Joe Varley

Hard Up Down Under: A Working Holiday in New Zealand Joe Varley

Who goes on holiday to work? Especially to New Zealand, halfway around the world? Yorkshire-born Joe ponders this briefly, before doing exactly that... for a year.

Before he leaves for Auckland, Joe studies the feats of fellow Yorkshireman Captain James Cook. Attempting to emulate Cook, Joe invents a chapter-by-chapter scorecard to compare his progress with the famous explorer: if Joe succeeds in any way he's allocated one point, but in the event of failure or embarrassment, the Captain is allocated a point. If it's too close to call, it's a draw: game on!

Travelling on a working visa, Joe is soon put to work in garden centres, hotels, as a labourer, and even helping a private investigator.

With support from his university friends, coupled with a blossoming romance with the lovely Jess, our hero soon discovers the highs and lows of working thousands of miles from home with no money.

Hard Up Down Under mixes deadpan humour with razor-sharp insights. A must-read for anyone interested in travel, looking for adventure, or hoping to work abroad.