Lots of jobs pass through Working Holiday Jobs Australia but this one is unique. It gives you a chance to really get to know a town, stay fit while you travel and work, improve on your english and meet new people. We sat down with Blake from Rickshaw Revolution to ask him a few questions about what it’s like working as a Rickshaw / pedicab driver!
Get to Know Australia: Rickshaw / Pedicab Riding
What are the hours like?
Basically you run your own routine. We don’t force you to go out a certain number of hours, that’s up to you it depends on how much you want to make. Some riders will only go out a couple of nights per week to have fun, cover their lease fee and make a little play money. Others will be saving for a van or more travel so they’ll work as much as they can. Its really flexible and casual.
How much are the riders earning?
Last Saturday night my site manager went riding and made over $1000 in one night. The Saturday before he went out and made $400 in a few hours. It’s up and down but we are in peak season now so I guess it would be fair to expect that a rider could easily clear $600-$1000 per week on average after covering lease fee. All working holiday jobs members will get the lease fee for their first week half price . When you consider accommodation is thrown in free. Plus the next few weeks are going to be pretty huge with school holidays coming.
What is the employment agreement?
The riders pay a weekly lease fee for a bike. Then they just keep everything they make. There is a small bond on the bike and we normally ask the riders to commit to a certain minimum period which justifies the effort we put into training and coaching. Obviously it’s a tourism based business so things can be up and down a bit, we keep a close eye on how the riders are doing and provide coaching or adjust lease fees as necessary to ensure that everyone is doing well.
Can it get exhausting?
Anything fun can get exhausting, but its nothing compared to fruit picking or labouring. Again its really flexible so you can push as hard as you like or take it a bit easy, it depends how much you want to put in your pocket at the end of the day. You don’t have to be especially young, fit or strong to do this, the bikes are extremely well looked after which means they are quite easy to operate by all shapes and sizes.
Describe the rickshaw?
Our rickshaws play music and have cool LED lights. They have canopies and rain covers, you can actually do really well on fares when there is a little rain about because people want to get from venue to venue without being soaked. We can carry three passengers quite comfortably and safely at any time.
Where do the employees live?
The riders are welcome to stay for free at our base right in the middle of Cairns (just near Cairns Central) which is set up with hostel style accommodation for as long as they are riding. They don’t have to stay with us and plenty of our riders are staying elsewhere but access to free accommodation is a big draw card for most of our people.
Anything else you would like to add
It is hugely important to us both for safety and for our business reputation that our riders are responsible and respectful of the public. They need to put the effort into learning the road rules and sticking to them. Also, its worth mentioning that we also have a site in Newcastle and we are associated with operators in Darwin and the Gold Coast.
So there’s great opportunities for the riders to do this while traveling about if they want to, they aren’t stuck in one place to take advantage of the opportunity. Lastly, we have a focus on traveling to big festivals and events so this year we hope to be at Tamworth country music festival and Adelaide Fringe festival both of which are huge events where riders can make thousands of dollars per week. So lots of opportunity to travel and see things.
Can you share some photos to give people a picture of the work scene?
Are you interested?
Think you have what it takes? You can apply now and before you know it you will be riding a rickshaw in Cairns!
