed the page this year. I’d probably be able to afford an Island Caretaker lifestyle for a month.
2 Degrees in Brisbane
Do I think it’s worth it for you to join Twitter? Well, that depends. I like to compare Twitter to a telephone. If you’re going to use it on a regular basis and you like communicating with others on it, then it’s a great idea. If you plan on joining simply because you heard it’s the thing to do (*cough* *cough* Sheep! *cough*) and you don’t really like the idea of having all your thoughts out there for the world to criticize, or you don’t plan on using it very often, then joining Twitter is a waste of your time.
Virgin Broadband is My Friend
As you may have noticed, I’ve been MIA for the past few weeks after I left Sarah’s place because the apartment I’ve been staying at doesn’t have internet. It has been driving me INSANE. Seriously, frickin’ INSANE.
Remembering My First Week in Oz / Looking for Work
Tips for Working Travellers in Oz:
1. Prepare your CV in A4 size paper — they don’t use letter size here
2. If you’re applying for a position in hospitality, keep the CV to a one-page maximum
3. You shouldn’t pay more than $0.35 per page for CV printing. Some hostels will print for free.
4. Dress to impress — Sure, you can dress casually to apply for a server position, but that’s what all the other backpackers do. Bring one really nice interview outfit with you and wear it when you apply for jobs to stand out.
5. Don’t just ask the guy at the job desk where to find work. Talk to the guys at reception to find out how they got jobs, talk to your bunkmates, and sometimes even just talking to random people on the street will get you somewhere.
6. Most popular job sites for backpackers in Australia: Seek, and CareerOne.
7. Try applying for jobs through hospitality recruitment agencies like Zenith Hospitality. Not only will they find you work, but they’ll train you and give you tips on how to work in Australia as well.
8. If you’re looking for work as a server, you will need an RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) certification to work in a place that serves alcohol. Each Australian state requires a different RSA and it costs between $60 to $100 AU to take the course. If you’re a student in Brisbane, the cheapest place to get certified is through Queensland Hotels Association ($60). If you’re not a student, you should be able to find a place that can get you certified for $80 (ex. Peter Pans Adventure Travel advertises that it can arrange for an RSA for $80).
9. Be persistent and confident. Oftentimes, recruitment agencies and hiring managers will tell you that there’s this or that reason why they can’t hire you (ex. ” you don’t have any hospitality experience” or “you don’t have an RSA certification”). Tell them you’re a fast learner, book your RSA course if you haven’t already and tell them the date of the course (legally, they can hire you so long as you take your RSA within 30 days of working), reinforce the message that you’ll work hard, and keep your word.
10. You’ll need a bank account for your workplace to deposit your pay. Companies in Australia typically don’t write paycheques that you deposit manually. It takes less than a half hour to set up a bank account and they can send your bank card to the post office in the city if you don’t have a mailing address. The main banks in Australia are ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB, and Westpac.
The Tim Tam Tasting Challenge
I call it a tasting because I bought every type of Tim Tam available at the store. I call it a challenge because eating that many Tim Tams IS a challenge.
The Best Part of Travelling
Some people say the food, others the art or the culture, and some would even respond with the sights and the sounds, but for me, the best part of travelling is the people. Hands down. No question about it. You could have the best food on earth, but without someone to share it with, it just doesn’t taste the same.
Best Job in the World Follow-Up
Marcella, Erik and I got to spend some quality time in Vancouver and we were able to chat with Mitch and Linda on Skype video a few months ago too. This week I was able to meet two more of the Top 50 candidates for the Best Job in the World (James and Greg), as well as everyone from Tourism Queensland! 
This Will Make You Jealous
One of the first things I did in Brisbane was visit the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary with my bunk mates Mark and Faz (they’re both really great by the way).
Lone Pine is very interactive. You can feed, pet and play with the kangaroos, hug a koala, chase after the turkeys that loiter about the place, be chased by an emu, and see flocks of lorikeets and even a peacock up close without cages or fences inbetween. You can’t call this place a zoo. It’s more like a park where you’re guaranteed an up close and personal encounter. Their shows are also both educational and entertaining (which is a hard combo to come by) and I think kids and adults alike would like them.