The 88 days. Three words that define the working holiday experience in Australia. If you want a second year on your Working Holiday Visa, you need to clock 88 days of specified regional work. Most backpackers assume this means fruit picking in the middle of nowhere, sleeping in a dodgy caravan, and counting down the days until freedom.
This is a city that knows how to drink, dance, and debate until dawn. Chasing craft beer perfection? Hunting for that perfect cocktail? Just want to dance until your feet hurt? Wellington, New Zealand nightlife delivers it all. Here’s your guide to after-dark Wellington, covering everything from happy hour to sunrise.
What Actually Are the 88 Days?
Let’s get the basics sorted. If you’re on your first Working Holiday Visa (subclass 417) or Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462), you can stay in Australia for 12 months. Want another year? You need to complete 88 days of specified work in regional Australia.
The government uses 88 days because it equals the three shortest calendar months of the year. It’s roughly three months of work, though how long it actually takes depends on your employment situation.
If you’re working full-time with a contract covering weekends, those rest days count toward your 88. Work Monday to Friday and your Saturdays and Sundays still add up. Five days of work equals seven days on your visa tally.
Casual workers have it different. Only the actual days you work get counted. Four shifts a week means four days toward your 88, not seven. This is where a lot of backpackers get caught out. They assume they’re ahead of schedule and end up short.
Keep your payslips. Keep your contracts. Keep bank statements showing your wages. Immigration can request proof years later, and word-of-mouth or cash jobs won’t cut it.
Why Cairns Beats the Outback for Your 88 Days
Most backpackers picture their 88 days in a dusty farm town, sharing a cramped hostel room with strangers, picking tomatoes at 5am, and driving 40 minutes to find a decent coffee.
Cairns flips that script.
The city sits above the Tropic of Capricorn, which officially makes it part of Northern Australia. This geographic fact changes everything for working holiday makers. Tourism and hospitality jobs in Northern Australia count as specified work for both 417 and 462 visa holders.
That means you can work as a bartender, barista, tour guide, dive instructor, hotel receptionist, chef, or waiter and still qualify for your second year visa. You’re not limited to farm work. You can build real hospitality experience, make proper money, and actually enjoy where you live.
Cairns has the infrastructure that remote towns lack. Supermarkets within walking distance. Public transport. A buzzing nightlife scene. Beach access. An international airport. You can complete your 88 days without feeling like you’ve been shipped off to a work camp.
Work That Counts in Cairns
Not every job qualifies. Immigration is specific about what counts, so double-check before accepting any position. Here’s what works in Cairns and the surrounding region.
Tourism and hospitality
Tour guides, activity instructors, dive boat crew, bartenders, baristas, waiters, chefs, hotel front desk staff. The job needs to be directly related to tourism. Working in a souvenir shop or cleaning a restaurant kitchen doesn’t count. Running reef snorkelling tours absolutely does.
Agriculture and farming
The Atherton Tablelands sit about an hour west of Cairns. Bananas, mangoes, avocados, macadamias, and sugarcane all grow in the region. Harvesting, planting, pruning, and packing all count. The Tablelands have work year-round, though different crops peak at different times.
Fishing and pearling
Cairns is a working fishing port. Deckhand positions on commercial fishing boats or pearl diving operations qualify. These jobs are physically demanding but pay well and come with a unique experience.
Construction
Eligible in Northern Australia. You’ll need a White Card (construction safety certification) and potentially trade qualifications. Jobs exist but competition is stiffer than hospitality roles.
Always verify the postcode of your workplace before starting. Cairns city (postcode 4870) is eligible, as are surrounding areas like Palm Cove, Port Douglas, and the Atherton Tablelands. Some postcodes that seem regional don’t actually qualify. Check the Home Affairs website or ask your employer to confirm.
How to Find 88 Days Work in Cairns
Cairns runs on tourism. The Great Barrier Reef brings millions of visitors each year, and all those people need to be fed, housed, guided, and entertained. Jobs exist. You just need to know where to look.
Walk the strip – Seriously. Print some resumes, put on a decent shirt, and hit the Esplanade. Talk to managers at cafes, bars, tour operators, and hotels. Australians appreciate face-to-face effort. You’re more likely to land a job by showing up than by sending your 50th online application.
Online job boards – Backpacker Job Board, Seek, Indeed, and Gumtree all list Cairns positions. Filter for hospitality and tourism roles in eligible postcodes. The Harvest Trail website covers agricultural work if you want farm jobs on the Tablelands.
Hostel networks – Staff at good hostels know local employers. They hear about openings before they hit job boards. Make friends, ask questions, and check notice boards. Someone at breakfast probably knows someone who’s hiring.
Recruitment agencies – Adecco and similar agencies sometimes place working holiday makers in hospitality roles. Worth registering even if you’re also searching independently.
Peak season in Cairns runs from June to October when the weather is dry and tourist numbers surge. Finding work is easier during these months. The wet season (November to April) slows things down, though hospitality jobs still exist year-round.
Counting Your Days Correctly
This trips people up constantly. Understanding how days are counted can save you from an unpleasant surprise when you apply for your extension.
Full-time employees
If your contract covers five days a week and your employer pays you for a standard 38-hour week, weekends count. Five work days equals seven visa days.
Casual employees
Only actual shifts count. Most hospitality workers in Australia are casual. If you work Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, you log four days, not seven. Plan accordingly. Casual work takes longer to reach 88 days.
Multiple jobs
You can work for different employers and combine the days. Spend two months at a cafe and one month on a farm. Split your time between tour guiding and bar work. As long as each job qualifies and you have documentation, it all adds up.
Documentation
Payslips are essential. Your employer’s ABN should match the business where you work. Bank statements showing wage deposits provide backup proof. Keep everything organised. Immigration can audit your application and request evidence.
What About a Third Year Visa?
If 88 days earns you a second year, six months of specified work during that second year can get you a third. Same rules apply: eligible work, eligible postcodes, proper documentation.
Cairns works for this too. Six months of hospitality or tourism work in Northern Australia qualifies. Some people spend their entire three-year Australian adventure based in Far North Queensland.
Life in Cairns Beyond the 88-Day Visa
Your 88 days shouldn’t just be about clocking in and counting down. Cairns offers a lifestyle that makes the grind worth it.
The Great Barrier Reef sits less than two hours offshore. On your days off, you can snorkel coral gardens that most people only see in documentaries. The Daintree Rainforest, one of the oldest on earth, is a 90-minute drive north. Waterfalls, swimming holes, and hiking trails scatter across the Tablelands.
The backpacker community here is solid. Unlike isolated farm towns where you might be the only foreigner for kilometres, Cairns has hostels full of travellers in the same situation. You’ll find people to explore with, share meals with, and swap stories with after work.
The climate is tropical. Warm year-round with a distinct wet and dry season. Some people love the humidity. Others take a few weeks to adjust. Either way, you’re trading cold farm mornings for palm trees, ocean breezes and loads of things to do.
Where to Stay While You Work
Accommodation matters when you’re staying somewhere for months, not days. You need more than just a bed. You need a kitchen that works, reliable WiFi, laundry facilities, and ideally a community that makes the experience better.
Little Drifter Cairns sits right in the city centre, 2 minutes from the Esplanade and 5 minutes from where the reef boats depart. We run 54 rooms across shared dorms and private options. Every bed has its own charging ports, reading light, privacy curtain, and secure locker.
For working holiday makers doing extended stays, we offer long stay accommodation rates that make financial sense over weeks or months. Book an 8-bed dorm for 21 days or more from just $35 per night with promo code STAY21. That’s about $245 a week for a central location with all amenities included.
We’re not a farm-work hostel shipping people out to remote placements. We’re a base for travellers who want to experience Cairns properly while they complete their visa requirements. The communal kitchen is fully equipped for cooking your own meals. The lounge and terrace give you space to decompress after shifts. Regular events like The Cook Up (Sunday family meal), Trivia Night, and run clubs help you meet people without trying too hard.
We’re not a farm-work hostel shipping people out to remote placements. We’re a base for travellers who want to experience Cairns properly while they complete their visa requirements. The communal kitchen is fully equipped for cooking your own meals. The lounge and terrace give you space to decompress after shifts. Regular events like The Cook Up (Sunday family meal), Trivia Night, and run clubs help you meet people without trying too hard.
Cook Up (Sunday family meal), Trivia Night, and run clubs help you meet people without trying too hard.
No lease. No bond. No utility bills. Extend your stay if you find more work or Cairns convinces you to stick around longer.
Making Your 88 Days Count
The 88 days can feel like an obstacle or an opportunity. Your approach determines which one it becomes.
Arrive with realistic expectations. Finding work might take a week or two, especially outside peak season. Budget accordingly. Have enough savings to cover accommodation and food while you search.
Be flexible with shifts. Employers want reliability. Say yes to weekend work, early starts, and busy periods. The more available you are, the faster you’ll rack up days.
Track everything. Use a spreadsheet or app to log each day worked. Note the employer, ABN, postcode, and hours. When application time comes, you’ll thank yourself.
Make it social. The people you meet during your 88 days often become the friends you travel with for the rest of your time in Australia. Stay somewhere that encourages connection rather than isolation.
Ready to Start Your 88-Day Visa in Cairns?
Cairns gives you something most 88-day destinations can’t: a real lifestyle alongside your regional work. You get the visa extension, the work experience, the savings, and actual memories worth keeping.
Book your stay at Little Drifter Cairns and use it as your base while you sort work, explore the region, and tick off those days. Questions about long stays, group bookings, or just what to expect? Get in touch and we’ll help you out.
Your second year in Australia starts here.
