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Please see Cradoc for other available Cradoc hostels and accommodations.
Please see Cradoc for other available Cradoc hostels and accommodations.
Description
Huon Valley Backpackers Details
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Map
Location/Contact| Address | 4 Sandhill Road, at the corner of Main Road, Cradoc, Tasmania, Australia |
| Location | |
| Website | www.balfeshill.alltasmanian.com |
| Telephone | +61 (3) 6295-1551 |
| Fax | +61 (3) 6295-0875 |
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Hostelz.com Guest Reviews
AVOID AT ALL COSTS. I have stayed in many hostels throughout the world, including some shockers in Malaysia and Thailand and I can say without doubt that this is the WORST. Rooms are tiny, cold, no power plug to charge anything.. And Jane, the owner -- I am surprised she doesn't charge for the air you breathe while you stay in that place. The 'work' on offer is fruit picking, and honestly you could get better working conditions by begging on the streets of Melbourne. Oh and if you don't stay at her Hostel while you work there, Jane will have you fired, even though she isn't your employer. I also overheard some racist remarks she made about some backpackers staying there -- Makes me ashamed to call myself Australian. Do yourself a favour and go WWOOFing or couchsurfing instead -- The people I met in Cygnet and Huonville are awesome and will help you out with a smile on their faces as opposed to a fake smile and a hand reaching for your wallet. — Tom , Australian (2011-05-20) Average im here now. janye seem nice, a little jaded. shes honest about what work there is (only strawberries at the mo) but the web site is a little out of date the facilities are quite rundown. in the games room everything is broken accept for the table tennis and to confirm there is no heating or plug sockets and the kitchens are below average but the showers are fine and definitely hot. to be fair some of these problems are down to moronic guests who have broken things whilst drunk, stolen kitchen utensils and some who never ever do any washing up!!! im sticking it out for now as the atmosphere is nice with a great mix of people and so far i have seen janye be nothing but fair, including reducing the rent for people stuck on the strawberries. — Anonymous , english (2011-02-11) Balfes Hill we're here picking strawberries. Its not too bad but not good. Sometimes rainy and cold. the water is brown and its true there are no power sockets in the rooms. But otherwise its quite nice and friendly and jayne is a nice english lady who tries to help everyone. She always tries to pick everyone up on time from work and we never have to walk far. The games room is fun for table tennis. there is some reception for vodaphone here which is good. the internet otherwise if you use their computers is $6 an hour. — Luke , australia (2010-12-07) Some things never change. I stayed here in 1996 and although a lot smaller then, I did have some very similar experiences. It was a bit of a learning curve really as none of the 'extra costs' where advertised and it was a bit of a shock after the wonderful hospitality I had received elsewhere from Australians (These owners were not Australian). I was walking into Cygnet one day and Jane stopped and offered me a lift, I thought this was very nice of her, but $2 was added to my bill at the end of the week, this happened a couple of times before I got wise. On another occasion I and a friend had helped Jane's husband Tony to move some logs, just being helpful and not being paid, so Jane invited us to their house for a bbq, we were later billed $5 for this. The sheets were never changed, the power outed all the time and it was generally a miserable time. They also had regular visits from there son who used to get drunk with his petrol head friends and could be quite intimidating to female guests. Can't really comment on the work thing, as I found my own employment, but fruit picking is pretty much a last resort for most people in terms of pay. All in all, I would never stay here again as it was poorly run by a money grabber who seems to still be there. The moral is, pick fruit in another part of Taz and visit beautiful Cygnet with the proceeds. The people of Cygnet are lovely, by the way. — Anonymous , British (2010-10-26) Hmmmmm I have worked in the Huon Vally area a few times and stayed in various places. I'd never stayed at Balfe's Hill (Huon Valley Backpackers) because I'd heard bad things from people I worked with. What I'd hear was that the owner was a bitch and accommodation was way overpriced and lacking in every way. This year I was back in the area for work and was staying in town. I got to know a few other backpackers who were staying at Balfe's Hill and I went to visit them one day and after that I moved in. The reason for me was atmosphere. And that's what it comes down to. The rent is expensive, the facilities are very ordinary -- everything is old and rundown and the rooms are small with no heaters and there's no way to bring your own because the circuit breakers only supply a low voltage and will shut down if they're overloaded, and some rooms have no power points at all. Having no heaters is a big problem, it gets really cold late in the apple season, I'm talking below zero. The kitchens are okay but there's never enough room for preparing or storing your food -- it's always a rushed sh*t fight, and the showers always run out of hot water. I could go on but you get the picture. Everything I'd heard was true, except I found the owner Jane to be a really nice person. You can find cheaper, better, cleaner facilities all around. So why would you stay there? Atmosphere. Balfe's Hill is where most of the backpackers working in the Huon Valley end up. People from all over the world coming together drinking and partying. I had a great time there, met lots of cool people, made some good friends. Working the apple or cherry season is hard boring work and it's nice to share good company and have a laugh after a hard day. So if you want to be where the social action is at, I highly recommend Balfe's Hill. If you prefer to keep to yourself and enjoy long hot showers and comfortable living conditions, avoid like the plague. — A (2009-12-18) Awful I could not believe how bad this hostel was, but worse than the hostel was the owner Jayne. A woman who acted nice until she got your money and then treated you like a piece of dirt who should be grateful that you got to stay in a place with either brown water or no water that was falling apart. She is a big bully who will get you fired from your job if you try to move to satisfactory accommodation. Don't waste your money on her people, go to the farms yourself and ask for work. — Stay away , Australia (2009-01-30) We are not amused This is a working hostel in the sticks. The place doesn't represent value for money at all. 150 dollars per person for this is extortionate, we paid $300 per week with my girlfriend for eight-square meter room with not even socket to plug your electronic devices in. No heating in the rooms meant some nights were freezing. Laundry and dryer costs $10 per load. Internet is $3 per hour, acceptable by Australian standards but it is slow and was often down. Water was also a problem more than once. Owner took way more people in than the place has capacity. When we ran out of water owner shouted at guests and blamed her customers for using too much water, but refused to take responsibility of getting in too many people -- more people to rip off. At the end of my stay there were more than a hundred-eighty people sharing six toilets and showers. Around a hundred of the guests were campers who paid $105 per week for next to nothing, some were forced to pitch their tent on a slope and eventually place looked like a rock festival without cheerful atmosphere and bands or more likely a refugee camp. Owners' business model is also somewhat questionable. If you accept work from her you are forced to stay with her. If you decide to stay somewhere else she will terminate your employment even though she isn't your employer. If you travel to work with some guests' private car you are still forced to pay $5 per day transport fees to the hostel owner, not to the car owner. I saw the owner yelling at guests more than once, sometimes maybe for a reason but more likely when she was unable to face her own mistakes. Good example of that was when she told twenty-one people that they can start work in the morning but she only had need for twenty. The man who got dropped out opened his mouth and had to face outburst of her being sick of people complaining about everything and was ordered to shut up. She also hired a girl to work as a cleaner and refused to pay her wages because she thought work was done badly. When in turn one guy refused to pay the transport fee when they were late from work she kicked him out after an argument. She even accused the guy being a liar and told they were not late because he was the only person complaining. I talked quite a lot with locals and almost everyone had something bad to say about this place. The owner unfortunately has monopoly in the area and she knows it and abuses it. I made a decision to come here after reading positive reviews in the internet. The image of place they gave was very different to the current situation in this hostel. — Jamie , UK (2009-01-26) This is a great hostel, really friendly, great atmosphere, beautiful views, and friendly animals. The lady who runs it is very nice, and is like a mom -- very helpful and kind, she always makes you welcome. There are always lots of Korean and Japanese backpackers, who love it here, I spoke to some who had come back to this hostel for a second time. The rooms are comfortable and clean. There's cable TV, and a good games room. Film nights are popular. Internet access is available.They even do laundry for you. The work is seasonal and is organised by the owner as is the transport -- you always get to work!
In all I think this is one of the friendliest, best kept country hostels I have ever stayed in, I can see why people come back again! — Jenna (2006-10-25) I stayed in this hostel from end of December to middle of May. For me, there are good and bad things to say about it. First of all, it is a working hostel. The prize is relatively normal in these times -- pretty high. Work is nearly always available, but not everybody likes to pick strawberries. There are as well blueberries, cherries, and apples. But these are season fruits, so there is no garantee for work in these. There is but guarantee for work in strawberries. And you can work about six hours a day for "how much you can pick." The One-Women-Management is a lovely lady and runs the place as good as she can. She never gets angry if she mustn't and I never heard anybody complaining about her being a racist or anything alike. The best time for this hostel is in summer -- in autumn it gets really freakin' cold, especially without any heaters in the rooms and only one in each of the three houses' living rooms. The kitchens are quite nice. In the maintime, of course it gets a bit cozy, but no big problem. There are a lot Koreans and Japanese staying in this hostel and in my opinion that is one big plus, because they are really cool people. If you want to learn how to cook in korean or japanese just ask them! The busservice is quite ok -- you get to work in time. You also get into Cygnet for shopping and sightseeing (as if there was anything) once a day. Cygnet is a rather big village or tiny town and the main attraction is nothing. On sunday and sometimes on other days, a bus leaves for Huonville, which is not too far away and features at least a Woolworths. Hitchhiking is pretty easy in this area and a well-used form of travelling. The climate in the Huon Valley is as mild as in Europe -- you have sunshine and rain and sometimes snow. All in all this hostel is 'not too bad' as my girlfriend would say. It has some flaws -- the reception is only open in the evening (for three hours max), intenet is there but a bit expensive -- and some good points -- the fabulous atmosphere, the great view and surrounding area to explore, the lovely pets, the sports and the TV-room -- and all the things said above. Look up the harvesttrail and then decide when to go there! I am looking forward to meet my friends again in this place. Because we all come back to Huon Valley Backpackers. — Moritz (2006-08-29) I am a local. We were lucky to make friends with a dozen or so of the Japanese and Korean backpackers staying at this hostel. They spent a few days with us, kayaking in the bay and collecting buckets of oysters to take back with them for a party or two. They stayed on and on in Cygnet. They loved our temperate climate and understood that the picking was a bit poor this year. That's how it goes with primary production some times. Our Folk Festival was great this year. They loved it and say they can't wait to come back. The Cygnet people look forward to meeting our regular Asian visitors. — John (2006-05-20) This absolutely the worst hostel I have ever seen. STAY AWAY. The staff misleads you when you call to inquire about whether or not there is work (THERE ISN'T!). People there didn't even usually manage to make more than $10 more than what their rent is for the night -- bent over for 3 hours strawberry picking and then back to NOWHERELAND for the remainder of the (likely cold and wet) day. Also, more than once I heard the owner of this hostel making racist comments about Japanese people. — Justine (2006-02-15)