HELP OUT’S…..What are they.
We first stumbled upon the idea of what we call a ‘HELP OUT’ quite by chance.
Still relatively new to the idea of travelling around Australia, we ended up in Margaret River probably at what was the busiest time of the year to be there. Christmas and New Year.
With no accommodation booked, and having no idea that most Western Australians pre-book their caravan accommodation years in advance, we were struggling to find somewhere to stay.
Parked in a rest area we commenced looking for accommodation options. They were few and limited, especially for a big rig. The only place that had a vacancy was unable to fit us in due to our size, so just before leaving the area after only 1 day, we thought of asking a local fellow traveler if they knew of any alternate accommodation options. We looked on some of the caravanning forums, and made contact with a very generous local lady.
We explained our situation to her; stranded – no accommodation availability- as a caravanner, did she know of any places we could stay for a day or two?
Her reply took us quite by surprise. “I don’t know of anywhere apart from the local caravan parks, but why don’t you come out to our place. We have 35 acres and plenty of room.”
I explained to her our situation; huge bus- two kids, and a mother who was currently tagging along for the next week. But, this did not matter to her, she insisted, so we went out to have a look.
We arrived at a magnificent 35 acre vineyard, about 15 minutes out of Margaret River at Cowaramup, which is another great little village in this magnificent area, and as the name suggests, they love their cows.
Our hosts, Ross & Carolyn were there to greet us, and showed us to our parking spot. As we were fully self-sufficient, including our power, we picked prime spot in the top paddock, overlooking the vines and dams.
Our intention was to spend a few days looking around the area, then head off, very grateful to our new hosts. However, things didn’t quite pan out that way.
After a day or so, it became evident to us that the owners of this property could do with a helping hand. It was approaching harvest time, and the vines needed watering, there were also other farm chores and machinery that needed attention.
As our hosts were so generous to us, we offered to return their kindness by assisting them if we were able. They humbly accepted, and we set to work on the first task, which was repairing the water pump for the irrigation system. Within a few hours, we had the pump working again and then set about clearing the lines.
Chuffed with my efforts, and thoroughly enjoying the farm life, we were preparing to leave, when our hosts actually suggested we should not rush off as there was so much more of the area to see.
We decided to stay a little longer, on the proviso that we could help them out further. We spent the following week’s thoroughly enjoying not only the Margaret River area and its surrounds, but also getting to know our hosts better. We also helped out with more farm work, including clearing paddocks, repairing farm machinery, and general maintenance. The kids even got involved, which was a great education about farm life for them.
We struck up a great friendship with our hosts and would often share meals and swap stories. When Carolyn had to leave for a week away in Perth, she asked us to stay on longer. With Ross’s heath a little frail at the time, she felt more comfortable leaving him with company. We readily agreed, which gave us the chance to get a bit more farm work done and drive Ross into town when needed.
This experience was probably one of the most rewarding experience we had on our trip.
Not only did we get to meet some great people that have become lifelong friends, we got to help out in a positive way, and hopefully made a difference to Ross & Carolyn, if only for a short while. Although, we probably got more out of the experience than they did; we got to stay in the area longer, got to meet quite a few locals, got guided tours of the area and its history, the kids got to experience farm life and learn about the hardships and toils on the land. It also opened our eyes to some of the trial and tribulations of life on the land.
This whole experience got us to thinking, about the plight of farmers around Australia, and in particular how we could help. We realized there were thousands of nomads just like us on the road, and all looking for somewhere to stay, and adventures that are a little different.
This is why we introduced out HELP OUT section to our Directory, to give others out there an avenue where they can let travelers know they need a helping hand, and for travelers to be able to find them.
So if you are a farmer, or anyone for that matter in need of assistance, please register on our directory let some of our travelling nomads give you a helping hand. There are no costs involved, we would just ask you provide our members with a place to park their Motorhome or Caravan in exchange for a few hours help.
Or if you are a traveler and are looking for someone to help out, head on over to the Help Out section of the directory to find a list of people in need of assistance.
View Our Help Outs
If you would like to help out, visit our directory to view our available help outs. CLICK HERE
Register Your Help
If you would like to list your property to get some help on your property, please place your listing in our directory. CLICK HERE
The idea is excellent, helping people out on the big Stations. However fencing is very heavy work in hot dry conditions and often miles from the homestead so you would be looking at more than two hours work a day in return for a spot to drop. I think it would be fairer if the deal offered free tucker. The Woofer system operates with half a day’s work for free accommodation and food and is very successful. However if the farm is struggling to support itself then it’s a different story – help is needed urgently.
The Woofer program does work well and I have had some wonderful friendships and help. However, the majority of Woofers are young people who although usually strong and willing, have very little farm experience, so they need to be trained. Also they often don’t have transport so need to be taxied, so it can take up valuable time.
The Help Out program is much more appropriate and I commend you for instigating it.