theperfectend

I only posted here because I got the automessage that you don't reply to PMs. I didn't mean to disturb you, sorry.

All the job posts that I was getting excited about before we came over seem to have dried up at the beginning of august - we came mid august. Is it the wrong time of year for this sort of work? we are desperately looking for work just now (we are in Cairns but can travel anywhere) and I was hoping to use the ads posted here as a valuable resource but there hasn't been anything posted all month...

We are planning to buy a car for job reasons and ease of travel. I dont think we'll get a campervan as a car will be easier to park in towns and cities and we will be able to sleep in the back of it (fold the seats down) if needed. Perhaps a good sized car would be better for you too?

You have 12 months to enter and activate the visa. But my response came in 3 hours so you really dont have to plan too far in advance.

No, im on a 1 year visa and flights aren't released 12 months ahead. Im not certain of the charge but i think its £100 plus the price difference of the new seat, Singapore just charge the price difference (and if im flexible they could probably find one at the same price so it wouldn't cost anything).

Like the fact that i cant book my return flight because theyre not available yet, but its cheaper to book a rtn than two singles even when we know we'll have to amend the date. We were really keen on flying Singapore airlines because of good reviews and were looking at something with a long enough lay over to do a wee bus tour and get a shower and nap so we land in Brisbane feeling a little more refreshed. Then today i found rtn flights with etihad for under £800, so i thought we should definitely take that bargain. However, we know för sure that dates will need to be changed and etihad charges for that whereas Singapore dont, so in the end the saving wouldn't be much. I dont know what to do! I dont want to book one then discover lots of hidden charges. Any advice?

My visa just got approved! I'm so happy! After all the drama that happened with Korea, this only took 3 hours to get approved! Thank you, Australia! I'm excited to get flights booked so that we can start making a more definite plan.

We are definitely more the national park types than the big city types, so what are your recommendations for national parks and things/places to see/do in them?

I love Simon Reeve, hes done a few really good travel series. He already did a bit of Australian exploration in his Indian Ocean series, if you want to see more of him on the west coast.

But do i buy it as soon as i arrive or after ive finished fruit picking (a couple of months into the trip)?

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask - the transport board seemed to be more about shipping etc. We are almost definitely going to buy a car over there because we want to do a trip through the outback and we want the ease of being able to pick up and go whenever we want. We are also hoping to do some farm work at some point and most of the ads say a car is essential. So, at the moment we're looking at a rough plan of flying into Brisbane mid August, spending a weekish heading up to Cairns where we will hopefully get work fruit picking. On the way up we want to do whale watching at Hervey Bay and visit Fraser Island. Car rental for that trip looks to be around $175. Then we would be spending a couple of months where we dont need a car (if we get fruit picking jobs), then we would do the outback trip down to melbourne. So, do you think we should just buy a car right away? Or would we be paying a lot of money for 2 months when we dont need a car? Should we hire and then 2 months later buy one in Cairns as we're ready to head off? Sorry if this seems like a dumb question.

I'm defintely getting excited about my trip now. We have been researching places we want to go, watching Mad Max (). Cant wait til August!

Thanks for the replies so far. I would have gone to China when Korea fell through but we are limited to where we can go as my bf is French (I'm English) so we can only choose countries where we can both get visas. Unfortunately he can't stay for long periods in China. Ok so up north is sounding like the best bet. I guess we'll need to sort out buying a car as soon as we land. I will definitely look into the ski slopes though as we currently live in the Alps and my bf is an experienced skiier (me, not so much!)

In August I am supposed to be heading to Korea for a year teaching English but the company dealing with my application messed up my interview (twice!) and the Korean Education Board think it was my fault (it wasn't!) and have therefore rejected my application Years of planning and a lot of money spent on documents are now all for nothing. As you can imagine, my bf and I are pretty upset. We only found this out yesterday and now we need a new plan. We already handed in notices to jobs and for our apartment. So, we were thinking of coming to Australia instead. If we arrive mid-August, where would be a good place to head to at that time of year? I have friends that work in Melbourne in the hotel industry but Ive heard its a bad time to look for jobs in tourism there because its out of season. We had planned to save during the year in Korea so that we could go to Australia and be a bit more relaxed about getting jobs but now we will be fairly desperate to get jobs immediately. The other question is - do you think we'll be able to earn enough to be able to save some money to head to Asia for a few weeks after Australia? Thanks for any responses. I hate that we're having to throw this plan together so quickly. Anyone planning to teach in Korea - avoid eslstarter! Don't trust them with your application!!!