I'm off to OZ for a YEAR!!!!!!!

Bananabelly

RoryFulcher wrote: »

Hi Genrali,

Thank you for the great response.

Regarding the one way ticket thing, I had emailed the British Australian Embassy regarding the issue, and their response was this:

One Way Ticket

It is possible to enter Australia on a Working Holiday visa if you have arrived on a one way ticket. The main consideration is you will need to satisfy the Immigration Officers at the airport when you arrive that you have sufficient funds to support yourself as per the requirements of the Working Holiday visa. In addition to these funds, you will need to provide evidence that you have sufficient funds to purchase a ticket out of Australia. Proof of funds can be demonstrated in the form of the most recent bank statement you have or any other proof demonstrating available funds.

Is Crazy Jacks a phone shop or some sort of provider?

Thanks very much for the list of ideas of things to check out. I'm looking forward to the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsundays so much... I just can't wait. And Jarvis Bay looks spectacular.

I may well take you up on the PM offer. Thank you!


(P.s. Douglas Adams quote, very good. Discerning taste you must have!)

As that quote says, you will be able to enter. Be very careful about filling in all the customs and immigration forms correctly though. It would also pay to have a bank statement showing that the money has been in the account for a while - if they just see a large amount transferred a few days before you leave they may be suspicious.

It's Crazy John's not Jack's (at least in Victoria)....anywhere is cheap for PAYG though not as good (more extra charges) as the uk. The main networks are telstra (the equivalent of BT), optus (bad service if anything goes wrong), 3, vodaphone, virgin....all the usual players really.

One credit union open to anyone is IMB, I am sure there are others (I think Members Australia as well?) but IMB are fantastic and I would recommend them above any aussie banks. You can make transactions at the local post office, and they have access to as many ATMs as the banks (and no account keeping fees). You would definitely need a local bank account if you were working, most places pay by direct credit and they wouldn't pay internationally I don't think.

Generali, I suspect you have emigrated to Sydney....a lot of that stuff is good that you mentioned though. I think you mean the Melbourne Cup (one of the worlds richest horse races). Personally I love Melbourne (though a bit biased having grown up there), there is more to do than Sydney and it is a great place to live. More of a cafe culture, excellent restaurants, fantastic sport (was just named worlds greatest sporting city) but it depends what you're into. Sydney probably has slightly better beaches but most in oz are a very high standard anyway. Generali also hasn't mentioned the west coast of oz, Perth, Broome,etc which is amazing though slightly harder to get to. You will never see it all in a year!

You are right about the dentists though, when I first moved to the UK I thought I had stepped back in time about 40 years....freaked me out and I ended up waiting 4 years until I was back in oz to return to the dentist:eek:

Generali

I think it may be Crazy Johns and yes I do mean the Melbourne Cup.

I didn't mention WA, NT or SA as the OP said he wanted to see the East coast and also I don't know much about them!

I have emigrated to Sydney although I thoroughly enjoyed my only visit to Melbourne (and note I suggested a visit to the MCG not the SCG ;-).

The coffee is generally better in Melbourne than in Sydney IME. I also forgot to mention a visit to Canberra, the capital. The Parliament is an excellent example of C20th design inside.

Jervis Bay was kept as the port for Canberra as every capital needs a port. They then decided it was silly to build another port just down the road from Sydney so it stayed as bushland, mostly. Because Jervis Bay is officially in the ACT you can buy booze in the supermarket there (in NSW they have a separate 'bottle shop' next door).

@ OP - If you want you can buy me a beer when you hit Sydney!

olias

You can open an NAB bank account from the UK so it's set up when you get there (or at least you used to be able to. Check their website.)

You have not mentioned whether it's nightlife/clubbing/bars, wildlife/scenery or 'the sights' you are interested in seeing?

i would add to the list

Fraser Island (4x4ing, camping etc and stunning scenery and wildlife)
Magnetic Island (easily accessible tropical Island more stunning scenery and wildlife)
On the Whitsundays, opt for a small boat if you just want to enjoy the peace and scenery/wildlife (the larger boats tend to be 'party' boats full of drunk backpackers)
Cairns (Karunda, Railway, skyrail, Rainforest/Reef, Paronella Park, Granite Gorge)
NT trip? visit Kakadu, Katherine Gorge etc etc
Camper trip? These can work out surprisingly cheap especially if you hook up with someone to share the cost and give you the flexibility to see loads more sights.

Re hostels, don't discount them at all. True, there are some shockers out there, but there are also loads of excellent ones, clean, new, ensuite private rooms etc etc.

Olias

moppet_217

As an australian I would reccomend that if you are looking for a bit of a premanent place to settle you consider brisbane. Cost of living is alot cheaper than sydney and melbourne and you have lots of great things close by gold coat, sunshine coat (not just great beaches but hinterland and rainforest), you have all the bay islands deffintley go over to north stradbroke and moreton. Two very uncommercial islands really lovely. Byron Bay is also a great place to visit but you need to make sure you do not go when there is any major events on as you will never find anywhere to stay. You can also easily accsess north queensland. Brisbane itslef is also great. It has a great year round temp winter days are generally around 20. As it is tropical you tend to get rain either first thing in the morning or in the afternoon not rain all day.

Personally I have never really like sydney (beaches are nothing comapred to the ones further north) I much prefer melbourne. I have not been to canberra for a few years but if it has not changed much I would give it a miss.

For something a bit diffrent to do the Tamworth Country music festival is on near the end of january. It sounds a bit drab but you can have a really great free time and it is very diffrent to something in anything in the UK.

Austrlia is a very very big place and I don't think you can fully comprehand just how big it is until you get there and start travelling around. You will not b able to see and do everything in a year with working as well so do not even try. I would try and see some states really well and just give others a miss.

As someone who quit thier job, packed all they could into one suitcase I would say go for it. Do not book anything until you have your visa back and do not resign from your job as you may end up waiting longer then expected although I do know some people who have had thiers back in 48 hours.. You need to make sure that at the airport you can show proof of funds to live when your first arrive and also to fund your return trip home. The easiest thing to do about money is to open a bank account in australia (NAB are the worst bank) , it will make it easier regarding tax and wages than having an account here. There is a company called 1st contact that is really popular with australians comming to the uk that help with getting tax number bank account etc and I think they do the same thing going to aus it may be worth a look as it can make life a bit easier.

Of cause as someone else said it is not easy but if we only done easy things life would be a bit of a bore. I came to the UK and did not know a single person. A few years later I am married with a beautiful son. I have had some excellent experinces and it has really changed the person that I am.

spottydog

Depending on how much money you have if you are going to want to earn fairly quickly then I would consider starting somewhere other than Cairns as my understanding is that Cairns is really suffering from the GFC with no tourists and therefore high unemployment. Flying into Sydney or Melbourne will also be cheaper and more international flights land at these.

You can easily open a bank account when you get here (or with any of the majors from the UK if you want to transfer funds in advance). It is probably best to go for one of the larger banks as you now get charged for using a cashpoint which you don't bank with (so a Nationwide card will also attract $2 fees when withdrawing money from an ATM). I remember reading some of the banks were starting to drop monthly charges from next year but can't remember which ones. Make sure you have online access to your UK accounts and set up an account with a transfer company (say tranzfers or HIFX) to get a better rate on any transfers from the UK to your Oz bank account.

If you are a UK citizen then you can get emergency medicare (NHS Equivalent) here but full insurance would also be recommended.

My understanding is that WHVs are pretty easy to get as long as you meet their criteria but if you want to do a second year then you have to do 3 months fruit picking during your first year.

As long as it is unlocked your UK mobile should work with a PAYG sim card here. As others have said, Telstra are the biggest (and most expensive) provider here and cover many bush areas as well as the big cities. Optus are the next biggest and next most expensive but the network is also used by Virgin (which are good for free V2V calls). Vodafone are next and are also used by TPG and Crazy Johns, then you have 3 which are good in the cities but pretty awful outside ( but have the advantage of skype on some phones). As long as you register your sim card you can quite easily port your number to another network if after being here a few months you find all you friends are on a specific network.

Have fun

norangeduck

Hey!!
I'm also off to Oz for a year in March time!!! its all very exciting!
Im going to fly from stansted to kuala Lumur, then KL to Melbourne - I got it for around £270 single - thats pretty good going if u ask me! with Air Asia.

Im planning to sort bank account out over there, as well as a tax file number which u also will need for doing work, and I believe it should be one of the first things to do when you get out there.

You will always find cheap hostels, I usually book mine the night before - but one you must go to, ok its not a clean tidy place, but its up there with one of the best, Its called the Arts factory in Byron Bay - its pretty cool! check it out.

Just get an oz sim card, if ur phone is unlcoked to any network it will work. I got one when I was there, and when I topped up like $14 I got $59 free lol - but as someone else said skype is the way to go for chatting to peeps back home.

The whitsundays are pretty cool, fraser island is lovely too! Im not going back to Mission beach this time, I dont know why but I didnt feel mission beach!

Have fun!!

Generali

norangeduck wrote: »

Hey!!
I'm also off to Oz for a year in March time!!! its all very exciting!
Im going to fly from stansted to kuala Lumur, then KL to Melbourne - I got it for around £270 single - thats pretty good going if u ask me! with Air Asia.

Im planning to sort bank account out over there, as well as a tax file number which u also will need for doing work, and I believe it should be one of the first things to do when you get out there.

You will always find cheap hostels, I usually book mine the night before - but one you must go to, ok its not a clean tidy place, but its up there with one of the best, Its called the Arts factory in Byron Bay - its pretty cool! check it out.

Just get an oz sim card, if ur phone is unlcoked to any network it will work. I got one when I was there, and when I topped up like $14 I got $59 free lol - but as someone else said skype is the way to go for chatting to peeps back home.

The whitsundays are pretty cool, fraser island is lovely too! Im not going back to Mission beach this time, I dont know why but I didnt feel mission beach!

Have fun!!

TFN you can get here:

https://iar.ato.gov.au/iarweb/default.aspx?pid=4&sid=1&outcome=1

Get yourself an Ausie driving licence when you arrive too by going into your local RTA office with your UK licence. It takes about 10 minutes and saves a load of hassle.

agent_orange_2

My son set off to oz on a 1 year whv. He traveled out on a one way ticket. He never mentioned encountering problems on his entry in to Australia. I know he hasn't got vast amount of funds, about £2600.
He's traveling with two mates and they hired/bought a camper van from wicked campers.
They've been in Oz for two months now and have traveled no further than 100 miles north and south of Brisbane - they absolutely love the place. They're aiming to hit Sydney for the new year, they have tickets to see DJ Tiesto , whoever he may be

olias

norangeduck wrote: »

Im not going back to Mission beach this time, I dont know why but I didnt feel mission beach!

Have fun!!

Ahh, but did Mission Beach feel you!;)

Olias

loveabargain13

I am going out there in 3 weeks time on a whv! I have just applied for a nationwide flex account and got a cashcard so I can withdraw cash for free from Cirrus, looking in , melbourne I'll be near quite a few cash machines.

I am looking to buy a skype phone once out there to keep in touch with family / friends at home and use email quite a lot!

I was going to open an ANZ bank account until I found out, that you get taxed rather a lot unless you have a tax number (can't remember the terms what its called) which you can only get once you have entered australia.

I am sooooooooooo excited!! good luck