Guest gibbon83 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Hi, I have just been granted my WHV and plan to fly out the perth on january 2013. I am a qualified bricklayer and will be coming with a white card and some hand tools hopefully. I know that I am best off to start in a hostel. Could anybody 1st of all give me an idea of what hostels are like? Also I understand many of them provide work opportunities, does anybody know if they have links to trade jobs? Any help would be great , thanks. Ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PositivePixie Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Hi, I have just been granted my WHV and plan to fly out the perth on january 2013. I am a qualified bricklayer and will be coming with a white card and some hand tools hopefully. I know that I am best off to start in a hostel. Could anybody 1st of all give me an idea of what hostels are like? Also I understand many of them provide work opportunities, does anybody know if they have links to trade jobs? Any help would be great , thanks. Ian. Hiya, Sorry I can't be of general help, as we haven't really stayed in many hostels, but we did stay at the Perth YHA when we first arrived, and it is great - cheapest in the city I think, but v. comfy. Ask for a room/dorm at the front if you are a very light sleeper though, as it is right by the train tracks (as in RIGHT by them) and they do sound their horns as they come into the city, but tbh, I'm quite a light sleeper and they didn't really bother us. I get the impression from the few places we have stayed that generally hostels vary from place to place (buy a copy of lonely planet or rough guide and use that as an insight), between full on worker places, 7 days a week, to total party places, and everything in between - two others we have stayed at were the mon - fri workers and then mental at the weekend, but they were over here in QLD so perhaps different from WA. The lonely planet and rough guide books both list good hostels for work as well as what sort of hostel they are (party place/workers etc) so I really recommend you grab a copy (but in the UK as books are MEGA expensive over here!). Good luck and enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag of convenience Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 You'll need to research on the net at the comments as many in Perth are a little dire....but mostly full none the less with the mining boom. It can be hard to get beds,I believe. Could be an idea to check out sites in person with regards to work.Different stories around so wouldn't like to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalis Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 My advice mate is spend as little time in hostels generally. They are not pleasant especially if you have lived on your own in the UK. They are ok for a week or two to make connections but after that get your own place asap especially as the warmer Perth/WA gets, the scarcer the accom will be as backpackers generally follow the sun.The ones in Perth are bad as a general rule although the Emporers Crown is good, (clean, secure) but not a party place. The party places tend to be the shabbier ones. Avoid 1201 backpackers, grand central and the coolibah lodge like the plague. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB88 Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 HostelWorld.com is a good shout and gives you reviews and prices. There is an application I use for my Android device. I believe there is one for Apple as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gibbon83 Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Hiya, Sorry I can't be of general help, as we haven't really stayed in many hostels, but we did stay at the Perth YHA when we first arrived, and it is great - cheapest in the city I think, but v. comfy. Ask for a room/dorm at the front if you are a very light sleeper though, as it is right by the train tracks (as in RIGHT by them) and they do sound their horns as they come into the city, but tbh, I'm quite a light sleeper and they didn't really bother us. I get the impression from the few places we have stayed that generally hostels vary from place to place (buy a copy of lonely planet or rough guide and use that as an insight), between full on worker places, 7 days a week, to total party places, and everything in between - two others we have stayed at were the mon - fri workers and then mental at the weekend, but they were over here in QLD so perhaps different from WA. The lonely planet and rough guide books both list good hostels for work as well as what sort of hostel they are (party place/workers etc) so I really recommend you grab a copy (but in the UK as books are MEGA expensive over here!). Good luck and enjoy thanks for the reply, very helpful. Have you guys settled over there now? I am constantly looking into permanent residence just incase I want to stay as it would be best gathering all references in now etc. Have you gone through the skills route? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gibbon83 Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 My advice mate is spend as little time in hostels generally. They are not pleasant especially if you have lived on your own in the UK. They are ok for a week or two to make connections but after that get your own place asap especially as the warmer Perth/WA gets, the scarcer the accom will be as backpackers generally follow the sun.The ones in Perth are bad as a general rule although the Emporers Crown is good, (clean, secure) but not a party place. The party places tend to be the shabbier ones. Avoid 1201 backpackers, grand central and the coolibah lodge like the plague. Cheers for the reply. I am only planning on staying in a hostel for as short a time as poss. I want to get earning as soon as I get there and hopefully as a brickie, in which case I would look for something private. How easy/hard is it to rent an apartment or something and what would you advise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digitalis Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 (edited) You'll have no problem getting work as a brickie. You should be ok but bear in mind Jan is right in the middle of the Summer here, so there will be loads of backpackers here all desperate to get out of hostels. If you know people here who can give you a word of mouth recommendation is the best bet. If not, you should be ok but my guess is that you will end up being in one of the suburbs surrounding Perth unless you want to pay top dollar to stay in the CBD, which isn't worth it IMO as Perth is very pricey. Most apartments want 2 weeks rent as a bond and then another 2 weeks upfront in advance. Some want a lease of 6 months some don't, depends how much demand there is. My advice is to bring that much with the sole intention of using it for a room. (800-900 dollars to be on the safe side, or around £600) Any more questions feel free. Edited October 1, 2012 by digitalis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DenKav Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Hiya mate, my mate stayed in Perth & reccommended Billabong, I'm heading to Perth in February & just tried to book Bilabong but its fully booked from March onwards. hostelworld is good for reviews. I'm a carpenter so I will be looking for construction work too. How did you get your white card already? Cheers Den Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.