nickachu

I shouldn't have looked at this. I miss Brissy now. If you're still there, I know you said you hate hostels, but I stayed in one called Aussie Way Backpackers, it was really nice, only 4 people in a room and lots of long termers there and only a 10min walk to the city centre. Nice to see you've made it up to Mt Coot tha!

Vodafone are terrible out there. I met a guy who worked there and he even said don't use vodafone. I had optus and it was great, PAYG, but they aren't really PAYG as the money you top up only lasts a month, so it's basically a contract but without the fact you're stuck with it.

Depends on what you want to do, I went to Brisbane in the hope of work in one field, ended up getting work in a different field and loved it there. There's not THAT much in the way of sights to see etc, but it's a great city. After spending 5 months there I've got a little bit of a longing to go back there!

I did not have one booked and it was no problem at all.

You'll be fine on your own. I did it and made heaps of new friends that I've visited now I'm back in Europe. Where should you start... up to you. Depends what you want to do in Australia. If you're arriving in Melbourne, maybe stay there for a bit, see if you can get a job, or if you've got lots of money start travelling up the east coast. I stayed in Brisbane for 5 months, I loved it there, but met a lot of people there who hated it because they couldn't get a job. What kind of work are you gonna look for? Do you have any experience in anything? Or are you looking for farm work for the 2nd year visa?

Have you not got your 88 days yet? Seems like you've been out in the fields forever now!

That one in the centre of sydney is by the Museum right? By the big park thingy.

This was from people that worked at car auctions. Those were the only ones on sale within my price range so I stayed away from them. Im sure some people will have had great times with them, but that's just what I was told.

A falcon...... good luck with that. A falcon, excel and something else were cars that I was told to stay away from!

$20 an hour is pretty standard for a kitchen job. Might get a bit less. But some places you can be getting $15 or so. So 20 is good! And working in a kitchen will save you money too, as you'll eat at work 5 days a week if you are full time.

I got mine back, was about 2-3000 dollars. Just make sure you get a payment summary from your employer. As soon as you ask them for it they are entitled to give it to you within 2 weeks or something like that I think. Just go to the tax office if you are still in oz and they will explain everything you need to do if you ask nicely. Was a quick and painless process, no need to go to agencies.

Safe flight! Enjoy it!

Wait til you're there. I got no replies when I was applying beforehand, but as soon I was there I got call backs pretty rapidly. (Chef work)

Stay at Aussie Way Backpackers. Small hostel, nice pool, maybe not the cleanest, but it was perfectly fine, and I had a brilliant 3-4 months staying there. Only about a 10-15min walk to the city, and right by Roma St station where you'll get the train to from the airport. House shares, you're better off waiting til you have a job and you know where you're gonna wanna live. Also, I had waaay more fun in a hostel than I did in the house share. The people there weren't really the most sociable, and when you're at a hostel there's always something going on, which is a positive.... but can also be a negative, BUT at aussie way they had a curfue at about 1030, so you could always get a decent night sleep. And only 4 in a dorm, if you ended up staying a while there you end up with the same people in your room, so you can trust them etc....

One of my friends worked for Queensland government on the WHV, he was in a call centre dealing with issues involving the flooding. So it can be done. Probably be really hard to get sponsorship on it though.

One thing I'd say too is don't bring too much stuff! I brought about 4 or 5 jumpers that I never used! one or 2 is enough, same with t-shirts and stuff, do your laundry once a week and 7 t-shirts will be enough and maybe a fancy shirt or 2 if you fancy going out. You'll spend most of your time when you're travelling in shorts and flipflops. And you'll end up buying stuff out there too. I came back with maybe 10kg extra stuff that I didn't take out with me and ended up paying big time on the flight back! over 250quid for the luggage!

I took about 4000quid I think. You burn through it at no end when you're not working. So best bet for you would be try and find a job when you're staying with relatives then move into a hostel, you'll make tonnes of friends. I was a little nervous going on my own, but I made heaps of friends, ones even visited me back in europe and we're gonna have a little reunion in finland in about 7 weeks! Just enjoy it! Nerves are to be expected!

Update regarding Tax and Super back. Tax back came pretty quickly. About a month tops. Did it myself, no agents needed, just needed to ask my employer for a summary. Worked a charm. Super was a bit more work, but still fairly easy. Just keep track of your account details with your super fund and it is easier. Took about 2 months from applying to the cheque arriving at my door. Probably quicker if you use an agency, but they'll take more money. All the info is on the government website to do it.

You can set up your bank before you go. NAB let you do it and it's free, and they arrange a meeting when you arrive to get your card and other stuff. I had no problems with them (other banks are available) You've got flights, somewhere to stay, visa. That's about all you need, apart from a fair bit of money to start you off. Don't think you need any other papers. I didn't. Take a copy of your passport and driving license just incase something happens to them. And maybe try and get your CV sorted so you can hit the ground running as soon as you land. Get a sim card for your phone as soon as you land too, so you can stick it on the CV as well as the address you are staying at, will probably look better with a real address than a hostel address. That's about all I can think of. Paperwise you're pretty sorted.

I found a job easy in Brisbane. And loved it. Quite a few of the people I met there struggled and ended up not liking the place. It seems that if you can find a job there then it's a great place, if you can't people move on with a bad idea of the place. There are quite a few car auctions that take in foreigners to detail cars, CCA was one lots of my friends worked at, and also there's a food warehouse type thing called LAGO (I think) that also employed a fair few foreigners (mainly scandinavians as they are used to the cold in the freezers!) I ended up in a pub, working as a chef, but since I had experience it was easy to get the job, if you've got any bar experience it'd be a bit easier to get a job there, but where I worked they got 10-20CVs a day from backpackers, ended up employing a few, so it's only really luck if you're on the top of the pile when someone leaves.

Brisbane I was paying 180 a week with bills on top. Found a hostel was actually cheaper. Nice house and all, but actually had way more fun in the hostel, more people and more people to go out drinking with. While it is nice to have your own space down there. If you're on the WHV in my opinion it's better to find a nice pretty small hostel with a fair few long termers and stay there. But you can find places between 100+ going up to ridiculously expensive. Hostel locations are usually better too, don't have to take buses or anything to get them as they are usually pretty central.

Are you not bored out of your mind on your days off work? Whenever I had days off I went straight to the bottle-o and bought a crate of cold ones!

You'll be fine! It's a great experience going on your own, you're free to do whatever you want! And you'll meet tonnes of friends, the ones I met are already talking about planning a reunion in europe some time next year! I met lots of people on their own, but also lots of people in like pairs, so don't be frightened! Banking I went with NAB, cos I could set it up from the UK and it was free. But since you're going in a week you don't really have time to sort it out. I think the other banks might charge monthly frees, but not too much. I had no problems with NAB and they were good when my card got stolen. Can't comment on the other banks though!

If you end up working in a restaurant. Work in one that has air con. Last summer in Brissy with no aircon was hell. Probably up to about 50+ in the kitchen with rather high humidity! I found that applying for tax returns and super was easy enough to do on your own, no need to use an agency. It only takes filling in a couple of forms that takes a few minutes and if you go to the tax office that are very helpful.

I'd say 2 weeks, then after a week if you like it and fancy staying then just talk to the front desk and they can extend it a bit longer. Sometimes you might be forced to switch rooms, but some hostels end up having long term rooms which you'll get put in with the same people for a number of months, much better that way as you end up becoming friends with them and feel a bit more easy leaving stuff around etc....