If you’re thinking that the name of this little town on Australia’s east coast sounds a little bit like a popular rum brand that you’ve had of an evening, you’d pretty much be totally right.

The area around Bundaberg is famous for the Bundaberg rum distillery and watching sea turtles lay eggs. I did neither of these.

I went to this town in search of farm work – and I certainly found it.

I spent 9 hours a day sitting on a strange machine that moved through rows and rows of tomato plants, whilst I continually picked the little red buggers as fast as I could. All the while a brick toilet house sized lesbian farmer shouted at me to “GO FASTER OR GO HOME”. This is not necessarily the image of Australia that their tourist board wishes to promote, but it is one of my overriding ones.

After the lesbian farmer experience the farm jobs I did seemed a little less stressful. They were all done in the baking Queensland heat, however and they all lead to me meeting loads of people.

Some people go to Australia to work in one of the cities, but for me, farm work really gave a taste of the Australian landscape – the shear scale of it. Where else could wake up in a tent, bleary eyes, clutching your peach tree climbing ladder, to steal upon a huge kangaroo hopping through the morning mist?

And the fruit tasted pretty amazing too. Peaches picked straight from the tree are almost reason enough to get a job picking them. Hard work, but when you sup on your first evening Victoria Bitter – you know that for once, you’ve earned it.

If you’re considering getting a working visa for Australia, I strongly advise working out in the countryside. You’ll meet some great people, bump into some nasty spiders, ants and snakes, make some money – see kangaroos, possums and lesbian farmers – and get a really good tan. And Bundaberg is a great place to begin, as it is an agricultural hub.