Australia

[Jasper_Scotland]

Been granted a working holiday visa, and am going in (possibly) September. Anyone ever done this before? Any advice?

Im completely undecided about everything, Im still not sure where abouts im going.

I had a look back over previous threads but for some reason they only go back 2 pages.

Cheers

[Jasper_Scotland]

I will add that I have never been to Oz before, hence why im undecided about where to go. One thing I have thought about is hiring a car and doing a bit of driving.

Again, any help appreciated. :)

[CherryRipe]

Probably need to answer a few questions first, like are you planning on working, do you like cities or do you want to get away from them. How old are you ? Male / Female. What is it you're hoping to find / get from the experience.
By the way if you do a search are you just looking for threads from the last couple of months or going back a year or so. I'm sure there will be a few more posts about...

[ChrisFilter]

Head to Melbourne first, then follow your feet. I pretty much never left Melbourne the first time I want to Oz, I loved it that much.

Didn't rate Sydney at all to be honest, but then I only spent 3 days there. It just makes more sense to start in Melbourne as otherwise you'll wanna head North and South from Sydney and have to head in two directions.

[ice-is-forming]

Queensland...i love queensland :) what work do you do?

heres a thread i remember from recently..it has some good ideas in it.

http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=202370

[g force]

4 Words that will stand you in good stead:

Never
Go
To
Adelaide

[Jasper_Scotland]

Thanks for the replies. Few details about me :)

Male
24
Will look for some work, but nothing too exciting, behind a bar or something :)
I do enjoy visiting cities, although I would like to see a bit of both.

I would like to know how easy it is to find work, and basically the normal cost of living. Fuel, ciggies etc. Not only have I never been, I dont know anyone thats been that could fill in the info.

Oh and IIF, thanks for that link, some good info there :)

[Fuzzy]

4 Words that will stand you in good stead:

Never
Go
To
Adelaide

i didnt mind adelaide but then i was there staying with my then g/f who was from adelaide so i got a totally different perspective of hte place.

first time i went from adelaide round the great ocean road to melbourne and then up to sydney and back cross country. i was only there 3 weeks so didnt really see that much but i'd definitly recommend the great ocean road.

[HAL9000]

Going off topic slightly, near the great Ocean road is The Grampians

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61808487@N00/131731738/in/set-72057594110191013/

[CherryRipe]

Thanks for the replies. Few details about me :)

Male
24
Will look for some work, but nothing too exciting, behind a bar or something :)
I do enjoy visiting cities, although I would like to see a bit of both.

I would like to know how easy it is to find work, and basically the normal cost of living. Fuel, ciggies etc. Not only have I never been, I dont know anyone thats been that could fill in the info.

Oh and IIF, thanks for that link, some good info there :)

Right..
If you're coming for a year and unless you have sheadloads of money you'll need to work.. forget about bar jobs generally, there hard to pick up and they normally go to girls. Plenty of other stuff about though, work is easy to pick up here - I sorted a warehouse job out for a traveller recently and it was paying about $18 an hour during the week and $25 on weekends. The thing to remember about work though is - you can get it in the city but don't expect to go to Cairns or places like that and pick it up easily - there's a million other backpackers doing the same thing. That's why most people base themselves in Sydney / Melbourne first, work for 6 moths or so, get some money / contacts together and then travel.
One thing I can recomend is that if you play football join a club - straight away you have a heap of friends and often they can sort you out with a place to live / work.
Cost of living is probably less than the UK - cigs are $10 a pack, fuel $1.30 a litre.
Australia is a great place - I came for a 4 month stay 12 years ago and never left - most of my mates are the same.

[Fledgling]

4 Words that will stand you in good stead:

Never
Go
To
Adelaide

Adelaide's OK, very inoffensive stopover place.

A WHV dpepends entirely on your preferences. A lot of people are still doing the classic work in Sydney or Melbourne for a few months to try and save money before heading to Cairns. But there is a lot more to the country than that coast. What do you want to see? If you like cities and nightlife Sydney and Melbourne dominate your itinery with Cairns thrown in, although finding work in cairns esp in the dry (April-October) is v. hard. My favourite places were Darwin (always hot!) and Tasmania (rarely hot but very different to the mainland and worth a look).

If you plan to do the classic (and IMO overated) east coast you probably will run out of money and need to fruit pick; try to save up £2000 before you go to avoid doing this.

Personally I felt that visiting Australia was a disappointment because it is hard to break away from the bakcpacker industryand while you arew there it is seemingly impossible to leave that set up. Thankfully i did for a while, but some people loved that side of things. Be warned, the backpacking industry there is HUGE.

[HarryinOz]

I'd agree with a previous poster who said to save money before you come over here...you'll get a good exchange rate and picking fruit all day isn't really that much fun.

Domestic flights over here have become really cheap (because theres a lot of competition) so if you want to go anywhere check the internet for Air fares, they are usually the cheapest way to travel! if you get the "specials" and no booking flights....(eg it's $69 (Au) from Sydney to Melb.) plus Australia is BIG so sitting on a bus for 2 days to go to Melb. from Syd. or Vice versa isn't much fun.

If you like the coast, Northern NSW has a lot of beautiful little coastal towns that are better than the "tourist places" plus the area has a large hippy population from all over the world. Obviously if you like night life then the city's are the go...

Broome on the West coast is different to any other place I've ever been ...worth a visit if your over that way (btw, definitely go there in Winter otherwise it is too hot and humid because it's in the tropics).

I also like Hobart and the East coast of Tassie. .... again, it's different to Sydney and Melb. but worth a visit.

[ice-is-forming]

have a look at the jobsearch site..

https://jobsearch.gov.au/Login/Login.aspx?WHCode=0

is yer visa for a year? you could get a live in job on Fraser island/hervey bay save some $$ and go from there..(southern qld, fraser coast on that site)

its just starting whale watching season up here, and that rolls into summer..loads of work in a beautiful hot place with lots to do and see and good times galore if your a 24 yr old traveler.:cool:

i would ;)

[Jasper_Scotland]

Excellent info guys, all very much appreciated :)

I do have a bit of money saved up, around 4K. One thing I did think of was flying into Perth and hiring a car and driving east. Seems theres an aditional charge of £400 as im dropping the car off in a different location :eek:

[Jasper_Scotland]

IIF, I had already found that site. I noticed that hardly any jobs listed a wage, instead in the salary bit it says "award". You know what this means? Is there a min wage in Australia?

Oh, and yes, its for a year :)

[ice-is-forming]

award means the regulated pay for that industry...

http://www.wagenet.gov.au/WageNet/HomePage/HomePage.asp

minimum wage is $12.30 p/h. :) thats what you'd get in a bar or kitchen most likely.

[Jasper_Scotland]

Thanks :)

[Kripcat]

award means the regulated pay for that industry...

http://www.wagenet.gov.au/WageNet/HomePage/HomePage.asp

minimum wage is $12.30 p/h. :) thats what you'd get in a bar or kitchen most likely.

I didn't know that, I'm practicly getting minimum wage :cool: :(.

If your after want a big change from your current residence I wouldn't recomend, Melbourne or Sydney really. The Australia of baned tourism ads is up Ice's way, we have a lot of sport and drought in the South East not much in the way of consistantly loverly weather or crocodiles.

As Harry said, take advantage of the exchange rate.
http://www.exchange-rates.org/history/AUD/GBP/G/180
Assuming current trends continue and you go relativly soon (Next year or so) You'll get about two AUD for every pound you earn so get to saving. A nice meal out might cost you $35-40. AUD

[ice-is-forming]

at the moment i am getting $230 in exchange for 100 quid...

so your 4000 quid is gonna turn into $9,200 or there abouts.

and i had a nice meal out for $10. today

[Kanda]

Excellent info guys, all very much appreciated :)

I do have a bit of money saved up, around 4K. One thing I did think of was flying into Perth and hiring a car and driving east. Seems theres an aditional charge of £400 as im dropping the car off in a different location :eek:

I'd spend some time in Perth then head South to Albany then across to Esperance then up to Kalgoorlie... then choose where next. Thats a lot of Western Oz taken in and a pretty good drive.

[Kripcat]

at the moment i am getting $230 in exchange for 100 quid...

so your 4000 quid is gonna turn into $9,200 or there abouts.

and i had a nice meal out for $10. today

You've still got pounds? In a Shoebox?

$35-40 for booze and courses, course you can get a sandwich or a bowl of pasta for $10.

[ice-is-forming]

jasper, i asked just wicked campers if they charged extra for picking up on west coast and dropping off on east coast...

they sent me this back...

Hi ,

The minimum hire Perth to a city/depot on the East coast starts from 4
weeks.

There will be one way and outback fees additional to the nightly rate
and damage cover.

If you would like an accurate quote please send specific pick up date in
Perth, return date and location, age of drivers.

Kind regards,

Tina Jorgensen

@: tina@wickedcampers.com.au
Australia 1800 24 68 69

if you are coming this way my son may be able to sort you a job in a kitchen/bar?? if you have experience? + live in/somewhere to stay...when are you coming over?

he lives and works here..hospitality work city and island. a 'workable' town.

http://www.herveybay.qld.gov.au/

and did i mention its in qld ;) ....

have a look at that fruit picking site on the gov jobsearch site..it gives you all the harvest trails..

its what your into really tho ...whats your expectations...??

you could go all around on the harvest trail??

you could go live out west and ride horses...blag your way on to a trawler...??

work with home comforts have a holiday and earning iyswim??

live in and work here....

http://www.fraserisland.net/

go and work on a whale watching vessel.watch whales all day :)

whilst earning ...then go travel once you' spoken to other back packers, cos h.bay is a back packers party town...:cool: and if you get some information first it'll make your life easier. more time to holiday iyswim?

go busking in Melbourne?? marry an aus girl and migrate ;)

you could do a bit of everything .. a year is a long time :)

[ice-is-forming]

You've still got pounds? In a Shoebox?

$35-40 for booze and courses, course you can get a sandwich or a bowl of pasta for $10.

shhh...its under the mattress ;)

[Jasper_Scotland]

jasper, i asked just wicked campers if they charged extra for picking up on west coast and dropping off on east coast...

they sent me this back...

Hi ,

The minimum hire Perth to a city/depot on the East coast starts from 4
weeks.

There will be one way and outback fees additional to the nightly rate
and damage cover.

If you would like an accurate quote please send specific pick up date in
Perth, return date and location, age of drivers.

Kind regards,

Tina Jorgensen

@: tina@wickedcampers.com.au
Australia 1800 24 68 69

if you are coming this way my son may be able to sort you a job in a kitchen/bar?? if you have experience? + live in/somewhere to stay...when are you coming over?

he lives and works here..hospitality work city and island. a 'workable' town.

http://www.herveybay.qld.gov.au/

and did i mention its in qld ....

have a look at that fruit picking site on the gov jobsearch site..it gives you all the harvest trails..

its what your into really tho ...whats your expectations...??

you could go all around on the harvest trail??

you could go live out west and ride horses...blag your way on to a trawler...??

work with home comforts have a holiday and earning iyswim??

live in and work here....

http://www.fraserisland.net/

go and work on a whale watching vessel.watch whales all day :)

whilst earning ...then go travel once you' spoken to other back packers, cos h.bay is a back packers party town...:cool: and if you get some information first it'll make your life easier. more time to holiday iyswim?

go busking in Melbourne?? marry an aus girl and migrate ;)

you could do a bit of everything .. a year is a long time :)

Greta post! Thanks for the info, sorry its taken so long to reply, been at TITP over the weekend :)

[Leeloks]

I traveled Australia extensively and the big cities is where the work is at. A hint of caution is the sales jobs on commission only. A mate got ripped off big time and this happens a lot apparently.
If you don't mind some legit (decent) sales if your going near Brisbane or up to the notorious Cairns i'll spin you an email of a mate who backpacked and now has his own business in Australia. :)

[Augie March]

A hint of caution is the sales jobs on commission only. A mate got ripped off big time and this happens a lot apparently.


Aye. Spent a week doing business-to-business sales in Melbourne and before discovering I was on $0 basic. Quickly left that job which was just as well, because apparently after a week you have to start paying for all work travel expenses (I was just about to go on a field trip to Adelaide before I left, so dodged a bullet there!).

Best place to get work is Sydney. If you're looking for office work, just sign up to an agency like Hays or Blackadder. Some jobs they give you will be pretty menial and tedious, but as it's all temp work, the pay is often really good. :)

[Leeloks]

Found it ok in Brisbane Augie, got some catering/bar work fairly easy.

[Augie March]

Found it ok in Brisbane Augie, got some catering/bar work fairly easy.

Never made it to Brisbane. Although my mate did and ended up working in an abattoir killing cows. :(

[Leeloks]

Never made it to Brisbane. Although my mate did and ended up working in an abattoir killing cows. :(

Fuck that for a game. Brisbane has far more to offer than that surely..... :eek:

[Augie March]

Fuck that for a game. Brisbane has far more to offer than that surely..... :eek:

To be fair he was only doing it as part of making up his 3 month agricultural work so he could apply for a second year working visa.

It was either that or fruit-picking.

[ice-is-forming]

abattoir work is the pits, its 'wet' BUT you do get to wear those nice white wellie boots that i always associate with psychos ;) AND it pays very well.

however jasper, for something a little more conventional, Australian, warm, sunny and fun try queensland.

sooo much kitchen, bar work around here and its hardly ever off season....brisbane is ok but ime a city is a city is a city, where ever you are.

you could do worse than have a serious look at hervey bay for yer starting place....:)

i mean there are lots n lots of other nice places and the bay has changed a lot in the last 5 years ...become VERY affluent, which really means even more money/opportunities for us poor people.;)

there is always live in work here on fraser island..some travelers i know have applied from the uk and been picked up from the airport and taken over on the catermeran/barge . sorted, earning, somewhere to live etc...until you find yer feet to go traveling or whatever.

http://www.kingfisherbayresort.net.au/?source=AdwordB_@Kingfisher2&gclid=CJ2tnqjKpY0CFRTVXgodMRuOug

another place that loves to employ the british cos they like a nice party atmosphere ;) is...Beaches backpackers,

http://www.beaches.com.au/information.php

there is one in hervey bay and one at airlie beach.a little further north ..Airlie beach is the place to be in qld on new years eve :cool:

[Leeloks]

The thing i found with Hervey was the same as other resorts like Byron in the competition for work was quite intense to non-existent for backpackers. There are jobs but they are limited.

Airlie beach is cool, Whitsundays is beautiful as well. Actually saw vacancies there for my profession (conservationist/ecologist) which i made a note of. Now i know where to look when i plan to emigrate. :)

[ice-is-forming]

its who you know in the bay ;)

heroinesheep (poster on here) is up by the Whitsundays with a good job going on :cool: and she seems to spend her time sailing with drunken ecologists :D

its beautiful up there :)

[Jasper_Scotland]

Sorry ive not been on in a while guys. Firstly thanks for all the info, some good stuff here, much appreciated.

Ice, I will PM you shortly.

Cheers :)

[obanite]

Just want to reiterate whoever mentioned the north coast of NSW - the mid-north is absolutely beautiful, saw one of the best sunsets in my life at Valla Beach, but they're all really pretty and quiet around there.

[Belushi]

Never made it to Brisbane. Although my mate did and ended up working in an abattoir killing cows. :(

Thats exactly what my old man did when he emigrated out to Brisbane in '71 :D