How NOT to do your six months of required work for a visa in Australia

Picture this:

You did months worth of research after losing your job to covid to find a job that everyone assured would count towards your next visa. You worked your butt off and risked your health (literally broke my back) doing that job for over six months. You applied for the next visa and moved on with your life knowing you did everything right - just to get a cheerful email eight months later that your visa has been refused and you have 28 days to leave the country.

As you can imagine, I cried. I was sitting on my newly purchased yacht, had applied for a permanent visa with my partner already and had just started a new job in the town we decided to settle into. Just with one email the Department of Immigration and Home Affairs dropped the floor beneath my feet. Everything I had been building with Josh was at risk. We decided to pay the big bucks to hire a lawyer to sort things out, because leaving our home and our future plans wasn't an option. Ever since then we have been fighting with byrocracy to exhaustion, trying to keep me in the country so that we could continue building our life here.

If you are ever planning on coming to Australia on Working Holiday visas, don't take too much stress about the required work for the second and third year visas. And most importantly don't do a job that drains you (either mentally or physically; in my case extremely physically) or puts your life and health at risk. It is simply not worth it. Looking back I think I should have just chilled out, taking my time finding a place we like on the coast and maybe even getting a job I enjoy that could sponsor me. Or get a student visa and study something I'm passionate about, like marine biology or enviromental sciences. The most important lesson I've learned from fighting this battle has been to relax - things just magically tend to sort themselves out. Every time.

Here's shots of all the jobs I've done in Australia so far:

Grape picking in inhumane conditions with no running water or even toilets at the farm, no lunch breaks, working over 10 hours a day without any breaks in +30 degree heat without any shades around. Also the chemical dust they used as a pesticide was making everyone sick but they didn't even offer masks. We quit on our second day and reported the farm. I have never eaten grapes since.

Farm hand at a dairy farm. We were super lucky to obtain this job! We enjoyed the farm life so much that we stayed longer than was required. Both of us, me and my friend being vegetarians and caring for animals we did see some things I wished I never had to see, but it was just a small part of the job. We were able to spend our days outside caring for the animals and driving around with awesome four wheelers. I couldn't have done it alone, but because I was doing it with my best friend we had an absolute blast!

(Bringing back a calf that had wondered off and couldn't find it's way back to the herd. Yes, it peed all over me on the way.)

The third job I did in Australia was for my own passion, learning skills for my future plans. I did a sailing trip and fell in love with boat life. I made friends with the crew and a few weeks later obtained a job as a hostess/chef on board! It was fun for a while, but after five months of working six days a week around the clock with very poor night sleeps on the hot boats without air conditioning in the tropics and drunken guests partying until 3am I had had enough. A week before resigning covid happened first so tourism went down anyway. What a timing!

Fourth job was working as a labourer sorting out mill balls from the mine sites in WA and operating heavy machinery. This one was the toughest one. Lifting heavy 12 hours every day especially during the hot summer months and breathing in the dust was literally breaking me. I had to see a physiotherapist several times and eat pain killers for my back. After quitting the job I did a month long yoga teacher training. My back has luckily never been hurting ever since.

And finally I found a job that pays well, I can use my skills from nursing and it is not dangerous or stressful and I can do it long term while chasing our dream - dental nursing!

Why was it a brilliant idea to become a registered nurse?

I studied a 3,5 year bachelor's degree to become a registered nurse in my home country Finland. Already before graduating the local emergency room was asking me to work there part time while studying and finally full time after graduating. Just like everywhere else in the world there is a lack of nurses in Finland as well. A bit over three years after graduating I had gathered lots of experience and worked in three different emergency rooms. I was good at my job and I really liked it. It was tough at times, mostly when you have to face the waves of emotions when you're the only one holding a dying person's hand and you can't help but feel the sadness of someone having to die with only a caring stranger by their side. At times the job was the best ever - when we managed to bring someone back to life and a few weeks later they would make a full recovery and send chocolate and a thank you card to the ward for the care they received from our team. Physically the changing rosters and shiftwork wasn't suitable for me and the long and busy shifts were very stressful. I started getting health problems so I knew it wouldn't be a forever job and I needed to find a new path for myself, but I will be forever grateful for the skills I gained.

1. The most important skill I learned was how to deal with difficult and heavy emotions. The sorrow of death or hopeless situations, the adrenaline rush because of a patient going to a cardiac arrest, the scary patients who snap all of sudden and try to murder you right there (thank goodness for the security staff!), the frustration of never having enough time and dealing with the stress.

2. The second most important thing I learned was how to communicate. After working in the emergency rooms I have noticed in many other jobs the thing causing the most drama and mistakes is the lack of good communication. Ever since I was kid I've always been very quiet and sometimes having problems of making myself and my ideas and opinions heard - but after learning how to communicate efficiently in any situations I've noticed that people listen to me.

3. The third skill I'm probably the happiest about is the confidence I gained. After working in the emergency rooms for a while I noticed I was never afraid anymore - about anything! I knew that no matter what situation I would face in life I could always find my way. After all I had the skills to keep a person alive. I was also confident in dealing with all kinds of people. A drunk approaching me on the street wasn't scary anymore because I had treated thousands of them in the emergency rooms. I've seen the same change in many nurses beginning their careers. The loud personalities often become more emotionally staple and the insecure or quiet ones gained confidence.

There are few professions in the world that people often trust. Nurse is definitely one of the most trustworthy ones - they have the skills to speak about anything, even the painful subjects and they often times show more empathy than anyone else. It has definitely been a huge advantage for me later on in my life meeting new people. Whenever I mention I am a registered nurse they seem to open up and trust me immediately. I think it has even played a big part in me getting new jobs.

It was a wonderful way to start my career path and gave me such precious skills for later life. But now I am something else and on my way to finding a different path. One that I am more passionate about and is good for me and my health long term. After all, sailing around the world filming the wonders and natural phenomena and incredible life stories doesn't sound too bad at all!

Our dream

During my East Coast trip I spent almost a month in Sydney. I had a bad flu back then and couldn't really go partying with my friends if I wanted to get any better, so I ended up just wandering around the city by myself most of the days. I did a lot of thinking, especially about my future while sitting in cafes and watching people outside rushing to work, home, gym or meeting friends. What path to choose and how? What did I actually wanted from my life?

Those are some big questions. I had (still have) a very good profession to rely on, but I never felt like nursing was something I was supposed to do for the rest of my life. It was a very good choice to start with and I'll write all about my profession and why I'm happy to be a nurse in another post, but I knew my place was somewhere else. After I started traveling I was completely hooked. For me traveling wasn't just a relaxing holiday to charge the batteries I had spent working hard most of the year. I saw traveling as an eye opening opportunity to learn about different places, cultures, religions, foods, history and nature. I've done only one holiday in my life - it was a week long trip to Crete, where we stayed in the same little town, ate in restaurants every day and spent our mornings just laying on the beach in front of our hotel. I felt like I wasted a week. There would have been so much to see, such a rich ancient history. There's nothing bad having a holiday and I understand my hard working friends and family who just want to relax when they're having time off work. But I wanted to travel the world, see everything, talk with everyone, learn all about history and nature and taste all different kinds of foods. I wanted adventures with a not too heavy backpack on my back, easy to carry wherever I wanted to wander next. We started carefully in most famous tourist places in Europe with my friend and now after all those years and all the trips I've done I could say I am a true backpacker. I don't see a reason to panic if accomodation doesn't have electricity or if all of sudden flights are cancelled. Everything always works out somehow. After I realised traveling is my true passion, it was time to make a plan. How could I become a full time traveller?

I have been following an Australian couple Elayna and Riley sailing the world for three years now. I decided before I started my Australia trip that I'd like to learn how to sail too. And then it hit me, like the strong espresso I was enjoying in a cafe in Sydney on a sunny afternoon last July - maybe I could travel the world on a sailboat too! At first I thought I would just learn how to sail and get on board sailboats as part of the crew. But the thing about sailing is that once you get into it, it completely sucks you in and becomes your whole life. I decided that instead of ever pursuing to have a house, I wanted my own boat. A moving home. I got a job on sailboats and that's where I met my dear Josh. He was like the missing piece of the puzzle. I was a dreamer with my feet on the ground, he was the doer with his head high in the clouds. My perfect adventure buddy!

My dream became our dream and we have made a plan - in three years we will have saved enough to get our own boat and travel for a while before we go back to work to earn a bit more just to continue traveling. We might even start a vlog to capture our journey and share to all the friends and family, who will be more than welcome to take part in sailing around the world on their holidays! I get way too excited even just thinking about all of it. But for now, we are focusing on finding jobs that we have both lost because of Covid-19, thinking about my visa options and hopefully visiting my home in Finland soon. I've been gone for over a year so you bet I'm missing my friends and family!