Victoria's Borderline Backpackers

Shithole!
It started with my arrival in Mildura -- I was not placed in the hostel itself (I always look for a hostel in the centre of town), but one thirty minutes walking from the centre (and the supermarket). Next to that, it was an asylum so we weren't allowed to drink alcohol anywhere but in our rooms. The couple that run that place were by the way great people. Vickey is all the time playing your best friend, but in the end never does what she promises you. And that is so annoying! I was lucky to have a job but a lot of people that made the trip to Mildura were told by the farmer that there was no work for them. Furthermore, you have to pay for the transport to your work. That is not normal! Vickey also asks a $20 administration fee, but after some days I learned that the farmer's wife is paying the wages, so why do we have to pay this 20 AUD? When I left the place Vickey promised me to bring me to the Greyhound stop. This was on Saturday evening 7 p.m. I went to the local pub and when I came home at 2:30 a.m. there was a note on my door that Vickey wasn't able to take me to the bus. And then what? I just walk? I had to call a cab that cost me 15 AUD! That is exactly how the she is -- she promises you everything with a lovely smile, and then by phone call, or through somebody else, you will get the message that it's not going to happen. Don't go there! There are plenty of other places to get a job.

Get out!
We were fortunate enough not to stay at this hostel, but we were unfortunate enough, however, to be told that there were six or seven days of work for us at great pay. We left our comfortable flat in Melbourne, only to be stranded at the train station and Vicky had mysteriously turned her mobile off, leaving her completely unreachable. We also paid the $60 each for harvest trail, who set us up with this mess. Never got that money back. If you ever are told "Vicky" has work for you, run like hell.

Very homey
I came to know Vickey quite well over the three months there. I understand that there are people that complain, that is because they are lazy and try to rip off Vickey and don't want to work for their money to keep their jobs! i was orange packing and i made great money, was ready for work on time, and actually worked! Over that time i saw people come and go, some got fired because they partied too hard and couldn't be bothered working. Vickey was like a version of my mum, she invited me to dinner one night in her own home -- a great cook! BBQs on Saturday nights are awesome! Made some best friends that i'll stay in touch with forever!

Do not stay here! Vickey is racist, unscrupulous, and a con artist. Vickey promised us work picking oranges. well guess what? the grower told us they knew months ago that orange picking would not be for another two weeks. Vickey placed us in a filthy farmhouse an hour out of Mildura -- there were no caucasian backpackers staying there. What blatant discrimination! Then Vickey offered us "Tax free" payment for picking beans -- which we refused. So much for Aussies' "fair go" and "mateship." Appalling!

ok here is a little overview of my stay in mildura and moreso my stay at Vicky's backpackers. Mildura is a cool place to backpack for a while, i would recommend it, if you are there are the right time. the only real backpacking jobs are based on seasonal work -- fruit picking, packing. you can make good money, i was earning between $700 and $900 a week, but i was one of the lucky one working in the packing factory, i know the guys doing pick were earning far less, $250 some week, just getting them past rent and food. As far as Vicky's backpackers goes, i would not recommend staying there, she is indeed manipulative and unfortunately not at all worried about the backpackers but more her own bottom line at the end of every month. Russel is not too bad, rather good, innocent bloke. People in mildura are pretty friendly, i met some cool girls and generally had a great time, a lot of drinking and partying, not to mention meeting other great people from around the world! so i guess in closing i would say, go to mildura for a bit, meet some people, get drunk -- just don't stay at Vicky's Borderline Backpackers!

Looks like it didn't change a bit since I was there in 2003/2004! Vicky really is weird and manipulating. But I made the best friends there, because we were all in the same position, against Vicky and her (not so bad) husband Russel!

mildura is a bizarre little town but you can have a great time and make good money. whatever you do, do not stay at this hostel. i have never met someone like vicky in my life. incredibly unorganised and unprofessional, she blatantly lies and manipulates situations to her advantage. she promised me that i was next in line for a good job only to offer it to three other people before eventually getting back to me -- the three others were about to leave and she wanted to tempt them to stay with the offer of this job regardless of the fact that i had been there for longer than these people. she throws people out for no reason, treats people like trash, and has no respect for them or their property. if you try and reason with her you get nowhere. this woman has no power of thought or argument and is so infuriating to talk to you that you end up giving up, its a very good tactic i must say. there are other hostels -- go there.

Hi,i'm a young backpacker who spend more than three month in the weirdest backpack i've never seen.. This place is called Victoria's Borderline Backpackers in Mildura. I resume with few details how does they work: Broke like most of the backpacker who spend too much time in the cities,i looked on internet and saw everywhere the link for the website. I called the owner and she guaranteed you 6 to 7 days a week of work,saying that you'll have more than 600$ a week.. You go there and you've to pay $20 of administration fee,$5 key deposit(they never come back) $130 per week and $6/day of transport.. But finally you discover that vickey the owner,lie all the time,she keep you little bit broke to have enough money for the rent&food.. But that maybe normal for backpack buisness(?)... The most disgusting part,she sack some person pretending that there is no more job and in the same time say on the phone to new persons that they'ld work the next day (to have some new fresh $20). The places are unhealthy with dirt and fungus everywhere.. She almost kill all the backpackers few times drink and driving the saturday morning or just sleeping and driving like last week.. She keep your passport during weeks and give you back strangely dirty(?)..for the documents that you need as pay slip ect..she keep them until the end even if you needed in emergency and you have to fight hardly for..and there is more stories.. Please stop reference this freaky place actually more than 10 backpackers waiting there for a job,going in debt with the backpack,stack because of there financial situation and the Vickey's lies.. Even Russel the dodge partner told me with arrogance : that they don't care about the backpackers complains because they still having exactly the same number of 'future victims' every year.. Thanks for all that you could do and for the image of australia

This place is sh*t. There's nobody to do the cleaning and it's freezing. You pay a lot for nothing

Probably the worst hostel I've been so far. No Cleaner for the bathroom and kitchen. And really small for for many people. The owner (Vivky) is quite a strange person. Sometimes hard to get work.