Alan Southport QLD replied:

Well you are certainly crazy for even posting something like this on this forum...

roofscooter2 replied:

the mind boggles doesn't it .lo.

Lone Wolf replied:

I guess it all boils down to...

What skills do you have?
What skills are you willing to learn?
What do the people need or want in the areas you are frequenting?

If you have a transient trade, by which I mean, you don't need a lot of tools, or a workshop, like say... a Sign Writer, then you've got a leg in.

If you are a Welder, or a Fitter & Turner, then you've got to rely on existing plant to turn a buck.

Arts & Crafts can get...meh....

You want to be able to turn a couple of hundred bucks a day, without carting a whole lot of stock with you, which really brings you back to a hired gun I guess.

Cheers

Wolfie

russ36 replied:

on the back of my alloy tray i have a piece of ply that i use to temporarily hang the outboard for very short journeys or engine flushing. it also displays my uhf channel. on the last trip that involved a fair bit of stays in diff locations i contemplated writing our occupations CARPENTER/HAIRDRESSER on the board but decided that i wasnt real keen on working on my holiday.....perhaps if finances were a bit tight it may be worthwhile for some

Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) replied:

What about seasonal work, local pubs can tell you where to get work, as mentioned above, if you have some manual skills, you can get work helping local farmers,,, ask the local publican... he knows everything. Michael.

Member - Crazy Dog (QLD) replied:

Thanks people for the input - yes you are correct about "long holidays" - gets a bit rough without loot.... I guess I will find something to help...

I guess some people are blessed with heaps other just have piles.......

Bega Photographer replied:

Well, when at Andamooka last winter I went out to the tip to see what I might find. You never know what you might find at the tip, especially at a place like Andamooka.

There was this gentleman there, a little older than myself, also looking to see what he might find. He drove a beat up old Holden Premiere with rust protruding through the torn, vinal clad roof.

We struck up a conversation and he told me of his exploits doing just what you would like to do.

He and his wife spend the six cooler months digging opal at Andamooka and the warmer (read hot) months making jewelry and selling it around the markets in his area. He came from the Ayre Peninsular from memory, or somewhere down that way.

He told me how his wife can divine opal and how they got a dozer out to Yarloo, making several hundred thousand dollars for the season. That was eight years ago.

Then he told me how, over the intervening time, he's sunk it all back into the ground trying to find more, with only minimal success.

His story had the ring of truth to it. Adding to the authenticity, he showed me, from the boot of the car, specimines of different kinds of opal and peices he had finished and mounted, with price tags on.

So there you go: get yourself a pick, a shuvel and a canvas waterbag. That's all you need to carry. You hire the dozer or excavator on site.

Happy traveling and don't work too hard.

Wilderness Landscape Photography

Regards,
Laurie.

jo and mark replied:

What about fruit picking? It is seasonal, big days but from what I heard when a friend did it she made big dollars, and lost a heck of a lot of weight in the process!

Truckster (Vic) replied:

Pickup acorns, and laquer them, you always see garbage like that at them junk markets.

cakes, scones, bikkies, etc.. but outlay to make may defeat the purpose.

Fruit pickin is the go

techie replied:

one way I subsidise my lifestyle is teaching the queens english.
A lot of foreigners, especially asians, wish to learn the real meaning of sentences, and how correct grammar is used.
Most can say a sentence, but cannot make it easily understandable by Australians.
I therefore teach enunciation, ie the difference between
whats that on the road ahead? and
whats that on the road, a head.
2 people at a time, $10 per hour each.
Easy.
Techie.

D-Jack replied:

my Grandma sticks fuzzy bits and eyes to the top of pencils, and when you twirl them in between your palms the hair goes every direction. What am I doing, I just gave away a potential market which could have made me millions..............

Willem replied:

We spent close on 5 years on the road doing just that.

I made craft items out of MDF, my wife painted them and we sold them at markets. After two years we started wholesaleing, selling to shops.

When we gave the travelling away(temporarily) at the end of '99 we had 175 customers in 5 states, had travelled 260,000km and had seen a lot of country. We stopoped because we were tired and the Viscount caravan had fallen to bits lol

If you want any tips you can contact me through my website below and I should be able to help.

Cheers

Member - Frank replied:

the key is time to spend on road I have met several couples travling round aus working in remote places when staff are hard to get

there is a company in western aus thats specilies in this type of employment I belive they rotate couples around different sites to eaze the bordem

being an old statation man myself I intend to do holiday relief on stations when retire board and fuel to next stop as most cant afford to pay much and the best way to see the land is run the places where it is you see more

Member - Melissa replied:

Crazy Dog,

You can certainly supplement your income very nicely from the markets if you can come up with a good idea. After my folks retired with nothing more than a pension, they travelled Aust. for 13 years solid. Their pension basically paid for their groceries and HBF cover; markets paid for everything else. For many years when markets were at the height of their popularity and M&D had the good health and energy to capitalise on it, they made a very nice living indeed - many a week they netted more than I did working 40 hours. We used to meet up with the folks in Darwin, Broome, up and down the Qld coast etc for years so I spent a lot of time hanging out at the markets with them. Apart from the income, they developed a lovely network of "market" friends, all travelling around doing the same as themselves. They spent most of the winter months split between Broome and Darwin where they did the Broome and Mindil Beach markets. Rest of the year they just did markets wherever they happened to be travelling (usually found out about markets in advance from other market holders or information centres). Also, you'd be amazed how much stuff they used to sell in the CVP to other travellers who's curiousity often drew them over th M7D caravan to see what it was they were working on, then word of mouth...

So what did they sell? Well all sorts of things. Mum is great at sewing so initially she made shirts, skirts, boardshorts etc. Dad just helped out. Later they met a man who made glass earings and pendants using crystal glass shaped under an oxy flame (same as glass blowers use). This man taught dad and even though his early efforts left a bit to be desired, he still managed to sell them. 15 years on he is very, very good at his craft (they still do a local market selling dad's glass only). Mum has always been artsy, so eventually she gave up the sewing and starting making handcrafts using gumnuts, driftwood, semi-precious stones (purchased). They also started buying and selling other peoples craft. Also, mum's never been afraid to "steal" someone elses idea either. Since they were always moving on, she never offended anyone because they'd be hundreds of k's away in another town before she brought the "new" idea to the market. I've lost track at all the stuff she's made and sold over the years. They have had a go at many things and made a success of it.

Their friends, many of whom I have gotten to know, sell wares ranging from folkart, fridge magnets, leather goods, T-shirts, paintings and so on. Some have no prior artistic skill (like my dad) but you'd be surprised how good you can get at something if you work at it for 6-12 months. A great idea we came across at the Kununurra markets last June was someone who had a stall set-up selling coffee and cake. They had a some folding tables and chairs set up in the shade for their customers, their cakes obviously weren't all homemade (perhaps purchased from the local bakery), an urn powered off a honda gennie and they were making a killing. Another mob were making bacon and egg rolls. Point is, yes you can definitely make money and all you need is a good idea that appeals to people.

:o) Melissa