Going to Australia...

Lorri_L

Hi,

Im planning to go to australia next year some time. Going for the work holiday visa, can anyone recommend a company that does offers (good ones preferably) for the visa and insurance.
If anyone has been to australia on this visa, is there any areas (outside the usual sydney, melbourne) that you would recommend. Or any good places to go scuba diving, sky diving, rock climbing, white water rafting???
How much money would you recommend saving so as not to be stuck while over there...I have information about going but think that peoples personal experiences tend to reflect better!

Thanks!

idontknowmyname

Lorri, your best bet and cheapest bet is to get the visa yourself. Usit are charging €160 euro to get you a visa in 48 hours- if you do it online via the Australian Website https://www.ecom.immi.gov.au/visas/jsp/index.jsp?visaType=WORKING_HOLIDAY

you can do it yourself really quickly for about €115

MazStar

I agree with idontknowmyname - best way to do it is through the Aus govt website. I did it and was granted my visa the next day.
Also with insurance do it yourself on the net. I went with fyi.ie as they were the best value for good cover.

finlma

I'd recommend not living in 1 of the big cities but somewhere different like Noosa or Byron Bay or Magnetic Island. So many Irish go over there and live in the big cities and just do the exact same things they do in Ireland with the same people.

deadfingers

Hi, I dont know much information in regards visa and insurance but for your rock climbing and all outdoor stuff look up www.Adrenalin.com.au for all range of stuff to do. I am hoping to go in August/September and do all that stuff...cant wait. Hope this helps?

Lorri_L

deadfingers wrote:

Hi, I dont know much information in regards visa and insurance but for your rock climbing and all outdoor stuff look up www.Adrenalin.com.au for all range of stuff to do. I am hoping to go in August/September and do all that stuff...cant wait. Hope this helps?

Thanks, that website is brilliant for some of the information I'm looking for!:)

gerire

Agree. Stay out of the cities. Wish Id worked on the Whitsunday Islands instead of going onto Sydney. Worked first in Port Doulas, which is further north than Cairns, was great up there, sun all year round, is in rainforest country so expect the odd heavy shower.

Diving: Do not dive further down the coast around the Whitsundays etc there is far too much sand so visibility isn't the best and the coral life is not great either. We done our dive off Cairns and got 6 dives in 2 days and stayed on an amazing boat was streets ahead of the other boats we looked at and was the same price.
Avoid huge companies like Quicksilver, you will go out on a boat with 200 people and its supposed to be so overcrowed its horrible. If you really enjoy diving go on one of the 10-15 dive trips to the outer reef, great sharks out further, a reef shark is good the first time(especially if on a nite dive like mine was) but fairly boring after that. PM if you want the name of the company we went with Ill look it up.
There is a wreck dive off Townsville that is supposed to be good, was too bad weather when we were there to do it.

If you really want to skydive and are planning on going to NZ aswell do it in lake Taupo 1/2 the price of the Oz deals. Got good reports from the Cairns skydive centre. Any other Q's post here or PM

Steve Irwins Australia Zoo is north of Sydney but we heard horror stories of people being ripped off and having to pay to use their own camera for photos etc. We went to one just outside townsville and got to hold, Koala, croc, snake and many others. Very reccomended

Arathorn

Ya i second Port Douglas one of my favourite places in australia, lots of work in the hotels, apartments restaurants etc around june july august which is their tourist season cos it doesnt rain as much and is warmer than south australia. Lots of people go fruit picking too but ive heard some horror stories. Find a good hostel though and u will have a great time, I worked in a working hostel for that sent us to work in local vineyards it was like a big family, because the grapes were for wine u could just toss them in a bucket easy and free bottles of wine too. Avoid the really big working hostels though only pay u for what u pick, treat you **** etc. Definatly try not to get stuck in a city too long it will be so easy to happen. Wish i was goin back!!!

daiixi

Check out Broome as well.

What kind of work do you plan to do in Oz and how much of your year there do you plan to work? Do you want to check out much of the country or mainly partake in the adrenalin side of things?

jimmidy_cricket

Congratulations! Your going to have a ball. I agree with all the other posters and personally would recomend not spending more than 2 weeks in Sydney (I hated it).

I got a loan out before I went so I went mad and bought a van and drove it all along the west coast, Perth-Exmouth and back down to Perth and then drove to Sydney. It was deadly I got to see all of Oz's wildlife..in the wild (except crocs cause I didn't do the top end).

I would recomend flying into 1 city and out of another, that way you see at least 2 cities and whatever else inbetween.

I think the best thing you could do is; Fly into Perth, do a wreck dive off Rotnest Island, do a trip from Perth to Denham, 300 or so dollars, Western Autralia is so vast its very difficult to sightsee on your own, a tour will take in ALL the special places...On the trip I did we took in (you can look these places up yourself for more info) The Pinacles Dessert, Kalbarri gorge where we climbed down into the gorge, absailing optional, we did sandboarding in Lancilin, saw Stomatolites (the oldest living thing in the world...we are possibly evolved from them) feckit I can't even remember what else we did, oh wine tasting and we stayed in Monkey Mia where wild dolphins come into the shore to check out the tourists. I loved this place so much I sighned up for volunteer work and went back up to them a week later in the van. Did 10 days volunteer work there, and from there went up to Coral bay, The Nigaloo reef runs along the North West coast and can be argued as being far more impressive that the Great Barrier reef because its not nearly as comerciaalised. In coral Bay you can do a dive with Whale Sharks (The big feckers that eat planton but are as big as a bus and have a gigantic mouth) or with Manta ray depending on the season. Travel further north to Exmouth, where Emu roam the streets and make your way to tourquise bay, where you can walk from the beach to the reef...thats right folks, In W.A you don't have to fork out your dollars for a boat ride to the reef. Also depending on season you can watch wild turtles nesting.

Thats all for now, will post again soon

Lorri_L

Hey,

I'm planning on doing a lot of travelling. But I would well say I'll end up working 8 to 10 months out of the year.
There is always Saturdays and Sundays for the adrenaline rushes. I would love to spend the year not working and just going around the entire country, but it ain't gonna happen because I need to eat!
Thank you all very much for your help, I really appreciate it. If you think of anything else, post or pm me!

Thanks!:D

daveg

Lorri_L wrote:

Or any good places to go scuba diving, sky diving, rock climbing, white water rafting???

I went out on a 3 day livaboard with mike ball diving. They were excellent. Diving was out of this world.

daveg

BTW if your diving on the west coast check out the dives with Whale Sharks. Supposed to be amazing.

http://www.exmouthdiving.com.au/

doriansmith

I'd also recommend spending some time in western australia. I did a tour from perth to exmouth-identical to the one jimmidy cricket described. it cost $700 for 8 days-about €400 (all accomodation & meals included). quite expensive but definitely the easiest way to see everything unless you have a car of your own. the west coast is way less commercialised than the east. perth's quite a quiet city but extremely friendly & clean. if you go there make sure to visit Rottnest island. you can hire bicycles pretty cheaply & cycle all around the island-it's beautiful, had a blast doing that.

I wouldnt fly straight into sydney first either.we went there last after travelling the country & met a ton of people who started in sydney & seven or so months later were still there-they never got to see the rest of oz which seems a big waste. when you're travelling so far you might as well try & see as much as you can, right? i did like sydney though (met a lot of people who hated it) but dont stay there for too long!

Id recommend staying in cairns for a while. It was definitely one of my favourite places in oz. lots to do there-eg. snorkelling/diving the barrier reef. id recommend skydiving mission beach near cairns too.
going down the east coast, fraser island is great-you can do 2/3 day self drive 4*4 tours. the whitsundays are pretty good too.

Didnt think much of melbourne but then again was only there for a couple of days so cant say much on it. If you get the chance you should DEFINITELY get the ferry across to tasmania (it takes about ten hours overnight). its beautiful and has the cleanest air in the world apparently. Visit port arthur there & you can see the state penitentiary where the convicts were sent when the english first settled in oz. really really interesting place with lots of history.

Uluru(ayers rock) is another place id consider visiting -dont stay more than 3 or so days though. we did a 3 day tour from alice springs to uluru. you'd definitely need to fly there though-its literally in the middle of the desert.

money-wise i was only there for a few months on a holiday visa so not sure how much youd need when you're gonna be working. i brought 5000 euro & found it wasnt enough. 7000 would have been more realistic but obviously if id been working there i wouldnt have needed to bring so much.

lastly, have a brilliant time! If you've any questions feel free to ask. i got back a couple of months ago & would love to be back over there. make the most of it & enjoy!

Spider_Baby!

Im plannin on goin over myself from july for (hopefully) 12 months, and was just wondering if anybody knows if you need a certain amount of money to get there, etc before having a job? I heard that you need a couple of grand in your bank account, but i just wanted to check it out - i dont know where else to look!

Lorri_L

Spider Baby, you need at least €3500 (i think thats the figure, it might be a couple of hundered less) but they check that you have that, and you either need a return flight ticket or enough money to purchase one

Spider_Baby!

Thanks Lorri!

empirix

They don't check the money thing anymore, you can apply for your whv online now and you'll get it within 24 hours or so, if your not qualified in a trade and have no good experience, expect to work crappy jobs for around 14 bucks an hour.

Personally i had a ball in Cairns and Broome, Byron bay (surfer country)is nice but i wouldnt stay there for long, maybe a week or two. Surfers paradise is a kip just like a spanish resort. Check out the west. Your money will go over there quite swiftly especially in the big cities, i liked Sydney although i am a party animal.

My best advice to you is save save save before you go, the less work you do there the better. I would fly into Perth or Cairns and then make your way down to Sydney or wherever over the months. Basically hit Sydney in the summer and then hit north Oz when its coming into winter in Sydney, do it that way and there will rarely be a day when you won't be in shorts . Check into a decent hostel and make some friends who you like and think you can trust and then maybe you could all chip in and buy a car, much better than doing the tours.

Avoid Canberra like the plague.
Most importantly: have the time of your life

Lorri_L

Where do they say that they dont check the amount of money anymore? As far as I was aware, they only check it once but they do check it

Our man in Havana

When I applied they asked for bank statements in my name before they would issue the visa.

Lorri_L

Hi Bond, when did you apply if you dont mind me asking?

Our man in Havana

was a few years ago. They were much stricter back then.

A word of caution, the immigration on arrival may ask to see the money!

deadfingers

What type of flights did any you above poster gets? I am thinking maybe I will get a round the world ticket with usit that will allow me a few stops in the far east and the states. The one I am looking for is 1517 euro that does not included the insurance or the visa to oz? Is that good are am I better getting it form somewhere else possibly ebookers?

doriansmith

deadfingers, I went with trailfinders & got a 7 stop round the world ticket. it was about €1600 before taxes & worked out at just over €2000 including tax. that included stops to thailand, several internal oz flights, fiji, LA & new york.

I think all the agents like usit/trailfinders are roughly around the same price.
Also, i got 5 months insurance with fyi.ie for around €90-that was the cheapest i found.trailfinders are good for flights but they'll completely rip you off with insurance/tours in oz so don't book anything other than flights with them

empirix

When you apply online they just ask do you have enough funds for your stay(or something similar question), if you answer yes, then thats it done and dusted, i am only back from OZ, i literally applied for the visa, it was issued the next day and i managed to get a cheap flight to bangkok and then one to oz for two months later, so all in all i was actually gone by the end of the week - i wouldnt recommend this, if yoiu have any loose ends to tie up here you'll be under a bit of stress.
Now you do realise by answering yes to that question gives the aussie goverment the right/excuse to tell you to piss off if you turn up at their dole office anytime(which you wont), just covering their asses.

A word of advice on packing, if your going to Thailand on the way, DO NOT buy any shorts or tshirts/girly vest tops etc, can pick these all up in Thailand for bugger all and they will look the part in oz too, just bring a few decent clothes for going out and work clothes, everything else(incluiding mossie spray/medication get in Thailand, can't go wrong.
Travelling light is the way to go - trust me.

And if you do go to Thailand, it would be worth you while picking up a smaller backpack for when you go to OZ, handy if your going on weekends away or even weeks/months - remeber you maybe leaving your bags in storage somewhere and so will have to buy another bag

Have a good one

jimmidy_cricket

eva22 wrote:

deadfingers, I went with trailfinders & got a 7 stop round the world ticket. it was about €1600 before taxes & worked out at just over €2000 including tax. that included stops to thailand, several internal oz flights, fiji, LA & new york.

I think all the agents like usit/trailfinders are roughly around the same price.
Also, i got 5 months insurance with fyi.ie for around €90-that was the cheapest i found.trailfinders are good for flights but they'll completely rip you off with insurance/tours in oz so don't book anything other than flights with them

Only prob with getting a 7 stop ticket is you have to use it within 12 months. So if you go to Thailand for a month before Oz and plan on travelling a bit on you way home...NZ or the states, whatever, well that limits your time in Oz. if you have a 1 year working hol visa you may as well stay there for the year. Your only alowed 1 so make the most of it.

BossArky

At the end of this year I am planning on heading to Oz to continue working in IT consultancy. Most people who posted here so far seem to have went on short term student type visas.

Has anyone migrated for a prolonged period on a "real" job? I was checking out the www.immi.gov.au site and there seems to be loads of different visa types. I'm persuming I should be going for the "skilled worker" one? i,e I have a degree, masters and specific IT skills which are in demand.

Are the australian government overly picky on who they let in or should it be handy enough? Any advice appreciated.

empirix

hmm - i heard these type of visas are hard to get, i think you need a bit of money behind you(don't quote me on this), i was on WHV which limits you to working for one employer to 3 months, but i was offered sponsorship when i did get a job because i done a good job. basically you could do it this way but in IT it can be tricky getting a job due to competition, unless your a developer or are skilled in some part of IT where not so many people are. If not then your in for a battle getting a job at all in IT

I would be interested in how you get on applying for another type of visa, appreciate a PM when you find out etc

Cheers