One of the jobs I hope to have while in Australia is working in a winery, preferably a mom and pop one where I can learn a ton. I want to learn the wine process from planting to bottle. In order to make this happen, I cold-emailed about 100 wineries on the eastern part of the continent explaining what I was looking for. There were a handful of "no's" and a majority just didn't reply, but there were also a handful that did reply...and were very open to the idea!
Since August, I've been emailing back and forth with a guy from a small winery outside of Brisbane. Upon checking out their website, I knew the winery was exactly what I was looking for. Finally, last night, this guy and I Skyped to discuss when I could go out to the winery and in what ways I could help them. I offered anything from picking grapes to crushing grapes to selling the wine to marketing and events.
After we talked shop for awhile, I asked him about what I should be doing around Australia and told him that another one of my bucket list items is to learn how to surf...and be taught by an Aussie. The guy then proceeded to tell me that his good friend teaches just south of Brisbane (and used to in Portugal, too)--DONE! We arranged it so that I can get some one-on-one surfing lessons from a fit Aussie. Well on my way to checking off another bucket list item..
Another interesting thing that stuck from our conversation: to look into traveling to New Calcedonia. This guy told me he was on his way there and it's a French territory that still uses Francs! It's halfway between the northeast corner of Australia and Fiji.
Some things I've learned over the years:
1. Don't be afraid to ask or to put it out there in the universe: someone will hear it and want to help you.
2. The best way to find out where to travel next is to talk to the people around you. Word of Mouth is one of the most powerful tools and aids in decision making.
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