chasingthesun

Thanks for all the replies, Goldilocks, sorry to hear you're not having fun either-if you're not tied down then do it, go to Melbourne, you can always move on if you don't like it. My house is a proper contract so I can't leave, besides my house and my housemate are the best things about life in Perth so far. Feeling a bit more positive now as have an interview tomorrow, it's charity collection work which I really don't want to do but it is at least a legit organisation this time and pays $21 an hour so not too bad. I'm going to try and do that if I can and then at least it buys me time and takes the panic away a bit. I guess I've got to look on the positives, few travellers are lucky enough to be able to find nice long term accommodation with a good person so early on so I guess I have to use that to my advantage. Am now looking at going on to a student visa and retraining as this is something I feel I need to do anyway at this stage in my life and if I can combine that with being away then I will come away with something really useful and positive. I guess I've realised I have more options than I thought, it just felt like such a bad week last week and all the negatives got on top of me. I think in the end it will all be positive, I guess I've got to a. Let go of all my preconceptions of how I thought travelling would be and b. Hang in there for the good weather! Petals, you've got a good point there, I am not sure I would last on doing farm work as I'm quite prone to fainting when out in the heat so not sure it would be best for me :-O Thanks so much for the support guys, feeling more positive for sure :-)

Thanks Roxy, Yeah I think I might have made a bit of a mistake starting off here, I guess the whole coming here thing on my own was quite daunting so Perth seemed like a bit of a comfort blanket- little did I know. I should have taken heed of the fact that people always seemed to be just passing through at Perth YHA... It just feels so hard over here, I'm not sure why they issue so many visas as there doesn't seem to be enough work to support it but again that's probably just WA. I have been looking for admin/retail jobs through seek and gumtree, so it is good to hear that it's slow going, that's why I got my resume done so I would know if it was me or the job market and I really think it's the job market and being a traveller. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on getting some farm work through a friend of a friend who will give me a lift there but if that doesn't happen I will try hitting the recruitment agencies in the city- I've been reluctant to do this so far as I've had bad experiences with agencies in the past and also a friend has not got on too well with them here in Perth. I think it probably doesn't help that I'm applying for stuff that I'm over qualified for too. I guess I've just got to try all the options and then if nothing works then like you say pack up and head for the sunshine coast, just can't afford to do that right now. It just feel like all this stress and pressure on what should be the "trip of a lifetime"- I guess that is part of problem, the pressure to be seen to be having fun all the time!! I do feel a bit better now, just for having got it off my chest!!

Hi, All those having a great time on their WHV look away now as I'm afraid this post is going to be a bit of a downer! It has been my dream to do this for many years and at 29 I left it quite late, anyway I have now been in Australia, in Perth for 2 months. I chose Perth as I have been here before 10 years ago with my Dad and thought it would be an easy place to start. I found a job in my first week doing sales and marketing and was really pleased, moved into a house with my colleague- signed up here until Feb. All going great until my boss didn't pay me for 5 weeks and forced me into a position where i had to quit, finally got the money i was owed and had a lucky escape as after I googled him it turns out he's a real crook who preys on backpackers. So now for the last two weeks I have been looking for a job with absolutely no luck, no one wants to employ backpackers it seems. I even had my resume re-written so it looks impressive but no calls whatsoever. Now looking for fruit picking work but there is so much conflicting advice on the seasons out there. I don't drive so need to work somewhere there is good transport like Donnybrook, that way I have half a chance of going back to check on my house that I'm paying to live in (gutted I'm now gonna be paying twice for accommodation). When I look up contacts for farms they just seem to go through to dead ends yet according to many websites there should be an abundance of work coming up in october. Even the government helpline wasn't much help. Please please can someone help and give me advice on where I could look for seasonal work in WA, my housemate is now working away from home and so I'm just on my own feeling miserable and like my long held dream is just being shattered.

I'm currently self employed in sewing items which I sell online- I plan to make up stock before I go away so my family can post them off for me and I can manage the website from Australia. Is this ok to do- does anyone know if it's ok to stay being registered as self employed in the UK while also working in Australia. As it is only for a year I don't want to lose the business I have built up

Hi Guys, Thanks for the responses, it's good advice to keep some money aside for the return, I think I will be ok with that and I guess if I found myself needing to get home quickly I can always use my credit card. It definitely seems to vary depending on which day you search for flights, last week it was like Warren&Liz said with not much difference between the lights but then yesterday I found a few one-way tickets for about £250 less! Decisions decisions! Rolypolybird- I am definitely planning to do the 3 months fruit picking too!

So I have just got my visa and am super excited! Obviously if I could I would leave tomorrow but I am thinking about August/early September, I am not sure which ticket type to go for- I am also thinking of applying for the NZ year visa just before I leave so I can go on to there, hence why I am considering a one way ticket. However one of my friends has suggested that turning up with a one way ticket may look suspicious to customs even though I have the visa for a year and that I could end up having to go through added security checks/questioning at the airport. A one way ticket is a bit cheaper though... Any ideas?:goofy: