BrandonLyle

All absolutely fantastic suggestions! I have a whole year (Maybe 2) to explore so going to try and see as much as I can. Both 'local AND 'Touristy'...:wink:

Thanks a lot for your suggestions! Not for one second am I concerned about being a 'backpacker' nor do I think that the traditional 'Touristy' things to do are beneath me I just wanted to try and experience 'Life in Oz' if you will. Your suggestion about going inland to suburbs and seeing the local cafe's, restaurants ect sounds exactly like the kind of thing I expect to be doing and am very much looking forward to. I only have 4 days before I fly out now so I can soon start putting these ideas to fruition. Thanks again. Brandon

My backpack arrived today! And with only 3 weeks until I fly out, it is suddenly starting to feel very real!:tongue: I already have a pretty good idea of where I want to be and when in my year around OZ. What I wanted, is to ask the knowledgeable people of PIO some advice! :smile: I am after recommendations. Recommendations of places to visit, things to do, locations to see! Things that I absolutely should experience that might not be on the average backpackers radar! You know what I am talking about... That restaurant tucked away outside the city, that beautiful park by the river or that small college football (Aussie rules) team that just begs to have an audience. I want to experience the side of Australia that most backpackers don't, the side normally reserved for the locals. I am going to be starting in Perth and working my way along the south coast towards Melbourne and then the East coast all the way up to Cairns. Anything you can recommend along the way would be massively appreciated. Here's to hoping I am lucky enough to meeting some of you on my travels! Brandon

Hey Garreth, Congrats on being granted your Visa! :smile: I have been having a read through your other topic and thought I would throw my bit into the fray. I will also be travelling to Oz on my WHV in April alongside many others on this site whom I am sure you will become acquainted with. PomsInOz is a fantastic site with a wealth of information for you to access and plenty of people willing to help, all you have to do is look for it. As far as a checklist goes, well that's going to depend massively on what kind of trip your planning on having... If your planning on staying in one place for a few months at a time then moving on, you will need a completely different set of gear than if your only planning on spending 2-3 weeks in each town before moving onto another. How much money you have will make an impact. If your going to stay in Hotels you might want some things that you wont need if you are staying in some more questionable hostels... Taking all of that into consideration, here is a list of items that I think would be really useful. (I will be taking all of these also) Not including clothes/toiletries/documents; -Silk sleeping bag liner -Spare pillowcases -Re-usable water bottle (BPA free) -Camera -Spare SD cards -Sharpie Pen -Quick dry towel -Torch -Smartphone -Laptop (Still not decided on this one) -Chargers for electronics There is obviously a lot more but these are all odd items that a lot of people wouldn't think to take. The size of your backpack will have a huge impact on how much you can take as well. If you have any other questions I frequent the site most days (as should you ) so just ask away. Brandon

Awesome! Well if your flying into the same town as me just one day after, it makes sense we meet up for a beer/coffee! If you want to PM me your email I can arrange that closer to the time. That would be my advice! No worries at all!

Hi There, I will also be flying into Perth mid April! The 13th to be exact... Perth would be a great place to start although you will find you may have a bit of trouble working your way north as there isn't really a lot there. The coastline from Perth up to Darwin is pretty baron with the exception of a few farms/vineyards but you will need to be pretty clued up about the are to find work I imagine. My plan is to chill for a week or so in Perth, I have some extended family there who have been kind enough to put me up for a while. They also have a contact in one of the vineyards located south of Perth in the Margaret River region. If I am lucky enough to find work then I would be more than happy to put a word in for you! My plan is to do much the same as you except I plan on travelling directly to Adelaide from Perth and then either drive/train/bus all the way to Cairns following the South/East coast. Hope this helps! Brandon

I have been granted a WHV and will not be flying out until April. I do however already have a bank account setup with the Commonwealth Bank Australia. You can open your account up to 3 months prior to your arrival date, you select which branch of bank you want to pick your card up from when you arrive and all you have to bring is a form of identification. As far as transfers are concerned, I was lazy and did it through my bank. They charged a £25 transfer fee and my OZ account charged me $16, totalling just over £30 for the transaction. (I bank with Natwest BTW) They also gave me a reasonable rate of $1.92 to my pound but that was only for £2500 so might be a better rate if you transfer more...

I agree with Stacey. I am not here to tell you what to do, only offer as best advice as I can. Go on holiday, have a great time and if the desire to go to Australia strikes you, then go. :smile:

No worries at all. I was able to make the change, so any opportunity to help others do the same cannot be passed up! :smile: I am glad to hear that you are and whatever decision you make in the following weeks needs to be yours and not anybody else's. My opinion, 3 months is probably more than you will need for SEA. I plan on working that route after my year (or 2) in OZ but only for a month. What you need to be careful of is becoming stagnant. You have said it already you have a routine, you might not enjoy it but its yours. Your never going to truly be happy unless you break that routine. I read in the paper a few days ago about a reporter who was interviewing homeless people and it made for some seriously interesting reading. The reporter asked some of the homeless why they don't visit some of the help centres dotted around the country (YMCA Ect) and you know what they said? They have their circle of homeless friends, they have their daily routine they have this life and as much as they might say they want to get off the streets they secretly like being homeless in their own little secluded world. Apologies if you find this an odd analogy but I felt it fitted the context. Forget about money. Money can be earnt. I am going to try and choose my words carefully here in fear of offending you but your family are being selfish. Yes they brought you into this world, but they brought you into this world so you could live your own life and make your own decisions. They are also wrong. You are 24 for Christ sake! There is absolutely no reason to think about settling down now, you are only 6 years into your adult life, go out and enjoy yourself while you still can. Your absolutely right. There is no guarantee that you will find a job in OZ, there is also no guarantee you will enjoy any work you do find, but that's part of the excitement. Not knowing what is ahead, throwing caution to the wind, breaking that routine. You never know what the next day may bring so live life in the now and let tomorrow worry about tomorrow. (Excuse the cliché's) :wink: Just make sure to keep moving, don't let yourself settle into a routine. If you cant find work after a few weeks in one town move onto another. Sometimes you have to put your needs and desires above others.

Your absolutely right, that's why I plan on bringing multiple memory cards so if one is lost, its not the end of the world. Things like Icloud and Dropbox are great too. I have a Kensington lock and there are other gadgets that enable you to lock laptops ect to immovable objects.

Hey there, I know I have caught this at the absolute last minute but they do say that the last of a list of things you see/read/taste, is the one that sticks in your memory the most. I just hope that what I am about to say is worthy is being the last thing you read before jumping on your flight tomorrow. Which you absolutely must do. From reading how you describe yourself, how you portray your own worth, it saddens me. It saddens me for two reasons, the first because nobody should feel that way about themselves, you are the only you in this world and you have every right to consider yourself valuable. You are unique. The other is because I see my own reflection in your posts. Not much more than 2 years ago I felt all the same things you are feeling now. I was a very intelligent kid, incredibly introverted (I don't like the term shy), I did really well at school but never really applied myself. I come from a working family and everybody believed that I would be the first in the history of our family to go to university. I believed it too. Then, when I went to college I was lazy, I made the wrong friends and I quickly fell behind. To cut a long story short, I dropped out, never made it university and started working in a builders merchant. For years, I felt like I let myself, my mum, my dad, grandparents, just about everybody down. I was a failure, working a dead end job with no friends. It all changed when I took the first step and decided to quit my job and go on holiday by myself. I was absolutely terrified but I have come to learn that to feel fear is better than to feel nothing at all. I had always wanted to ski so I decided 'what the hell'. I went away for a couple of weeks, met some incredible people and had the time of my life. That was the catalyst that changed everything. When I came back, I was no longer tied down to a job that made me miserable. I decided to apply for a job as a Car salesman and I haven't looked back since. Its not the most glamorous of jobs but it forced me to approach and interact with people. I have been doing this for nearly 2 years now and my life has never been better. I have 3-4 circles of friends, I earn a lot of money for my age, I work out a lot, eat well and am incredibly outgoing, but it didn't happen overnight. Changing the way you feel about yourself and your life isn't going to happen quickly, its going to take time but it will be absolutely worth it. I promise you that much. I am not giving you a recipe on how to change your life here. Instead, I am giving you a list of ingredients to help transform your own life. The term 'Travel yourself interesting' comes to mind when thinking about a year out in Oz. You don't need to approach people or force yourself do things you don't like, there are plenty of people who like me, will approach you. All you need to do is make yourself available by being there, by staying in hostels, by going to bars, by getting on that plane tomorrow and having the best, most memorable time of your entire life. I truly hope that something in this monologue of mine strikes a match inside you and helps you to get on that plane tomorrow and head to Australia. Ps; I fly out in almost exactly 8 weeks and would love to meet with you while out there. Brandon

Yeah, I have been very lucky that so many people want to help! :smile: Your probably right. I mostly wanted to bring it so I could edit my GoPro and camera footage, also to update my blog and just general browsing, Skype ect. Have looked into certain measures and it seems there are plenty of devices/locks that will be able to keep it safe, plus all my stuff is insured anyway. Now just to grind through these last weeks of work...

Well... My Grandad's Cousins Nephew lives in Perth with her husband and two boys. (3 & 4 years old) They have said that they are more than happy to let me stay in their spare room and even offered to pay me to look after the boys as they are both paramedics and work some crazy shifts. Want to spend a month or so in Perth, depending on how easily I find work and how much I enjoy it. The said Cousin (Above) breeds horses and owns her own farm in Geraldton (few hundred Kilometres north of Perth). She has said that there is plenty of work that I could do on the farm and is prepared to house me and pay me. This would of course count towards my 3 months agricultural work so I can apply or my second year. She also owns a house in Bali so I will spend a couple of weeks there with her too. Thats me done in WA. I will then go to Adelaide as a friend of the family owns a dance school there. Once I work my way through Adelaide and Melbourne I will start in Sydney. I plan on clocking 3-4 months in and around Sydney before working my way up the coast through Townsville and into Cairns. My time in WA is going to be more work oriented so that when I get to the east coast I can spend more time partying and just finding work whenever I'm low on funds. Once all of that is through, Im going to spend another month working my way round South East Asia. (Depending on if I stick around OZ for a second year.) The one thing I'm worried about is keeping my equipment safe. (Mac, GoPro, Camera etc) Does anybody have any advice about taking/looking after expensive electronics... Should I even take them? Once again, thanks in advance. :smile: Brandon