Shelley Cross

I'm heading to Perth next week with the same job agency! Better weather - it's so stormy in Melbourne right now!

I'm here for about 5/6 months then I'm going to be travelling. First week has been really good and busy - mainly getting over jetlag and settling in, finding my way around. The public transport here in Melbourne is pretty awesome and so easy to work out. I've visited the Aquarium this week and lots of restaurants and cafes - Chicken Parma is one of my new favourite foods! Other than that not too much to report. I start work next week and should start to get more of an idea of living/earning costs. Hope this helps, Shelley

Hi Guys! So I arrived into Melbourne yesterday morning (Friday) so thought I would update you with how my flights were and what I got up to in my first 24 hours! I arrived in at 6.30am and got through customs very quickly. As I have an e-passport, I just headed straight through the gate - I didn't speak to anyone and thus wasn't questioned by immigration about my WHV or funds. Once I had got to my friends house, I headed straight out to sort some bits out. First thing I did was get my pre-pay sim card from Optus. I paid $30 for the sim and with this you get unlimited data for social networks such as Facebook and Twitter (this was important to me as it's mainly how I contact my friends and family), unlimited texts and calls to Optus numbers, 250 mins to other numbers, 500mb data plus you keep your $30 credit. What an amazing deal hey?! I had applied for my bank account with NAB back in April, so they had already set it up for me then - I just had to go into the bank to show them my ID to activate the account and to order a card. This was so simple and I really recommend them - super friendly as well! Next on my list was to sort out a Myki card which is Melbourne's transport ticketing system. This cost $6 and I topped it up with $20 to get me going This works in the same way as an Oyster card so pretty simple. I've sorted out a houseshare with someone I knew from back in the UK - $150 a week just off of Acland Street so a great location and a great price on that. Not bad for 24 hours work! Any questions, let me know.

Unfortunately I cannot get credit cards! I've been looking into tax things here and it looks like I will be entitled to a rebate on any tax I've paid since April so that's nearly £700 - I should get that back in a couple of months time so that'll help!

You don't really travel up down or around the coast to get to Perth! I would recommend going to Brisbane and working your way DOWN the EAST coast, towards Sydney, Melbourne and then along the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide etc... - from there you could get an internal flight to Perth. Once you've done what you want to do in Perth, get an internal flight to Darwin or Cairns and make your way back to Brisbane that way, so you're essentially doing a big circle.

I'm a travel agent. You will be able to book with a number of airlines that allow changes - as previous posters have said it will usually just mean that you pay a bit extra. Singapore Airlines are one of the few airlines that offer the first change free of charge - most others will charge an admin fee. Give Flight Centre or STA a call and they'll point you in the right direction.

I'm heading to Melbourne on 11 June! Lots of people recommended it as the best place to start

Hey Everyone! I'm a 26 single girl who is heading out to live the (hopefully) good life in Melbourne on 11 June. I just have a couple of questions! I originally wanted to have $5000 but it's looking like I'll only have around $3000 plus my return flight home. I'm looking to do Melbourne's touristy bits for a couple of weeks and spend time with my friends but then I really want to be finding a job straight away. Will this $3000 be enough to keep me going for a month or so? My plan is to work (winter), do agricultural work (spring), travel (summer) and then work again (autumn) - Am I right in presuming there will be some sort of agricultural work year round, or will I need to swap this about a bit? How easy is it to find house shares? Do they require security deposits most of the time as I will need to take that into account with my money as well! Thanks for any help Shelley