Questions about WHV- coming to Melbourne in Dec.

[kwmusic]

Hi everyone,

 

I had some questions about the WHV in Melbourne as this is my first time going to live abroad.

 

1- Can you book your return flight home but change the date later? Are the fees for this outrageous?

2- We're coming to Melbourne in December, I've heard this is a tough time to find work. Has any one been able to get work in Dec./Jan.?

3- We're (there's 3 of us) planning on getting some kind of rental space, would renting a 2 bedroom in say Fiztroy or St. Kilda for 3 people be viable for a while without jobs? Or is staying in Hostels cheaper?

4- If you've got around $4000-5000 how long is it possible to survive without work? (keeping in mind, we'll be trying to do everything on the cheap, food, booze etc.)

5- Is it quite expensive to travel from Melbourne to other areas? What are the best places to visit close by to Melbourne?

 

I guess my greatest concern is that girls I'm going with are wanting to get a rental place to live as soon as we can, for security and to have our own space, which I understand. I'm just scared we won't get work for a while and will have to pay these bills to pay from our savings and be losing funds..but maybe with 3 ppl this is a possibility and won't be too pricey..

 

Thanks and if you have any other info that would be important to note, I'm all ears!

Cheers!

[shaughns20]

I can't help much as I'm only in the planning stage myself, but I've been looking at Air BnB as an alternative to renting a place. A lot of places seem to want to get into leases and if you're travelling it seems that might be difficult. Air BnB rents to people on nightly or monthly basis

Mostly it's just rooms in their houses or apartments. But in a lot of cases I've looked at it's more a form of house sitting as the landlord seems to be away a lot with work or hardly ever home for whatever reason.

Lots of nice places in Melbourne I've looked at online too

 

Depends what you're looking for though I suppose

[Marisawright]

1- Can you book your return flight home but change the date later? Are the fees for this outrageous?

 

It depends on the kind of ticket you buy. The best thing to do is go to a travel agent instead of buying online - better to pay a wee bit more now to be sure you get the right ticket with the right conditions. Note that a return ticket is only valid for 12 months, though: if you don't return within the 12 months, you've lost your money, you can't rebook for a date beyond the 12 months.

 

2- We're coming to Melbourne in December, I've heard this is a tough time to find work.

December/January is like July/August in the UK. Schools break up mid-December for the long summer holidays. It's not a good time to find long-term work, but you could pick up work in the big retailers - they hire extra staff for the big Christmas and January sales - and it is a time when people go on leave, so if you're an office worker you may find temp work. These days some offices just try to manage while staff are on holidays, though.

 

 

5- Is it quite expensive to travel from Melbourne to other areas? What are the best places to visit close by to Melbourne?

 

Travel everywhere in Australia is expensive because of the long distances involved. There are lots of nice places round Melbourne but frankly, none that I would call "must see" except the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island. I wasn't that impressed with the Great Ocean Road - lovely, but not unlike some coastal areas of the UK.

 

For my money, Brisbane would be a much better starting point for you. You'll be able to see a lot of the things most Brits want to see on weekends or short breaks, like the beautiful beaches, dolphins, Fraser Island, the Barrier Reef, rainforest, Kuranda, island resorts. Whereas from Melbourne, you'll have to fly everywhere to see those sights on short breaks, which would be expensive.

 

A lot of WHV'ers choose Sydney as a starting point - I live in Sydney and love it as a place to live, but don't recommend it. Accommodation is expensive and again, there aren't many "must sees". The Harbour is gorgeous and of course, you must see Bondi Beach just to say you have, but that's about it. The Blue Mountains are mountains - impressive for Aussies because there aren't many mountains in Oz, but not for Europeans.

 

I guess my greatest concern is that girls I'm going with are wanting to get a rental place to live as soon as we can, for security and to have our own space, which I understand. I'm just scared we won't get work for a while and will have to pay these bills to pay from our savings and be losing funds..but maybe with 3 ppl this is a possibility and won't be too pricey..

 

 

The difficulty is more likely to be that landlords will always prefer tenants who are likely to be around for the long term. The rental market is competitive so there will often be a permanent resident ahead of you, unless the place is a dump or too expensive! I wouldn't worry about that at first, as you'll have to start out in a hostel anyway. Also, most flats are unfurnished so buying furniture, pots & pans etc will eat up your money fast.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Marisawright

[Pumpkin]

My thoughts in red.

 

Hi everyone,

 

I had some questions about the WHV in Melbourne as this is my first time going to live abroad. You are not going to live abroad, you are coming on a long holiday.

1- Can you book your return flight home but change the date later? Are the fees for this outrageous? Yes possible, but you need to check the terms of your ticket before you book and book what you need.

2- We're coming to Melbourne in December, I've heard this is a tough time to find work. Has any one been able to get work in Dec./Jan.? Has anyone? Well yes I guess people have. But it is making it harder for yourself, if you need work straight away then I would think about your timing a bit more.

3- We're (there's 3 of us) planning on getting some kind of rental space, would renting a 2 bedroom in say Fiztroy or St. Kilda for 3 people be viable for a while without jobs? Or is staying in Hostels cheaper? Not really sure I understand your plan? Is it to stay in Melbourne the whole time? Note that most accommodation in Australia is unfurnished so if you rent a two bed place you need to furnish it and your money is going to be gone pretty quickly. Hostels would seem to make more sense to me, you can get nice ones with private bathrooms for a bit more money.

4- If you've got around $4000-5000 how long is it possible to survive without work? (keeping in mind, we'll be trying to do everything on the cheap, food, booze etc.) Pass.

5- Is it quite expensive to travel from Melbourne to other areas? What are the best places to visit close by to Melbourne? I don't think I would choose Melbourne as a base to explore the rest of the country from. Sydney would be better, or indeed Brisbane provides excellent access to all the really interesting places in Queensland.

I guess my greatest concern is that girls I'm going with are wanting to get a rental place to live as soon as we can, for security and to have our own space, which I understand. I'm just scared we won't get work for a while and will have to pay these bills to pay from our savings and be losing funds..but maybe with 3 ppl this is a possibility and won't be too pricey..

 

Thanks and if you have any other info that would be important to note, I'm all ears!

Cheers!

[kwmusic]

My thoughts in red.

 

The goal is I suppose to get settled in Melbourne for the long term. I personally would like to travel and sight see first before settling but the girls I'm with have their minds set on getting a place and jobs as soon as possible.

 

Thing is we're in a band and it looks like Melbourne has a great scene for music so we'd like to get in the city and play as much as possible.

 

In terms of getting a rental place, we're hoping to maybe stay in someone's place that's furnished that they're renting out cuz they're out of the country, or use air bnb and stay in some place as long as we can opposed to staying in hostels the whole time we're there.

 

I think what I'm noticing is most people seem to be moving around a bit and doing the hostel thing, which I'm trying to explain to my friends but they're convinced staying in a hostel for 6 months is not an option and that we'll be able to find something to rent and jobs quickly because 'it's a city of 4 million people, it's not going to be THAT hard to get jobs and find a place in the trendy part of town"...