Moving to Sydney on my own in October - help/tips/advice any further info gratefully received

[kallford083]

Hello,

 

After vaguely thinking it would be quite nice to up sticks and relocate to Oz for the last couple of year, I've had a very bizarre week which has resulted in me booking my flight this week, to fly out second week of October. I'm super excited, but also so scared.

 

I have some good contacts to help me find a job out there, but i'd like to sort out somewhere to live. Is there anyone who is going to be in Sydney at the same time in a similar situation?

 

Or even just in Sydney to meet up with and see how things are going and share tips?

 

Also, if anyone has any tips on things to make sure I take etc, I will be hugely grateful. Things that are running through my mind are:

Bank accounts

Mobile phones

Travel and health insurance

Best (safest) places to live and any places to avoid.

 

I look forward to hearing from you,

[lebourvellec]

Welcome to PIO

 

Take it you are going out on a Working Holiday Visa??

 

The Backpacking/WHV forum will give you lots of information.

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/backpacking-whv/

[MichaelD]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

 

Right only got a mo before I leave for work so short and sweet answers lol.

 

Bank:- Westpac will let you open from the UK then go in with ID when you arive to finalise and collect cash card.

 

Mobile phone:- Get your UK handset unlocked or buy a cheap unlocked one from CEX or somewhere then get a payg sim when you arrive. $30 on telstra gets you about $300 of calls 400mb of data and 30 days to use it, much cheaper than contract!

 

Travel and health insurance..... I Dont know lol we got private medical but are here for the long hall so we just used our existing Virgin travel insurance which has seen us proud for years. I remember Elephant being good too????

 

Best/ Safe places to stay ................... Not a clue, get on the forums and find some backpackers :-) as i said we moved so that sides been a bit different for us

 

Hope this helps

[clairebear82]

Hi,

 

Welcome to PIO!

 

Loads of info on here that should help you, and make sure you check out sydneyforum.com too - but any specific questions, just ask!

 

Bank accounts - see above!! as MichaelD says, Westpac (and a few others) will let you open an account online from the UK - they are really helpful too

 

Mobile phone - contracts are quite expensive here compared to the UK and also quite difficult to get when you first arrive. Pay as you go (or Pre paid as they call it here) is the way to go. You can pick up a phone pretty cheap and just top up whenever, or do a monthly top up and get bonus credit (as above again!) - I paid about $70 for a phone and sim

 

Travel/health insurance - this really depends on your situation, what visa you have and how long you are coming for. Obviously you will need your standard travel insurance for the trip itself (loads of uk companies to choose from), but most will only cover upto a max of 6 months for one trip (some are only 1 or 3 months) - so if you are just using travel insurance, you need to make sure it covers the whole time you are here.

Some Visas require you to have additional health care (private medical insurance type policy) - but it is advisable to at least get some ambulance cover, if nothing else (you have to pay, should you ever need an ambulance, and its not cheap!!) - I used HIF for my health insurance.

 

Best/safest places to live - this is controversial! It all depends on your point of view and what you are looking for and also budget - so to be honest, you need to first look at how much you can afford. Also depends what you will be doing here etc if you want to be close to work, beach, city, nightlife etc. Then you can start shortlisting areas.

Sydney is actually a pretty massive place so there is plenty of choice - so you probably need to narrow it down a little first!

 

Good luck!

[Jen Patterson]

In relation to private health insurance, take a look at the government FAQ site http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/faq/

 

"Even if it's not a requirement under your visa, it is well worth considering taking out cover. If you need to visit a doctor or stay in hospital while you're here, you could be responsible for the full cost of treatment, which can be very expensive.

 

If you are visiting from a country that has a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia you may be eligible to receive immediate necessary treatment in Australia's public system, but should still consider taking out cover.

 

Some visas may require you to hold private insurance while you're in Australia, such as the 457 visa or the temporary student visa."

 

In addition, if you are taking out travel insurance make sure you're covered for emergency ambulance services.

There are a number of health insurers in Australia all which all have an online quoting tool. Including Bupa, Medibank, IMANN, Nib, Ahm, Australian Unity just to name a few.

 

 

[markb28]

If you're young, stay somewhere young that has life and central! Bondi, Surry Hills, Newtown, Glebe. Otherwise you will be lonely and bored.