working in the south pacific

hey,

i was thinking of going to the south pacific area somewhere to stay for a while, and was wondering where, if anywhere, in any of the south pacific you can find just casual work for a bit... there are so many different islands that im a bit unsure where to start looking.... but some of them seem pretty strict on that type of thing from what ive read...

so, does anyone know if there are any islands you can find jobs on? im happy to do pretty much anything...

hope you can help....

thanks....

Edited by: icecream

me too!!

offer me a job in Tonga, you buggers.

No such place.

Forget the Cooks, they have cracked down on unapproved workers (working without getting a work visa before arrival, through an employer).

I think Solomon Islands is typical of anywhere else independent in the Pacific. There are so few jobs available for locals, that they do not want foreigners coming and taking the ones there are. The pay is so low (average $10 Australian a day for an office worker with qualifications or a primary school teacher with training) that most people from developed countries would not want them anyhow.
So if you want to work there, you need a job in an area they can't supply (eg a doctor or a physics teacher) before you go, and a work permit as well as a residence permit (often arranged by your employer) and a police check in your home country before they will give it to you. You can then stay for 2 years.
Incidentally, those jobs pay about the same as the dole in Australia.

"anything" is what the locals are also prepared to do, and at a lower wage than what a foreign itinerant would find acceptable.

What Ozziegiraffe says about the Solomon's is true about Fiji. Going the route of 'doing anything' is the wrong end of the job market to look. What you need are some specialized skills to fill a niche they can't fill themselves. And such openings are not likely to be casual.
I came across one or two people 'volunteering' at schools, and received lodgings in exchange. But they expect you to be responsible about this, and not treat it as a way to bankroll a long vacation.

Oldpro hit the nail on the head.

In Samoa, anyways, you would only be able to find work if you were in a profession that was needed. The fields of medicine and education come to mind. The amount of red tape to employment here, so I've been told, is mind-boggling.
Starting a business with a guaranteed investment sum with a Samoan partner is another way. Other than that, there is NO casual, under-the -table work for beach bums in Samoa. I'm sure wssamoa can elaborate on this topic.

Just curious as to this new TT4. It shows at the top, in RED, that this message has not yet been answered!!!! Seems like it has!!! Who is editing this to determine it has not been answered???

Even though there are 7 replies (as indicated on the main page), the tree can't count (as per Raro's question).

To quote from the top of the thread:

This question is not answered. Helpful answers available: 2. Correct answers available: 1.

I always thought 2 + 1 = 3. Anything above 0 is a response. Doesn't really bode well for future confusions.

The OP determines if and when his/her question has been answered, using a rating system (2 helpful, 1 correct) for the responses given.

Here is an example.

Pure coincidence, by the way, that I received the green star. ;-)

Anyway, the OP has three chances to rate the answers, picking out two that were helpful, and awards a green star to one 'correct' answer. If this last is assigned by the OP, then the red warning about an unanswered question is replaced by a statement: this question is answered.

Tonga's the same. My waitstaff were getting TOP$1.80 per hour. New hires got TOP$1.25 . My idiot boss wondered why they wouldn't work with any enthusiasm.

Better businesses in Tonga paid TOP$2.50 per hour.

As above, in Tonga too, you have to have your work visa sorted before you get there. If you want to change from holiday to work it will cost TOP$1,000.

So, what you're saying is that all of our posts telling icecream where NOT to go weren't even "helpful"???? We saved him/her thousands of dollars and hours and hours of time, if not days and weeks!!!

And I don't really like some newby basically telling me my answer was "not helpful"! The gall of some people! We try to help, and all we get is criticism that we weren't helpful???

I'm, just about outta here, I'm thinking that this whole TT4 is not really worth wasting my time.

Forget Kiribati as well. Knew an Australian fellow (married to a Gilbertese but not resident in Kiribati) who volunteered to drive a mini bus on Tarawa during one of his stays on the atoll. It was his bus but he was reported, fined and banned from re-entering for 6 months because he didn't have a Visa allowing him to work there.

Raro, you are absolutely right. In fact they are all correct and the most comprehensive of them is the second one "No such place". Simple as that.
Why should I write about the situation in Samoa and tell icecream about the (not existing) job opportunities when I only get back that my truly inside knowledge (living here for 10 years) was not 'correct'?

BTW, the help page tells on this issue that the OP can choose one answer to be the 'best' one ... (not 'correct' one). Which is the same stupid because how can the one asking and therefore not knowing choose which answer was best ... ? The OP must obviously be one of the most unqualified persons to rate the quality of the answers.

They should simply turn off this feature. User feedback is modern of course - but implemented this way it is simple nonsense.

this thread certainly illustrates one thing -- the pointlessness of the rating system. I've been tracking it on other branches, with similar outcomes. I imagine that a lot of 'correct/best' stars will be given to people doing all the work for someone too lazy and/or inept to GOOGLE their own basic-level question..that sort of thing.

Websites which promote 'user-involvement' with things like 'questions of the day', 'have your say', etc seem to be the trendy thing to do, YAHOO already mentioned as one example. But I can see it working against the (original) purpose of the Thorn Tree.

I've already been debating with myself the point of being here -- even before TT4. Up to now two things hold me here. First, I occasionally get PM-ed by people who've read my posts, see me as a trustworthy info source, and ask a detailed question. There may be a lot of browsers out there who find the info I provide useful, even if they don't post themselves.
Second, I myself enjoy reading the information provided by the regulars/long-timers on this and other branches. I've learned a lot. I sometimes suspect I benefit more than the people posting the questions. And so, goes my rationale, perhaps there are one or two out there who can make use of my own postings.

but that rationale is taking a beating these days...and some stupid rating system isn't going to help.

I have given Oldpro a XXXVVVRRR rating. This translates into "correct". All the others also get the XXXVVVRRR rating, but Oldpro also hit on other things, which gives him "first mention". "First mention" is a new rating system, whereby when severla answers are correct, the LAST one posted gets "first mention", as when one replies thereafter, it is the first one in the last poster's memory, having been read last.

so, now that all of this rebel rating rating system makes sense, I'll move on to other ratings :)

This is all way too cerebral for the South pacific.

;-)

Harry, you now qualify for a free trip to the island dream of your choice (of course, you must be sleeping to accept this award, and the dream is your responsibility). You have now been "freed to dream" by receiving your high rating: you too have earned a basic rating of "XXXVVVRRR", but you also have the asterisk rating added notation of "SW-C". So, your final rating is "XXXVVVRRR-SW-C".

Just for those not familiar with the TTRebel rating system, the XXXVVVRRR is detailed above. The special notation "SW" stands for "Secret Word", and the special sub-notation "C" stands for the letter that begins the secret word for this posting. The word was, in fact, "cerebral", which begins with the letter "C", and Harry guessed!

Congratulations Harry, and pleasant dreams!

Thank you for participating in the RebelTT modified rating system.