Lauren31 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Hi everyone, I am travelling to Australia in April 2013and hoping to work and travel as much as the East Coast as possible.I have my WHV granted, my flights booked, my first 10 days accommodation booked at Gilligans Cairns,my Australian bank account opened. I need to get travel insurance,get my money together and transfer it etc. Anything else major that i am missing? Im trying to tie up loose ends here in the UK before i go e.g paying off credit cards and cancelling direct debits etc. All going well so far Just a few things on my mind.... 1) I am taking around £6000 and hoping this will be my safety net. Im under no illusions that i wont be spending this money at all but i want to work as soon as i get to Oz to stop me eating in to it too much. I know its very expensive in Oz as i have been before. Do you think this is enough if i am working aswell? I really am hoping to stay in Oz for the whole 12 months! 2) Where would you reccomend to travel after Cairns? 3) What is the easiest and cheapest way to travel from place to place? 4) Can i do the RSA course/exam here in the UK? 5) I currently work in an administrative based job for Her Majestys Court Service. What sort of jobs do you think i should go for in Oz? Would my current job be beneficial in any way? Should i go for office temping work? 6) How soon should i register with recruitment agencies? Is this the best thing to do or should i just go around and hand out my CV? Any help anyone can give would be much appreciated,also if you think i have forgotten things please tell me! I am such a worrier and im beginning to panic. I want it to be a fun experience not a stressful one so im trying to get some help and advice before i go! :biggrin: Thankyou! Lauren Cheltenham, UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etjenkins Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Hi Lauren, I came out to Cairns about 6 weeks ago and have moved up to Port Douglas and been here for 5 weeks. I think I came here the wrong time as there aren't many tourists despite the weather being really nice so there aren't many jobs, but it should be busy when you get here so getting a job shouldn't be a problem. 1. Depending on where you stay £6000 should last a long time if you can't get a job like me, I'm renting a room in a resort which isn't much more expensive than staying in hostels. If you are planning on doing trips to the Great Barrier Reef or out and about they can be very expensive so can quickly eat away at what money you have saved. I did a Cape Tribulation trip and it was really good (not sure if I can mention the companies name) which cost $180 but I didn't regret spending that much as it was an amazing day and I saw so many things. 2. After Cairns I would recommend going up to Cape Tribulation for the day or longer and visit Port Douglas too, it's really nice here. My plan is to head down to Brisbane in February and March and I'm planning on stopping at lots of different places along the way so going to spend about 2 months doing it but as I haven't been to any of those places yet I can't recommend where is best. 3. I've got a Greyhound bus pass which can get me from Cairns all the way down to Sydney and is a hop on hop off thing. I think this is probably the cheapest way of getting round can't remember how much it was. 4. I have no idea about this, maybe google it. 5. It all depends on how long you plan on staying in Cairns or wherever you go to, I applied for a job but because I am only staying in Port Douglas for another 3 months he said he wouldn't employ me and this was only in a Bakery. The minimum wage is a lot higher than in the UK so whatever you do you should be earning well over £10 which should be enough to support yourself. As you have experience which I don't as I'm only 18 you might find that you can get an office job for a few months whereas I would find it very hard to get one. 6. I got the STA travel job site thing which is actually run by Australian Backpackers and they have quite a lot of jobs on there in places like Brisbane but Cairns has a lot less, whether it's because there are less jobs or if it's just because people in Cairns don't use it I don't know. I searched for Port Douglas on it and nothing came up but people are advertising jobs in shops, so it is best to just go round places and hand in your CV. One thing I would recommend getting is an Australian sim card but also have an English one, I have a global gossip one that is pay as you go and for $10 you get 100 texts and 30 minutes of calls both of which can be used to anywhere in the world, so it works out a lot cheaper for texting back home. My English sim is with Tmobile and they charge me nothing to receive texts so I get people to text me on the English number, which is free if they're on contract or is cheap compared to texting an Australian number. For Insurance I have STA Travel insurance which covers everything from health care to things being stolen and many other things, some of which I hope never happen. Hope that helps, if you have any other questions I will try to help. You are a lot more prepared than I was as I decided at the end of August I was going to come out here then flew out 5 weeks later. Elliot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PositivePixie Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 I think.you can do the rsa online, so if you wanted to do.it before you came out, you could hit the ground running as it were. Just trawl the recruiters when you get here, for office work if that is what you want to do, or some of the hostels have job shop type things ( there us one posting lots of jobs on the TNT website at the mo called happy traveller I think they if you wanted to do something different. From what I seen, for casual positions its more a case of being in the right place at the right time, rather than qualifications and stuff, so don't fret about stuff like that ( obviously the rsa is a little different as its a legal requirement etc), but all a recruitment agwncy would do before you are here, if anything is just take your details - you need to be here on the ground before you can really do much. $9000 should keep you in boots for a bit - we tend to get down to $5 k ish of our travel fund before we start to seriously look for work, top it up to however much we manage before we want to have a bit more travel, then head off ( we are currently down to $5k do need to fond some more work soonish!) You seem to be on.top of everything, don't stress the amount of completely clueless teens we have met here is high, and they manage just fine, so someone as sensible as you sound should be fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 May is the start of our dry season so it's when the peak season is, May - October. There are plenty of jobs as long as you aren't fussy. The RSA is online so you can get that before arriving. You find people usually spend 6 months up here in the dry and then head down South in our wet, which is Summer in places like Melbourne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuinninOz Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Earlier this year we got a wagon in Brisbane and travelled all through Queensland down to Tasmania - incredible. 4. I have no idea about this, maybe google it. Elliot For Queensland you can do your RSA course online - RSAcoursesonline dot com has some info on choosing one. I did mine while I was overseas - easy as. Make sure you put it on your resume before applying, it is a law in most states so employers are more likely to employ you if you have it. I also found that in the larger cities like Brisbane - experience can becomes more important. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul93939 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Hey, Im planning to head to cairns soon, was wondering how you had found it? Have you managed to find a job relatively easily? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HLSvictory Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 I got down to my last $20 before I got a job! I earnt enough to live and save again to go to SE Asia. Your little bounty sounds fine! I went down the East coast by train (I just like them better then buses) - you can get a pass and then just book on to them as and when (just like the buses). Not sure if it was cheaper - probably though, knowing me! I just went to a few agencies and got some admin work for a govt department in Perth - which I went to work for again when I came back for my 2nd visa. Loved it. I'm sure you'll be fine. Just go with the flow - like someone else mentioned, the amount of clueless folk getting by, is astonishing (although, I think they had the bank of mummy and daddy to rely on) - not like me!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest51810 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 This thread is making me want to go over on a whv so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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