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Just wanted to say thank you again guys Tiamilo, how was your daughters birthday? Did she enjoy her second (I assume as you said you been here over a year) Australian birthday? BritChickX, I will be going to virtually every touristy destination / where the Greyhound bus lets me get off along the East Coast and spending 2 months doing that. Then my sister is coming in August and I'm meeting her in Brisbane then we go to Fiji, fly to Melbourne, drive up to Sydney and then go home. I had previously been to Oz which is why I came back so Western Australia and Tassie are the only places still to go to. I do plan on coming back so I can explore the outback more like the Kimberleys, go up to Cape York, go back to the national parks in NT. For a 19 year old I would say I have seen a lot of the world and more than some of my friends probably will in their entire lives, I'm very lucky for sure. Harvey88, I got all my pics on Facebook but think they are all private atm, I can change it to public and add some links to them if you want

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes And dxboz Port Douglas definitely is amazing, that's why I've stayed here for so long but the humidity is sometimes a bit too high for my liking Although I haven't seen most of Australia yet so can't say for sure that it is my favourite place but it is for now. Elliot

So this time 6 months ago I landed in Cairns after 3 flights from England, I then spent a week in Cairns and then have lived in Port Douglas ever since. I've had an amazing time so far been to the Great Barrier Reef twice and to the Low Isles, done a trip to Cape Tribulation, held a Koala and earned loads of money. Recently I haven't done a lot as I've been mainly working so not much more to say compared to my previous update which I think was 3 or 4 months ago. But I have now sorted out all of my plans for travelling when I leave here in May and got things booked, so going all over the place and across to New Zealand for a month too so should be great fun. Time is flying by, I will definitely be home before I know it, only 5 months left now :cry: I want to know where all the rain is for the wet season we've hardly had any up here surely it must have to come at some point. Oh and did I mention today is my 19th Birthday? Everyone I've told is quite surprised that I'm so young. :smile:

In the whole 5 months I've been in Port Douglas it has barely rained. Other than when Oswald was around the weather has been sun nearly all the time with the odd little bit of rain but then the day turns out nice and sunny. I never thought I would say this but I do miss the rain, could do with some to cool it down, my phones weather report said it was 30 degrees with a real feel of 40 degrees and I work in a kitchen and all our tables are outside so really feel the heat. My mum told me that in England last year they had something like 170 days where it rained, so that's half the year where it has rained (BTW not rained for an entire day, just at some point on those days)

There is very little support available, if she can get her children commonwealth supported places (I know you could get this for uni so I assume same for schools) then they will pay some of the costs. Hope things work out and welcome to the forum

Well I am one of the youngest backpackers, only 18 well 19 in a month and a bit. I came to Australia all by myself and have been here for 5 months today, so tell your mum and dad that if an 18 year old can do it all by himself then you definitely can BTW I love it out here, up in Port Douglas and spent a week in Cairns otherwise not travelled around yet. I assume the £3500 is after all your costs to get there, I spent that much before I had even arrived in Australia!

I'm not living in Perth but I am on the East Coast living in Port Douglas, an hour up North from Cairns. I'm living by myself and am spending $180 a week on rent and about $40 - $50 on food every week. So every month around $900 and that is me living as cheaply as I can whilst still having some nice things. So I would imagine in Perth it could be quite a bit more being a big city but I thought I'd say just to give you an idea / comparison of costs. Elliot

I'm not an Aussie but if I was would probably be these: Living in this wonderful country Being able to explore the beautiful landscapes and scenery all around Oz The laid back lifestyle Edit: Ooops I did like dxboz and put three points not three words So I don't know what three words, maybe, lovely relaxed lifestyle

You'd need a proxy server so that you get an IP from the UK then they think you are in the UK rather than Australia. I haven't tried any as my internet is too bad to stream videos but I'm not sure if the expatshield works with iPlayer, it should do and may be worth trying (http://www.expatshield.com/) Good luck getting it to work Elliot

I've got two one is an Animal and the other O'neil (I have expensive tastes) and neither of them have had any problems, I've had them for 3 years now and have been wearing them a lot the past few months, they stretch quite a bit when I take them off (the animal one to the extent I think it's going to rip) but they just go back to their normal shape. Me being 18 and a boy can't really be bothered to wash them properly so just rinse them off quickly and drape them over the bath to dry. So I would definitely recommend O'neil and the Animal one although doesn't seem quite as good as the O'neil.

Not in Sydney but up here in Port Douglas weather forecast is thunder storms, hope they go away as it's my first christmas away from home and in Australia :xmas3:

I applied this year to go to university (Computer Engineering at University of Portsmouth) for 2013 and have my place but I could have applied last year and deferred entry only I was so set on coming to uni over here I didn't. So I am staying in Australia until September and going to spend a few months travelling the East coast at some point but currently living in Port Douglas earning some money so then I can hopefully not work later in the year and just enjoy myself. Newjez I've read on here before about paying UK student loans back if you live in Oz and I think some say you can get away with it but I'd imagine if you did, the next time you set foot in the UK you would probably get arrested. I think you just have to declare what you are earning to the student loans people and then they tell you how much you have to pay.

Hi Tina, I was looking at going to university in Australia but was in the same situation as your son where I wouldn't be able to get the loans. However at some universities in Australia it worked out cheaper than going in the UK even with me paying international fees in Oz but in the end I decided I didn't want to be in a massive debt to my parents and have to then not enjoy my life as I'd be paying off the debt. So I came out here for a gap year instead. If he has missed the deadline to go in Oz this year could he not get a job for a year and earn some money to then help pay to go to university in Oz? I'd imagine he'd be better off with an Australian qualification even if the UK is equivalent and I would imagine people at university would help him to do the final stages to become a teacher. Out of interest as he can't get a loan for the fees is he classed as an international student for the fees or would he pay the local rate? Elliot

I think that's outrageous, if anything she should be paying for a new scooter for your son, most definitely not the other way round. She should have looked before driving over the scooter. I wouldn't have thought a scooter could do that much damage to a car to even make it worthy of getting it repaired, have you seen the 'damage' it 'caused'?

If you're looking for something to do... I would recommend that you and your family come up here to Port Douglas for a day either spending it at the beach which is 4 miles long or go shopping in town, quite a few shops here and parking is free everywhere. Really nice up here, I've been living here for seven weeks and spent a week in Cairns. And the drive up here is quite breathtaking, or it was 4 years ago when I came here on holiday, unfortunately it decided to rain this time so didn't have a great view. Cairns is quite nice and the lagoon is quite a good place to meet people and a really nice place to just relax for a few hours. Elliot