JDelphiki Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Hello All, I am new to the forum and wanted to introduce myself. I am an American and planning on taking a backpacking trip to OZ at the end of April 2014. I have applied for the Work Holiday visa and hopefully will be getting some positive results soon. Australia has fascinated me for many years and I am extremely excited to explore! I have some family in Geraldton and Koffs Harbor that I eventually hope to go visit along the way. I had planned on starting in Cairns (wanted to see Daintree Rainforest and Kuranda) and making my way down the Eastern Coast (see the Whitsundays and Frasier Island) to Sydney over the course of 6-8 months... squatting for a while when I get comfortable and obviously working whenever possible to supplement my expenses. Eventually will take a plane from Sydney to Melbourne or Perth. I plan on living a pretty minimalist lifestyle and spending most of my money on experiences and adventures. I want to participate in WWOOF as well, for at least 2 months and possibly longer if I have favorable experiences. Many people in my life (lol the overly neurotic types) think that my idea that I can work and pay for my travels and exploration along the way is unrealistic. I guess I am looking for some positive reinforcement that it is completely realistic. I plan on leaving with a decent amount of money - $10-12k USD, and again plan on working extensively if necessary along the way. I have a Bachelors degree and have worked for 3 years in a Sales, Marketing, and product development role in the Business world here. I have quite a bit of customer service experience and there is very little that I would be unwilling to do (hoping to be able to work for some time on a fishing boat of some sort f, even if it is a completely **** job, and on a farm with cattle). Can anyone give me any advice or thoughts on this? Destinations I should see along the way? Thanks in advance! -Bean- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 (edited) I think your plan sounds decent. You seem to be going with a good amount of funds, if you are backpacking and using WWOOF you should do ok. I'd check out your planned timeframe and route fits in with the seasonal backpacking work available if you aim to seek it out and use it to supplement your trip/funds. Also farm work (loads posted on here recently iirc to give you an idea). I reckon you'll do alright. You might be eating cheap and so on but if you find somewhere that includes food and board in return for work you'll save. I think you sound like you've the right approach to a WHV. Working to supplement the holiday, seeing as much as possible and don't mind what kind of work you do. Personally, I love farm work (although not perhaps in 35C plus :tongue:) and lived and worked on a farm for many years in the UK. Different but the same in terms of its long days, hard physical work and all that. I loved what I did and things like lambing season or rounding up the cattle and crop harvests were some of the best times of my life. Nothing wrong with shovelling s*** in my book. Honest days work. I'd say the one thing is to ensure you have a return ticket so if you do run out of funds or want to leave early you can. No having to worry where the money is coming from to buy your plane ticket home. O and insurance, medical and so on. Edited November 27, 2013 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DomesticDave Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 I may be biased because I live here, but I would recommend spending a bit of time in Adelaide, South Australia. Living expenses are very reasonable compared to the other cities, and everything is very close and accessible. You can get from the beach to the hills in under an hour using public transport. Food here is excellent also, and the city comes to life from February to April! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtongman Posted November 28, 2013 Share Posted November 28, 2013 (edited) I am currently in a rural town and my monthly spending will be under $550 thats with bills and rent included. I have my own thread in this section ill be posting up the spreedshseet at the end of the month. Everything you said is realistic, you will have to work a bit though, long as your a hard worker on the farm you will be able to earn money. Accordingly to the threads in this section I would pin point a few places in Queensland to go and work, as that seems to be the area in demand for farm work at the moment, maybe that will change in a few months though, do your research on harvests! Edited November 28, 2013 by tingtongman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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