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Back Roads - Season 12 - Episode 06: Gayndah, QLD
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00:07Gainer, Gainer, who are we?
00:10Gladiator, victory!
00:12Gainer, Gainer, hear our cries!
00:15Gladiators till we die!
00:164, 6, 2, 5!
00:184, 6, 2, 5!
00:202, 4, 6, 2, 5!
00:224, 6, 2, 5!
00:244, 6, 2, 5!
00:264, 6, 2, 5!
00:30There is a rivalry in these parts.
00:32It's about more than sport.
00:34It's about more than passion.
00:37It's all about citrus.
00:44Backroads is in the Queensland town of Gainer,
00:47a farming community on the Burnett River
00:50that specialises in one particular crop.
01:02Since the first orchards were planted in the 1890s,
01:06Gainer has been a vibrant centre of citrus.
01:10It now attracts a workforce from all over the world.
01:13Oh, wow.
01:14Big day, missa.
01:18I thought there were more.
01:21Picking the fruit that makes this town tick.
01:24It pretty much is State of Oranges.
01:28State of Oranges.
01:30With some willing to do whatever it takes to fit right in.
01:34And what have you come here today to do?
01:37To throw the oranges.
01:40And on this trip, that includes me.
01:43Down it goes.
01:46I can't feel my lips anymore.
01:50As I try to find out just what this injection of culture
01:54and workers from overseas brings
01:56to the oldest town in Queensland.
02:13Now, I'm not going to seek approval for every single one,
02:16but is that OK, or a bit on the small side?
02:18Yeah, just speak.
02:19Oh, it's my first one.
02:23Oh, no, sorry, I dropped the mandarin.
02:27Oh, the leaves are getting in my face.
02:30You just want to pull them off, but you can't
02:32because it'll rip the skin.
02:34Yeah.
02:35Oh, no, there goes another one.
02:37Sorry.
02:39You have to put it away for lunchtime?
02:42Oh, I get to eat it, though?
02:43Yeah.
02:45My picking teacher, Misa, came from Tonga in 2016.
02:50He's one of 20 Tongans employed in this orchard
02:53via the PALM Scheme,
02:55or Pacific Australia Labor Mobility Scheme,
02:58allowing workers to come over for usually nine months at a time.
03:02And at this farm,
03:04they live together in a number of local houses,
03:07like this one next to the orchard.
03:10So this is home, Misa?
03:11Yeah, this is my house here.
03:13We live with my wife and some couple of friends.
03:17We're working together in our farm.
03:20Can I smell something cooking?
03:21Yeah, some of the boys stay cooking a bit.
03:24I've been invited to a cook-up Tongan style,
03:28which means lots of meat on a spit
03:31or in an earth oven known as an umu.
03:35And while Misa goes in search of a sweet potato,
03:38I meet Moa,
03:40a picker on his fifth year in Australia.
03:43What brings you back?
03:44After I got my bachelor's of agriculture
03:48and I went back to Tonga,
03:49I couldn't get a job,
03:51and I noticed that it is very hard to find a job there.
03:55And even if I find a job there,
03:57I wouldn't get any money.
03:59I just want to bring money back to my family.
04:02It's so nice to get some money,
04:04bring back home and help them,
04:06which is a main reason why I'm here.
04:09What do they think about you being over here?
04:11It's a challenge.
04:12It's a challenge for me and them as well.
04:16Do you miss home?
04:17A lot, very much.
04:18Every single day we miss home.
04:20What do you do here
04:21to try and make yourself feel at home?
04:26We share a lot of things together.
04:29Like today, food,
04:31which is what we love the most, Tongan.
04:33Do you?
04:35What's your favourite food?
04:38I think the pigs, roasted pigs.
04:40Yeah.
04:47I get the feeling that home
04:49is wherever the umu is.
04:51And with the spit-roasting pig
04:54well on the way to Crispy,
04:55everyone gets changed
04:57and settles in for a bit of music
04:59and a little kava.
05:01A big part of life in Tonga,
05:03it's made from a plant
05:04found in the South Pacific
05:06and has certain relaxing properties.
05:18Oh, that was awesome, guys.
05:37What have we got here?
05:39We've got a kava here.
05:40What have I been missing out on?
05:42Yeah, yeah.
05:42I want to try something.
05:43I'd love to.
05:44Oh.
05:44Is this a regular thing for you all?
05:46It is very regular.
05:47Oh.
05:48What is it?
05:49Energy green.
05:50Energy green.
05:51Energy green.
05:54All right.
05:55Well, let's see how much energy
05:56it gives me, huh?
05:57I don't think I've had kava
05:58since I was in Fiji in my 20s.
06:02Down it goes.
06:09It's nice.
06:10I can't feel my lips anymore.
06:14It's good.
06:15It reminds you of home, huh?
06:16Yeah, it does feel like home.
06:20Gainter has to be richer for this.
06:23Tongan culture singing out
06:25from these back streets.
06:27Leaning heavily into the simple pleasures
06:29of food, music, and company
06:32to make Gainter feel more like home.
06:43Wow.
06:45This is what we call Tongan bread.
06:48But we call it in our language.
06:52Yeah, we used to eat it with this.
06:54Okay.
06:54I like it that there's not a lot of washing up
06:56that's going to have to be done here.
06:59Why do you love doing this?
07:03We just love eating.
07:06Well, thanks for letting me join you.
07:08Of course, this is just the story of one farm.
07:27Gainter has a massive citrus industry
07:29which is just pumping at harvest time.
07:33Backpackers and other travellers from all over the world
07:35fill the packing sheds and at this time of year
07:39there are still more jobs here than people to fill them.
07:42Because, just in case you didn't realise it,
07:45citrus is a big deal here.
07:49And coming into town, you can't miss it.
07:52We're at the Big Orange.
07:53Where else would we be to greet you lovely people into our town?
08:00It says to me that, welcome to Gainter.
08:02You know, this is our town and this is what we're about.
08:05So, it's certainly an icon,
08:07but our biggest icon is Gay Dan
08:10and we love him with a passion.
08:15He was part of the festival back in 1959.
08:19His name was created in 1958 with a competition
08:23where there was something like 100-odd entries
08:25and Mrs Heather Ping won the competition to be called Gay Dan.
08:35So, Gainter is the citrus capital.
08:37Yeah, look, it can be a bit contentious, but we'll take that, yeah.
08:42Our neighbouring town, Mandubra, also produced quite a lot of citrus, so...
08:46So, competition.
08:47Well, there is, and competition's good, isn't it?
08:49How fierce is the competition?
08:51Oh, well, when it comes to our football match,
08:53which will be on here on Sunday,
08:55it can become a little bit fierce on the footy field.
09:01It makes sense that on his visit in 1966,
09:05the 17-year-old then-Prince Charles was given a big orange.
09:15And on the face of it in town,
09:17I wouldn't say it looks too different to when Charlie was here.
09:35It's been through major floods in the last decade or so,
09:38but each time, it comes back.
09:40This is the oldest town in Queensland,
09:43and it's still pretty old school in the best way,
09:47which means it loves its footy.
09:50And this weekend is the biggest match of the year,
09:53the Citrus Cup between the Gander Gladiators
09:57and their Citrus Town rivals from down the road,
10:01the Mandubra Tigers.
10:10So I'm watching them out there, Rob,
10:12and they're training like this is the game of their life this weekend.
10:16It pretty much is State of Oranges.
10:19What? State of Oranges?
10:21It's been around since the 80s,
10:23and it is a huge rivalry between two local citrus towns,
10:27Mandubra and Gander.
10:29Gander has the big orange, Mandubra has the big mandarin.
10:34Citrus Cup is just one of the biggest events in this town every two years.
10:40We haven't had it for the last, I think, eight years,
10:42so we are desperate to win it this weekend to retain that cup,
10:46to have it back for such a long time.
10:48And what does it mean to them to even be able to get out on the field and play?
10:51Training twice a week, footy every Saturday is a huge thing for this small town.
10:57That physical, fitness and working together,
11:00they are really great mates that bond well,
11:02and they have each other's back every week.
11:05Good stuff, boys.
11:06Good attack here, boys, eh?
11:10Some of these guys are local, others travel.
11:13Not all stay around.
11:15But it seems to do everybody good.
11:18At its core, people like Matty,
11:20whose father and grandfather also played for the Gander Gladiators.
11:25He's grown up surrounded by people from all over the world,
11:29seeking out a game of rugby league as a means of connection.
11:33Here in Gander, I'm a third-generation citrus farmer,
11:37and, you know, I really love that lifestyle.
11:40Gander's always been a bit of a melting pot.
11:42Like, here in our team, you know, we've got Aboriginal boys,
11:46Torres Strait Islanders, Pacific Islanders,
11:49and Asian boys.
11:51Like, it's funny, we get a lot of backpackers,
11:53and once we had a flying Dutch winger
11:55that had never played before,
11:56and he was pretty funny,
11:58but, yeah, it helps us out a lot.
12:01I like to think that rugby league is sort of the great equaliser,
12:05and no-one sort of can get pushed out.
12:08Like, a lot of people with problems, like, come to be part of the group,
12:13and we try to welcome them in, you know,
12:15and help anyone out that needs it.
12:18How I like to think of it is that sometimes we don't need them,
12:23but they need us, you know?
12:25There's no exclusion.
12:26Everyone's welcome, and we all like to help each other out,
12:29so that sort of drives our culture here
12:31and our passion to do everything we can for each other.
12:35It's why we're so successful.
12:38Right, eh?
12:39Right.
12:39Howdy, all.
12:42No, that's it.
12:48Citrus flows through the veins of Gainda.
12:51It's what makes its heart beat.
12:53And from what I'm seeing,
12:55it brings a whole lot of positives to the town.
13:05Take Thomas, a picker extraordinaire
13:09and about 100 times faster than me.
13:13Originally from Vietnam,
13:15he first settled in Sydney and Bathurst.
13:18He met his wife, Wendy,
13:20and in 2021, moved to Gainda to try something new.
13:28What did you do when you got here?
13:31Actually, when I got here, it was hard for me to get a job,
13:33but lucky that I found a job on farm.
13:35I picked the fruit on farm.
13:37Hard work?
13:38Very hard work, but I really enjoy it.
13:41I work very hard.
13:42I wake up very early in the morning,
13:44work hard to fulfill my dream.
13:46And what was the dream?
13:47I try to work hard to save up money
13:49to open a cafe restaurant.
13:51This is your restaurant?
13:53Yes, yes.
13:54I'm very happy with what I have now.
13:56Congratulations.
13:57Thank you, Lisa.
13:58Thank you, Lisa.
14:07It was a very old building, very old.
14:10It took me two and a half years to renovate it.
14:12Were you a builder before as well?
14:14Not quite.
14:15I learn bit by bit.
14:16But if sometimes I can't, I get stuck.
14:18I ask someone else, so I look at YouTube.
14:20And were you still picking fruit as well?
14:24Yes, I do still picking the fruit.
14:25At the moment, still picking the fruit too.
14:27Frankly speaking, I feel addicted to work on farm.
14:30Addicted?
14:31Yeah, because the farm is great.
14:33Life is very short for me,
14:35and also I have one life to live,
14:36and one Thomas in life here
14:39to contribute something for myself,
14:41for my family,
14:42for the community in which I live.
14:44One Thomas is achieving a lot of things.
14:49Thomas not only fixed up this whole place himself...
14:52Pulled up the floor,
14:53and then there's no door here.
14:55I cut the door, I build up the door.
14:57But at the same time,
14:59he and wife Wendy
15:01learned how to cook from Thomas' brother.
15:06And then Thomas decided to utilise his newfound skills
15:10by hiring himself out as a builder,
15:12currently to be found
15:14fixing up a house for backpacker pickers.
15:24And all driven by a desire to grow his own
15:28on his own land,
15:29which is exactly what Thomas, Wendy and their kids,
15:33Stephanie and Alex, are doing.
15:35Planting jackfruit in their five-acre garden
15:39next to the house they bought
15:41just over the river from the cafe.
15:45Wendy, Thomas works so hard.
15:48And you do too.
15:49That's how normally we're doing,
15:51so with us it's normal day.
15:54A normal day is working till midnight.
15:56Yes.
15:57Did you ever think you would end up in Gaender?
16:00Oh, no, exactly, no.
16:02Whenever you go somewhere,
16:03you have the feeling, yes.
16:05And when we come here in Gaender,
16:06we have the really warm feeling
16:08and friendly feeling
16:09and like a welcome you to, you know.
16:12So we think, oh, it is the right place for us.
16:15Yes.
16:16And then we get the shop
16:17and now we get the house.
16:20Thomas, do you ever stop working?
16:23Not quite,
16:24because I enjoy working in the garden too.
16:26Love farming, little farming.
16:29Remind me of Vietnam.
16:30I love it.
16:30Love farming.
16:31Have you ever been picking?
16:33Yes.
16:35And I even got to eat a mandarin.
16:38What about you, Wendy?
16:39Do you get out in the yard as well?
16:41You know, I only have one day off
16:43in the weekend, like a Saturday,
16:45and can come out and, you know,
16:47bring the water and feed him.
16:50Yeah, you've got to work too hard
16:52and I cannot have a lot.
16:54Do you love jackfruit?
16:55You love written fruit?
16:56Oh, it's my favourite fruit.
16:58That's because of you too.
16:59Good that he's planting so many there.
17:02Yes, yes, yes.
17:04So, Gainter has all these people coming in
17:07and you've got these different cultures.
17:10What's going on here, do you think?
17:12Every season of sidetrack, like a mandarin,
17:15a lot of people from everywhere.
17:17So, we feel here like, you know,
17:20here is already a variety of cultures.
17:23The people here, they're so friendly
17:26and welcome us.
17:28So, we are a part of Gainter.
17:31We bring something here.
17:33We try to bring our traditional food.
17:36We receive great encouragement from people here.
17:39It's a two-way street, is it?
17:40Yes, it's a two-way street, we try to contribute some,
17:45but we receive more a lot from the Gainter people.
17:48So, that made us feel special here.
17:52Sometimes, like, we never know life full of mystery.
17:56Look like a jackfruit here.
17:58Sometimes we sow the seed,
17:59we never know what the tree come up.
18:02In the next three to five years,
18:04hundreds of fruit come from the tree.
18:07It's like, in life, we sow one seed.
18:10In the next three years,
18:12we receive tenfold back what we sow.
18:15What beautiful wisdom from a man
18:17who, with Wendy, has grown a life here in Gainter.
18:20Look hard.
18:21I've loved hanging out with Thomas and his family
18:24and thinking about that two-way street in Gainter.
18:27People bringing in new culture
18:30and the town seeming to give just as much back.
18:35And there's no greater display of that
18:38than a bit of this.
18:43Held every two years,
18:45the Gainter Orange Festival
18:47is a celebration of all things citrus.
18:50And it's a lot of fun.
19:05I find these small-town festivals really touching.
19:10There's so much pride in what they do.
19:12They put their heart into everything.
19:15And in the brilliant procession through town,
19:19Moa and Missa and their Tongan friends
19:22have got right in there,
19:23taking out most creative prize
19:26for their rather excellent float
19:28they designed themselves.
19:30Hey, Missa!
19:33They won the award.
19:36They did it.
19:37That's so cool.
19:38How good to see them all.
19:42This whole time we've been here in Gainter,
19:44we've built up our relationship
19:46with the locals, with the people.
19:47And they're just so happy to see us,
19:49to showcase our flags,
19:51showing how proud we are to be at Tongan.
19:57The citrus competitions come in all shapes and sizes.
20:01Go!
20:11And the all-you-can-eat Mandarin competition
20:14is something you can't un-see.
20:17Oh, look at this one in the blue face.
20:19He's going to rip it open and jump in, Jackie.
20:23OK, the rules are simple.
20:25Peel and eat as many mandarins as you can
20:28in three minutes.
20:29Oh, no.
20:30Oh, no.
20:32Doing it, though, is another thing entirely.
20:40Some of the competitors
20:41even come with their own cheer squad.
20:45Olive Lucas, we're all done.
20:47I love him.
20:50Olive's family.
20:52They're very proud.
20:58And wherever I go,
20:59I'm still meeting people attracted to Gaender
21:03from all over the world,
21:05including those banking up their 88 days' regional work
21:08to extend their tourist visas.
21:10We have similar ones in Estonia, but not orange.
21:14We don't grow oranges in Estonia.
21:17It's too cold there.
21:19We just found a post on Facebook.
21:23So I sent it to her, and she was, like, typing to the owners of the Citrus,
21:30and here we are.
21:31I bought a car, and we live in a car, and we love it.
21:34What do you make of a town like Gaender?
21:37It's quiet, and it's, like, safe.
21:41It feels safe here, because everybody's, like, not even locked in their cars, and feeling
21:45safe is, like, the most important thing, especially if you live in a car.
21:51And what have you come here today to do?
21:54To throw the oranges.
21:55Who's going to win the competitions?
21:58Rightio, the first event is the World Championship Orange Throwing Competition.
22:03It's pretty simple.
22:04All you've got to do is throw an orange.
22:05You've got to land it between those two strips of tape,
22:08and you can't step over the line.
22:11Underarm, overarm, the javelin throw.
22:13We've seen it all here before.
22:14If you've got a new technique to bring to the table,
22:17we'd love to see it.
22:18Here we go.
22:19A bit of audience support would help really well.
22:22Oh, well done, the old underarm throw.
22:33There we go.
22:36Oh, well done, Stevie.
22:38Good job.
22:42And he's fouled out, I'm afraid.
22:46OK, so when I agreed to enter this,
22:49I didn't know it was a World Orange Throwing Comp.
22:54But when in Gainda...
22:58I was hoping for a veteran's category, but...
23:02Get behind her, give her a lot of support.
23:06Come on, Lisa, you can do it.
23:15at least I didn't follow.
23:20This entire festival is so full of heart,
23:23so utterly charming,
23:25and just wonderful, simple fun.
23:33But then, as the festival draws to a close,
23:36the crowds move over to the football ground
23:39and the atmosphere changes.
23:42Mundubra Tigers are in the house,
23:45kicking off a match versus the Gainda Gladiators.
23:50This is the battle for the Citrus Cup.
23:54This is the State of Oranges.
23:57Gainda, Gainda, who are we?
24:00Gladiators, victory!
24:02Gainda, Gainda, hear our cry.
24:05Gladiators, do we die?
24:07Four, six, two, five!
24:09Four, six, two, five!
24:10Again, four, six, two, five!
24:12Four, six, two, five!
24:13Go, Gladiators!
24:19This is a major event for Gainda.
24:21The Mundubra Tigers look like they mean business.
24:26As do the fans, including my mate Missa and his wife Talita.
24:32But it's not the best start.
24:36And coming to the end of the first half,
24:38they've got a lot of work to do.
24:40They all wipe us.
24:42We do not go to sleep.
24:43We go back out, you know,
24:45it's not going to stir on the clock, eh?
24:46Just do not panic.
24:48We've got the ball, we load up again, we'll go again.
24:50Let's go.
24:52Hand it in, let's go!
24:53Let's go!
24:54One, two, three, play!
24:56Let's go, Gladiators!
24:58Four up!
24:58Same intensity, same endo!
25:04Oh, look, it's the passion,
25:06but it's that absolute want to beat Mundubra at this game.
25:12This is the game for them of the year,
25:15and to just bring it home,
25:17particularly on a home ground,
25:18in front of their own crowd,
25:20is going to be their number one goal.
25:23This footy club is a reflection of Gainda's whole attitude,
25:28one of acceptance, of support, of encouragement.
25:33I think we're very, very lucky to have those people coming in
25:37that we can learn from.
25:38Isn't that what life's about, learning something new?
25:41And it's that acceptance and willingness to grow
25:45that's giving Gainda its strength.
25:48Yeah, there you go!
25:50It's like, in life, we sow one seed.
25:53In the next three years, we receive tenfold back what we sow.
26:16And today, after a lot of hard hits,
26:19a lot of hard work,
26:21it's all paying off.
26:24With Gainda refusing to be beaten at home,
26:27not at its own Orange Festival.
26:33And the final score is Gainda, 34,
26:36and we've got a 20, that's the score.
26:40The Citrus Cup comes back in the Gainda.
26:44The season's come and go in Gainda,
26:46and so do many of the faces.
26:48But whether people decide to stay,
26:50or they're simply passing through,
26:52it seems to me they enrich the lives
26:55in this little town they've called home.
26:58And right now, that's working for Gainda.
27:05Gainda, Gainda, hear our cry!
27:08Gladiator, still we die!
27:104, 6, 2, 5!
27:114, 6, 2, 5!
27:13And again!
27:144, 6, 2, 5!
27:154, 6, 2, 5!
27:17And again!
27:184, 6, 2, 5!
27:194, 6, 2, 5!
27:21Yay!
27:23Woo!
27:31Next time on Backroads,
27:33I'm hitching a ride with the Sydney Youth Orchestras,
27:36who are meeting up with an Outback Kids Choir.
27:39You did that yourself?
27:40Yeah.
27:40That's insane.
27:41Have you seen an orchestra before?
27:43Not in real life.
27:44For the kids from the bush,
27:46it'll be a rare chance
27:47not just to see an orchestra,
27:49but to perform with one.
27:51Here we go.
27:52And for those from the city,
27:54it'll be an unforgettable taste
27:56of life in the Outback.
27:58MUSIC
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