Australia

[Deano 0]

G'day boys and gals!

 

Me and the mrs are planning on fuckin off to australia for a year or two.

 

Been looking about the interweb for information about visa requirements and how much money we NEED to enter the country, accomodation in Queensland (Cairns and Brisbane preferrably) and work in those areas.

 

Has anyone on here ever done this before and have any advice?

 

Whats the cost of living like in comparison to here?

 

Also any info from the resident ozzies on here would be helpfull.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

Aussies start every sentence with "Look, yeah...." or "Arr, Look...." Amusing at first but soon gets annoying.

[Deano 0]

Thats ok...il be annoyin them with me finishing most sentences with "Dya know what a mean like?"

[Gemmill 46088]

They've got a points based system for their visa. You can do it on the internet to see if you get enough points. Assume you've done that?

[Sonatine 11572]

Just fill this in

 

 

[trophyshy 7084]

exchange rate is woeful, you will find it expensive until you start earning $AU

Edited September 25, 2010 by trophyshy

[Deano 0]

They've got a points based system for their visa. You can do it on the internet to see if you get enough points. Assume you've done that?

 

Yeah mate done the assessment for the visa which i passed obviously. haha.

 

And yes i can "Apply" for the Visa itself if i want to pay £200 right now, which i dont.

 

What im trying to find out is how much exactly i need in the bank to get into the country? Some say its $5000 AUS Which currently is about 3 grand, but then some people who have went recently are saying its nearer 2 grand our money.

 

I mean the real bugging thing is that they say you need $5000 each to cover initial living expences. But a little research says rent for a NICE 2 bed fully furnished apartment is $1000 max, $5000 a month each.

 

Which to me "initial" means the 1st month considering its said to be very easy to find work if your not too picky.

 

Hmmmmphh

Edited September 25, 2010 by Geordie Lad...

[Rob W 0]

generally cost of living is the same as here - you pay less for food and more for decent accommodation - plus you need a car most places outside the main city centres

 

its an American living style grafted onto the English/Greek/Italian/Yugoslav working class

 

Currently you'll get A$ 1.65 per pound - which is a dreadful rate - its normally about 2.2 to the pound

 

Most jobs you pick up on a working visa are pretty grim - whatever you do stay away from fruit picking and the like - its HOT out there and the places are normally pretty basic country towns

 

Its easier to get a decent job if you can promise them you'll stay for at least 9 months - there are loads of students who can fill the 3 month slots

 

It sounds stupid but make sure you take copies of your qualifications and your CV to hand over to a prospective employer - and copies of your work permit

[Walliver 0]

I've just been granted a working holiday visa and I'm heading over at the end of October. As you mentioned, the forms say you need $5000, which is just over £3k at the moment, but at no point have they asked me to prove that I have this much money. When I got mine I paid roughly £130, is £200 for a joint visa?

 

To counter what Rob said about staying nine months in a job - my visa only allows me to work for an employer for six months and I'd assume yours would be the same. There may be ways to wangle it and still do the same job while technically having a different employer but I don't know the ins and outs of it. However, if you're amazing at your job your employer can offer to sponsor you for a five year proper visa, not sure if that's something that would appeal.

 

If you don't really care what sort of work you're doing there are sites like http://www.helpx.net/ that will set you up with farm work - basically you do a few hours work a day in exchange for a bed and food, whether it's picking weeding, DIY work or picking bananas changes depending on the farm. That way whatever money you take with you just needs to cover travel, booze and any luxuries you want to pick up and gives you an experience that keeps you out of an office.

[Deano 0]

I've just been granted a working holiday visa and I'm heading over at the end of October. As you mentioned, the forms say you need $5000, which is just over £3k at the moment, but at no point have they asked me to prove that I have this much money. When I got mine I paid roughly £130, is £200 for a joint visa?

 

To counter what Rob said about staying nine months in a job - my visa only allows me to work for an employer for six months and I'd assume yours would be the same. There may be ways to wangle it and still do the same job while technically having a different employer but I don't know the ins and outs of it. However, if you're amazing at your job your employer can offer to sponsor you for a five year proper visa, not sure if that's something that would appeal.

 

If you don't really care what sort of work you're doing there are sites like http://www.helpx.net/ that will set you up with farm work - basically you do a few hours work a day in exchange for a bed and food, whether it's picking weeding, DIY work or picking bananas changes depending on the farm. That way whatever money you take with you just needs to cover travel, booze and any luxuries you want to pick up and gives you an experience that keeps you out of an office.

 

I dont think they ask you for proof of funds until you actually go through customs in australia where they ask for a bank statement.....its random spot checks so in theory anyone could get lucky.

 

They told me the same thing too with regards to work. No longer than 6 months with any employer.

 

Getting a sponsorship is something id definitly be interested in. The chance to leave this hole for an extended period of time would be welcomed.

 

Our plans are to go over with the $5000 each, rent an apartment for roughly $800 pm and use Cairns as a base.

 

Work three months and travel three, work 3, travel 3 and possibly stay for a second year if all is well.

 

I cant wait man...i bet your dying to just get over there now ay? Good luck mate!

 

Let me know how its going once your out there yeah?

[wykikitoon 20798]

Just fill this in

 

 

 

Thats class

[sammynb 3517]

Just fill this in

 

 

 

Thats class

 

That's the old one, part 4 has been updated, we now make the World Cup Finals

[Rob W 0]

I've just been granted a working holiday visa and I'm heading over at the end of October. As you mentioned, the forms say you need $5000, which is just over £3k at the moment, but at no point have they asked me to prove that I have this much money. When I got mine I paid roughly £130, is £200 for a joint visa?

 

To counter what Rob said about staying nine months in a job - my visa only allows me to work for an employer for six months and I'd assume yours would be the same. There may be ways to wangle it and still do the same job while technically having a different employer but I don't know the ins and outs of it. However, if you're amazing at your job your employer can offer to sponsor you for a five year proper visa, not sure if that's something that would appeal.

 

If you don't really care what sort of work you're doing there are sites like http://www.helpx.net/ that will set you up with farm work - basically you do a few hours work a day in exchange for a bed and food, whether it's picking weeding, DIY work or picking bananas changes depending on the farm. That way whatever money you take with you just needs to cover travel, booze and any luxuries you want to pick up and gives you an experience that keeps you out of an office.

 

I dont think they ask you for proof of funds until you actually go through customs in australia where they ask for a bank statement.....its random spot checks so in theory anyone could get lucky.

 

They told me the same thing too with regards to work. No longer than 6 months with any employer.

 

Getting a sponsorship is something id definitly be interested in. The chance to leave this hole for an extended period of time would be welcomed.

 

Our plans are to go over with the $5000 each, rent an apartment for roughly $800 pm and use Cairns as a base.

 

Work three months and travel three, work 3, travel 3 and possibly stay for a second year if all is well.

 

I cant wait man...i bet your dying to just get over there now ay? Good luck mate!

 

Let me know how its going once your out there yeah?

 

 

There isn't a lot of of work in Cairns other than in tourism and agriculture - bit of a one horse town if you as k me and in the Wet it can be bloody dreadful

 

Lot more choice of work in Brisbane TBH

[trophyshy 7084]

plus the heat will kill you. It's all about Melbourne for me.

[Walliver 0]

plus the heat will kill you. It's all about Melbourne for me.

 

A lot of people I've spoken to have said similar. They also rave about the west coast which is often ignored by people heading over to Sydney, the Barrier Reef etc on the east. Apparently the diving on the west coast is incredible, there's an island full of quokkas and, if big rocks are your thing, western Australia has a something twice as big as Ayers Rock.

 

My rough plan at the moment is a month in Melbourne, a month following the Ashes, a month in Perth, three in Adelaide, April in Melbourne for the comedy festival, a month in Tasmania, then Sydney, New Zealand and along the northern territories until my visa's up. I hope I'm not coming back to the UK and I think Brazil would be the perfect place to go to the World Cup so I'm thinking of heading there for 2014, which would mean a year in Asia (mainly Japan), a year split between Hawaii and the west coast of USA, then travel down through Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras etc and into South America in time for the football. Then see some more of South America and head to the Caribbean for the winter.

 

I'm sure things will change along the way, but it beats the crap out of saying 'I'll stay in this job for five years and see what happens'.

[Guest alex]

Anyone spending taking a year out / spending a year travelling is daft to do it all or even the majority of it working / living in Oz imo. And Walliver, a month in Perth and THREE in Adelaide? Are you out of your fucking tree? Adelaide's a nice enough place but a week's more than enough and the same applies to Perth. When I was in Oz too many backpackers fell into the trap of doing a shitty job with long hours just so they could live in Sydney, Melbourne or one of the other cities for a few months. Total waste of time imo, you could have been anywhere tbh. You're better off restricting yourself to a 2-3 months max in Australia and seeing other places.

[toughguymick@hotmail.co.uk 0]

I think the aussies need to understand what your saying to get a visa. Try and change your accent like Ant and Dec and Cheryl Cole.

[Walliver 0]

Anyone spending taking a year out / spending a year travelling is daft to do it all or even the majority of it working / living in Oz imo. And Walliver, a month in Perth and THREE in Adelaide? Are you out of your fucking tree? Adelaide's a nice enough place but a week's more than enough and the same applies to Perth. When I was in Oz too many backpackers fell into the trap of doing a shitty job with long hours just so they could live in Sydney, Melbourne or one of the other cities for a few months. Total waste of time imo, you could have been anywhere tbh. You're better off restricting yourself to a 2-3 months max in Australia and seeing other places.

 

The only reason I'm spending so long in Adelaide is that I've got a friend there who's setting me up with a cricket team. It would be foolish for me to go to Australia and not spend a bit of time playing with people who actually know what the sport is.

 

What did you get up to when you were in Oz? And when you say 'seeing other places' do you have any specific recommendations?

[Guest alex]

Anyone spending taking a year out / spending a year travelling is daft to do it all or even the majority of it working / living in Oz imo. And Walliver, a month in Perth and THREE in Adelaide? Are you out of your fucking tree? Adelaide's a nice enough place but a week's more than enough and the same applies to Perth. When I was in Oz too many backpackers fell into the trap of doing a shitty job with long hours just so they could live in Sydney, Melbourne or one of the other cities for a few months. Total waste of time imo, you could have been anywhere tbh. You're better off restricting yourself to a 2-3 months max in Australia and seeing other places.

 

The only reason I'm spending so long in Adelaide is that I've got a friend there who's setting me up with a cricket team. It would be foolish for me to go to Australia and not spend a bit of time playing with people who actually know what the sport is.

 

What did you get up to when you were in Oz? And when you say 'seeing other places' do you have any specific recommendations?

Firstly, we won the Ashes

I really enjoyed Tropical North Queensland (not Cairns like, which is nowt special but is a tourist trap because of its international airport, but near there). You could go up to Cape Tribulation, visit Mosman Gorge, the Daintree river, etc. I also stayed in a rainforest lodge at Mission Beach (this place: http://www.sanctuaryretreat.com.au). It was an amazing experience but don't go if you're scared of spiders. The Great Barrier Reef is also worth seeing and there are loads of boats going out of the various places.

Also when you're in Queensland you might want to consider taking a short sailing trip (2-3 nights) out of Airlie Beech. Airlie Beach itself is nothing to write home about imo (pretty tacky, touristy) but the Whitsunday Islands offshore are beautiful coral fringed islands and are really worth seeing.

As for other places, I didn't actually go but Ningaloo Reef is supposed to be amazing. It's in Western Australia and while it isn't as large as the Great Barrier Reef it is less visited and there are places where you can swim from the shore to the reef. Obviously you should follow local advice re: safety etc.

One thing about visiting the tropics though is that they have a wet season and a dry season which roughly corresponds to the wet season being the southern hemisphere summer and vice-versa with the dry and you don't want to be way up North during 'the wet'.

Fraser Island is another place worth visiting in Queensland. It's the biggest sand island in the world which perhaps doesn't sound all that impressive but it's got a beech 70 miles long, numerous fresh water lakes and is largely covered in rainforest.

Also in Queensland, I spent about a week on North Stradbroke Island which lies in Moreton Bay off the coast from Brisbane. It's a lovely place to chill out and has lots of lovely beaches that are safe for surfing and/or swimming.

Other than that I regret not going to the South Pacific islands and more specifically the Cook Islands as they are relatively close and easy to get to from Oz (via NZ iirc) whereas they're a hell of a distance from the UK and they look absolutely amazing.

I suppose it's all down to personal taste and what you want to get out of the trip but I think it's a waste going there and spending a lot of time in the cities. I'm not saying they are worth checking out but the way of life isn't all that different to back home, in terms of culture anyway, if not the weather sort of being a mix of America and Britain.

You could also easily see lots of Asia as you're not too far away once you're down there.

As an aside, and since you're doing a lot of travelling, I thought Canada was a nicer place than Oz (Coastal British Columbia / Vancouver Island etc. especially and the Rockies).

[BigAl 0]

I really enjoyed the Whitsunday Islands when I was in OZ, as has been said going to the Barrier Reef out of Airlie Beach is a good choice as the reef is in good condition unlike Cairns were there has been a lot of damage over the years, I also really enjoyed Fraser island.

I visited Perth, Broome & Monkey Mia in WA which is where the wild dolphins come into shore about knee deep and you can stroke them, it's only the females and there young that do this as the males are quite territorial and can be aggressive.

Sydney is a great city, I visited at the start of my trip and at the end at it really grew on me, it was a long time ago that I travelled around Australia and I enjoyed it but I would not be in a hurry to go back.

[Rob W 0]

Anyone spending taking a year out / spending a year travelling is daft to do it all or even the majority of it working / living in Oz imo. And Walliver, a month in Perth and THREE in Adelaide? Are you out of your fucking tree? Adelaide's a nice enough place but a week's more than enough and the same applies to Perth. When I was in Oz too many backpackers fell into the trap of doing a shitty job with long hours just so they could live in Sydney, Melbourne or one of the other cities for a few months. Total waste of time imo, you could have been anywhere tbh. You're better off restricting yourself to a 2-3 months max in Australia and seeing other places.

 

Adelaide's a nice spot (and relatively cheap) but its better for living than visiting - a week max in town and maybe another week travelling out and about - there is a lot more to see in Oz

[Rob W 0]

The Big Red Centre is amazing - a few days in Alice, a couple at Ayres Rock etc

 

The Great Ocean road is good and Wilpena Pound in S Australia is good

 

Watch the weather - when its hot its bloody frying - places like Adelaide get to +40C every summer

 

The Wet is worth avoiding - it just falls non-stopa nd you can't go off road anywhere

[Ruler of Planet Houston 1]

Surely the words "Work" and "Holiday" contradict each other? You can do one or the other.

[Guest alex]

Anyone spending taking a year out / spending a year travelling is daft to do it all or even the majority of it working / living in Oz imo. And Walliver, a month in Perth and THREE in Adelaide? Are you out of your fucking tree? Adelaide's a nice enough place but a week's more than enough and the same applies to Perth. When I was in Oz too many backpackers fell into the trap of doing a shitty job with long hours just so they could live in Sydney, Melbourne or one of the other cities for a few months. Total waste of time imo, you could have been anywhere tbh. You're better off restricting yourself to a 2-3 months max in Australia and seeing other places.

 

Adelaide's a nice spot (and relatively cheap) but its better for living than visiting - a week max in town and maybe another week travelling out and about - there is a lot more to see in Oz

I just fucking said that man.

[trophyshy 7084]

Tasmania is beautiful in the summer, Wine Glass Bay is stunning as is a lot of the west coast, some amazing remote ancient forests with giant gum trees - Eucalyptus regnans, the largest flowering plant in the world, arguably the largest overall. Tassie Devils are worth a look too, if you can find any without the terrible face cancer. The view from Mount Wellington which broods over Hobart just 15 mins drive away, at 1271 m bigger than anything in England, is pretty impressive. Fantastic kelp forest diving too. Slightly off the beaten track but worth it for an hour or so flight from Melbourne. Tasmanians are friendly and straightforward people too, despite the slagging they're given by mainlanders. Very strong weed also, if you're into that sort of thing.

Edited September 28, 2010 by trophyshy