So, you want to go to Australia on a Working Holiday Visa

Staceyc1990

My visa has just been approved !!!

Thanks for the reply, do you think brisbane south bank will be good to live there overall then? And would it be easy to make Friends in the hostels there?

If surfers paradise isn't that good then, what's the Sunshine Coast like? Also is Fraser Island good? I just need a good beach close to brisbane... Obviously I wouldn't mind travelling to cairns or Sydney but I'm hoping Brisbane will be good to make friends with at hostels and an ideal place to live in between the beach/trips/expeditions

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 502

BKS

19

Original post by LyndonB

Thanks for the reply, do you think brisbane south bank will be good to live there overall then? And would it be easy to make Friends in the hostels there?

If surfers paradise isn't that good then, what's the Sunshine Coast like? Also is Fraser Island good? I just need a good beach close to brisbane... Obviously I wouldn't mind travelling to cairns or Sydney but I'm hoping Brisbane will be good to make friends with at hostels and an ideal place to live in between the beach/trips/expeditions

For a hostel stay, yeah South Bank/West End. If you plan to properly live there then you'll probably want to get a house share which is likely to be around the edges of the areas with hostels. The area of the hostel has no real baring on making friends.

To me it's not. I met some folks there working for accommodation who'd been there for months but they are the sort who just want to party every night and bum around all day which isn't my thing.

Fraser is a must, if you can I'd even say spend 2 day/1night there because I did one day and felt I hadn't seen enough of it. I went from Hervey Bay which is a sort of dull place but I stayed in Mango Hostel which is by far the best hostel I've stayed in. It's not for making friends but it feels like a home so I went there for a few days for Fraser and to chill after a month of non-stop travel.

I only went to Noosa in the Sunshine Coast, much more to it than Surfers, nicer beach, good walks round the national park, canoeing the rivers.

If you want the best of everything then I say work as much as you can in Brisbane for a good few months then spend the rest of your time travelling on the money. Brisbane just isn't the best for beaches. If you want to live and work somewhere with a good beach then my vote would be for Manly/Northern beaches of Sydney

Reply 503

carlylebell

What is the difference between a 'working holiday' visa and a 'work and holiday' visa. The former is not eligible for US passport holders, but I otherwise could not find any difference between the two.

Thanks!

Reply 504

BKS

19

Original post by carlylebell

What is the difference between a 'working holiday' visa and a 'work and holiday' visa. The former is not eligible for US passport holders, but I otherwise could not find any difference between the two.

Thanks!

Dunno, never heard of working and holiday. You looked at the detail of work restrictions and length of stay?

I met an American or two and wasn't aware of there being in difference in what they can do

Reply 505

Staceyc1990

12

Americans aren't allowed a second year. I think that's the only difference

Reply 506

LyndonB

Fraser Island sounds real good then, yeah I'll probably just live and work in brisbane for a few months then go Sydney, hope I enjoy brisbane though and it's not far from A beach anyway which is good enough. I just haven't planned anything and I don't know if it's best to leave it that way or not

Reply 507

TMRambo

could anyone recommend a company to use for travel insurance for the year?

Reply 508

BKS

19

Original post by TMRambo

could anyone recommend a company to use for travel insurance for the year?

Cheapest for me was Alpha, never had to claim but when I wanted to check stuff they were good, particularly being available online to save phoning

Reply 509

Ziplot

I'm looking into this. Could someone answer some questions I have? :smile:

>Did you always stay in hostels or did you stay in a house with other people? I don't think I'd like staying in a hostel for months on end.
>Has anyone gone with friends before? Is it easy to find jobs with them in the same place?
>Can you go there with a job already? All I've read is people going there and desperately searching for jobs.
>Has anyone applied through BUNAC?

Thanks. :-) Very helpful thread.

Reply 510

BKS

19

Original post by Ziplot

I'm looking into this. Could someone answer some questions I have? :smile:

>Did you always stay in hostels or did you stay in a house with other people? I don't think I'd like staying in a hostel for months on end.
>Has anyone gone with friends before? Is it easy to find jobs with them in the same place?
>Can you go there with a job already? All I've read is people going there and desperately searching for jobs.
>Has anyone applied through BUNAC?

Thanks. :-) Very helpful thread.

In Sydney I stayed in a flat for 2 months, Melbourne a house for 6. The other 3 I was in hostels, never in one more than 5 days each. Rent is expensive in Australia though

Never went with friends but you could find jobs in the same city, close enough to both commute from the same house, but same company would make it harder to find a job which is silly when it's already not easy

If you are skilled, maybe. Most min wage jobs want you in for a trial then starting within a week of them starting looking. Sometimes you can arrange rural work but still most want you to start yesterday

Reply 511

leewaters22

I'm planning on going to Australia around June next year. Wondering if anyone else would like to travel with me

Reply 512

Staceyc1990

12

Original post by leewaters22

I'm planning on going to Australia around June next year. Wondering if anyone else would like to travel with me

Hey. I think I'm going in July so might see you out there :smile:

Reply 513

leewaters22

Original post by Staceyc1990

Hey. I think I'm going in July so might see you out there :smile:

I haven't book any fights yet but have everything sorted to go. Where you flying to? What are your plans? :smile:

Reply 514

lisam191

10

What would be best to move to, Sydney or Melbourne?? :confused:

I mean in all aspects of life, especially in terms of the availability of jobs (i'm willing to do anything really within reason), the lifestyle of the city, nightlife etc.? I'm considering maybe staying in Sydney for a few months initially, and then moving to Melbourne to experience both cities? I'm not sure yet though. I'm planning on travelling next May.
I am super excited but also know that i will be so nervous to leave home. I'm travelling with 2 others, we're all from Ireland so the lifestyle change will be so different lol :colondollar:

Reply 515

BKS

19

Original post by lisam191

What would be best to move to, Sydney or Melbourne?? :confused:

I mean in all aspects of life, especially in terms of the availability of jobs (i'm willing to do anything really within reason), the lifestyle of the city, nightlife etc.? I'm considering maybe staying in Sydney for a few months initially, and then moving to Melbourne to experience both cities? I'm not sure yet though. I'm planning on travelling next May.
I am super excited but also know that i will be so nervous to leave home. I'm travelling with 2 others, we're all from Ireland so the lifestyle change will be so different lol :colondollar:

Both is the only way to go IMO. You'll have a favourite, every one does, but one isn't better than the other really so nobody can tell you which. They are both big cities so you won't be lacking in stuff to do in either and I never noticed much difference in job opportunities.

Reply 516

lisam191

10

Original post by BKS

Both is the only way to go IMO. You'll have a favourite, every one does, but one isn't better than the other really so nobody can tell you which. They are both big cities so you won't be lacking in stuff to do in either and I never noticed much difference in job opportunities.

Thanks for the response. I'm thinking i probably will split my time between both :smile:

also i know everyone talks about it, but realistically how much money would i require before i go? I'll probably have £2000 but i dont know if it will be enough and i'm abit worried.

Reply 517

leewaters22

Original post by lisam191

Thanks for the response. I'm thinking i probably will split my time between both :smile:

also i know everyone talks about it, but realistically how much money would i require before i go? I'll probably have £2000 but i dont know if it will be enough and i'm abit worried.

if your going on a working holiday visa then the requirement is to have enough money for about a month which they say is $5000 £2600 roughly, they can turn you away if you don't have enough but a couple hundred shouldn't be a problem. However £2000 is not much especially if you don't find a job straight away

Reply 518

BKS

19

Original post by lisam191

Thanks for the response. I'm thinking i probably will split my time between both :smile:

also i know everyone talks about it, but realistically how much money would i require before i go? I'll probably have £2000 but i dont know if it will be enough and i'm abit worried.

It's below the minimum like said, they mostly don't check but they can so you'd be stupid to buy a flight and risk it. I would consider it a real minimum, more is better because you don't know how long it will take you to get a job and it's not entirely easy. I'd wait 6 months and save up more before I'd go with £2000 because you won't be having much fun if you run out of money.

Reply 519

Eboracum

18

Original post by tiny tiger

Hi.

Firstly, this is a brilliant, extremely informative thread, so thanks to the OP for setting it up. :smile:

Now for the questions!

1 - For those who have done this/are planning to do this, how old were you when you went? I'm going to be 27 when I plan to go, and I'm worried that all the backpackers are going to be significantly younger.

2 - Once you started actively looking for a job, how long did it take for you to find one? I need my mind putting at ease that it won't take 3 months of looking to find a job haha!

Having spoken to a few friends, trying to convince at least one of them to come with me to Oz, none of them want to take the risk, so I am resigned to going alone if I have to. I'm generally quite introverted and find it difficult to start a conversation with new people (if somebody talks to me first though, then I'm up and running like I could speak for Britain!) Also, I've not been abroad in 4 years and haven't been on holiday anywhere without my parents (barring a couple of 2 day trips to Belgium and Germany). So I really would be biting the bullet if I went ahead and went to Oz alone. Somebody please convince me that this wouldn't be a total disaster, I need re-assurance!!

Cheers!! :biggrin:

A few things on this. I should say that I spent 2013-2014 on Study Abroad at The University of Sydney, so I lived in Aus for a year, and travelled around the whole country. I was on a student visa, and was not working however, so I can't help you on those.

I'm not convinced about the age thing other people have said at all. I was 23 when I went out, but in the hostels I stayed it was a complete mixture. It wasn't dominated by 18/19 year olds at all. Probably half the people I met were not 18-25, I met everyone from a 50-year old Japanese woman travelling solo, a 30-year-old woman who'd ended her relationship, quit her job and gone travelling, to a 70-year-old British lady who had been coming to Aussie every year. YHA is a good choice of hostel, you'll get all sorts of folks there, and "party people" often go for cheaper options.

It's a difficult question about whether to go on ones own isn't it? I went on my own, obviously for university so I met lots of other people and was living in uni accommodation, but in terms of travelling, I went to other places in Aussie on my own and you meet people and will often spend the whole day with them. In Tasmania i met a banker in his 30s and we spent the day together hiking down a mountain. Also on a different day in Tassie, I met two lovely Chinese girls and we spent the day discussing politics. Also in New Zealand (if you go there...would recommend it), I met a British lady, and we spent the day together, then went for dinner together... :wink:

. I found people in pretty much every hostel to chat to. The hostel in Alice Springs however attracted weird old men and drunk British people, only one I felt uncomfortable in, but I had my friend with me so no bother.

I'm in your dilemma about next Summer. Would love to travel to China, Taiwan, South Africa, but I'd be going solo and I'm not sure I have the confidence. But Aussie is a no brainer, its so easy and its a lot like Britain, same with NZ. Just go for it, even alone.

So, you want to go to Australia on a Working Holiday Visa

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