Any wonder your power bills are going up? Backpacker boasts about scoring job on a solar farm where she earns $2500 a week… with no experience
Travel blogger has fond memories of 12-month stint in Australia in 2019-20
Paige Copeland spent five months as a labourer on solar farm in southern NSW
Earned $2,500 week on 12 hour shifts, six days a week, no experience needed
British traveller said solar farm labouring was the best job she’s ever had
Aussies face soaring energy prices as the nation transitions to renewables
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A British travel blogger has fondly remembered her time at an Australian solar farm – but admitted the hefty pay packet she took home from the ‘best job’ she’s ever had meant only having one day off a week and working 12 hour days.
Paige Copeland, now 28, has spent the last four years travelling the world, spending 12 months backpacking in Australia between 2019 and 2020.
One of her highlights from working Down Under was a five-month stint she spent earning $2,500 a week doing 12-hour shifts as a labourer at the Darlington Point solar farm just outside of Griffith, in the NSW Riverina region.
Ms Copeland recently shared a video to TikTok of her working hard on the farm, admitting she often worked up to 72 hours a week with only one day off.
‘For the money, I was working 12-hour days, six days on, one day off so you do work a lot of hours,’ she said.
‘But it is the best job I’ve ever had in my life, I swear to God.’
Paige Copeland spent five months working as a labourer on a solar farm in regional NSW
The British travel blogger described her stint on a solar farm as the best job’s she ever had
‘Some of my best times in Oz!’ she captioned the video.
Ms Copeland highly recommended the labouring job to other international backpackers looking to complete their working holiday visa.
‘And the $2,500 a week was alright too,’ she added.
The video quickly went viral and was inundated with more than 500 comments.
‘Looks like I’m moving to Australia then,’ one viewer commented.
Other backpackers shared similar experiences.
‘Any labourer job in construction in Oz was brilliant always $2000+ wages a week,’ one person commented.
Another commenter said they had also done the solar farm job and it was ‘the best few months of my life’.
Currently in Central America, Paige Copeland has looked back fondly on her time in Australia
The interest in the clip prompted Ms Copeland to film a follow-up video to address the questions her viewers had.
‘Getting into a solar farm can be hard but sometimes it’s about who you know,’ she explained.
‘You just apply to be a labourer. You don’t need any experience. I had no experience, apart from working in the construction industry as recruitment consultant.
‘I had friends working on the farm and that’s how I got into it.
‘It’s such good craic (a UK slang term for a good social time). The work is kind of hard because it’s long but it’s actually not physically draining.’
Paige Copeland worked 12-hour shifts, six days a week at the Darlington Point solar farm
She also confirmed the job counted towards the 88 days backpackers are requiring to work in a rural area to get a second year on their working holiday visa.
Originally from Southampton in England’s Hampshire region, Ms Copeland sold her car and quit her job in November 2018 to travel the world on a one-way ticket.
She’s been blogging and documenting her travels ever since and is currently in Guatemala in Central America.
The clip comes as Australia faces up to soaring power prices as the country attempts to transition to renewable energy. The federal Budget predicted the cost of electricity would soar by up to 50% next year.
Paige highly recommends getting a job as a labourer as part of the working holiday visa