Starting from zero again in the middle of nowhere
In June, I moved to a town called Kununurra because of my partner’s job.
It’s a small town at the edge of Western Australia, about 8 hours by car from Darwin.
But before that, here is what happened in Cairns…
→ Read Part 1
The population is around 5,000 people, and it feels like a tiny settlement in the middle of the wilderness.
There is almost nothing there.
Only one large supermarket.
And just a Subway as the only fast food option.
Unlike other cities, about 30% of the population are Indigenous people.
This is where my second challenge began.
“There are plenty of jobs here” — I believed that
Before coming to Kununurra, many people told me:
“There’s a labor shortage in small towns, so there are lots of jobs.”
“You’ll find work quickly.”
I believed those words and felt a little excited about the new environment.
I thought I could start from zero again and still make it work.
But reality was different.
Reality was different again
One month after the season started in Kununurra,
most places already had enough staff.
And there were only five cafés in town.
Wherever I went, they wouldn’t even accept my resume.
I kept going back to the same cafés, sending self-introduction videos, trying everything I could.
But when something doesn’t work, it simply doesn’t.
I also applied for hotels, restaurants, and bars.
But I never received any replies.
My first job at a distillery
About two weeks later, I found a distillery looking for a lunch “runner.”
I applied immediately.
It was only a 3–4 hour shift per day, but I needed a job at that point.
The workplace itself was great.
It felt like a country-style Western bar, with friendly backpackers and staff working together.
Because it was a distillery, I sometimes helped in the factory with bottling and labeling, which felt refreshing and fun.
But my main role was still a runner.
For four hours, I would carry food, collect used plates, and wash dishes.
Repeating the same cycle every day.
Gradually, I started to think:
“What am I doing here in Australia?”
Is this really what I came here for?
If I can’t work as a barista, maybe I should have stayed in Japan and built my career as an engineer instead.
I started questioning my own decision.
And then, the job disappeared again
Around that time, the season slowed down, and the boss told me:
The runner position might end soon.
Again, I was back to job hunting.
I felt completely stuck.
A lucky introduction to a café
But there was a small piece of luck.
The distillery boss happened to be classmates with the owner of the busiest café in town.
He introduced me as:
“A hard-working Japanese girl.”
From there, things moved quickly.
I got a trial shift, and then I was hired.
I started working as a barista.
Working seven days a week
At first, I was still working at the distillery as well, so I ended up working seven days a week.
People around me said I was crazy.
But honestly, I was happy.
Having a job, and especially working as a barista, made me happy.
I even asked my boss to give me as many shifts as possible.
I told them to call me first if someone cancelled.
A café busier than I ever imagined
The new café was extremely busy.
Because it was located next to a supermarket and there were very few cafés in town, all the customers concentrated there.
Every day, I worked 8.5 hours nonstop.
Lunch break was only 30 minutes.
The rest of the time, I was either buried under piles of receipts or running around the shop.
Still, I was able to keep going because my coworkers and boss were genuinely kind.
Another challenge I started at the same time
At the same time, I also started trying to work as a freelance engineer.
I learned new technologies, built my own website, and even created websites for friends for free as practice.
Life was intense.
Work started at 6 a.m., so I woke up at 5 a.m. and studied for 30 minutes.
After finishing work at around 3 p.m., I studied again.
Even my only days off were spent studying.
Small but real progress
After continuing like that, I slowly started getting freelance work.
In three months, I earned about 700 USD.
It wasn’t much.
But for me, it was a huge step forward.
My last days in Kununurra
I stayed in Kununurra until about one month before my working holiday ended.
Those days were extremely intense.
Before I knew it, I had saved enough money to travel for another year.
Looking back on my first year
Honestly, my first year was incredibly hard.
But I have no regrets.
If anything, I feel a quiet sense of pride in how hard I pushed myself.
Don’t give up. Don’t settle.
If I want something, I have to go and get it myself.
That’s what I learned in my first year in Australia.
