Workin holiday for 5 months?

NaiveMelodies

Im dropping out of my college course back here in dublin and instead of working at home till I restart a new course, im thinking of headin down under to work instead
I'm only 18 and will prob be travelling alone.
First up, would you recomend it?
What kind of costs would i be expected to pay for a visa?
Where would be the best place to spend 5 months between february and the summer if i was lookin to work a bit, have lots of fun, play rugby and enjoy a bit of non-irish weather!?

watna

Are you thinking Aus or NZ?

When you go to get a visa do not go through a visa company. It's much much cheaper to do it yourself and not too hard. NZ working holiday visa is €65 and you can apply online at the NZ government immigration site.

As for using your working holiday visa for 5 months - I think you might regret it,. They're designed to be used for a year and if you want to go out again after you finish college - when perhaps some of your mates will be going you won't be able to go back. Just something to think about. Although you could go to NZ now and then in a few years do Aus (your mates are most likely to want to do Aus in the future - that's why I suggested doing NZ now)

hussey

only1stevo wrote: »

Im dropping out of my college course back here in dublin and instead of working at home till I restart a new course, im thinking of headin down under to work instead
I'm only 18 and will prob be travelling alone.
First up, would you recomend it?
What kind of costs would i be expected to pay for a visa?
Where would be the best place to spend 5 months between february and the summer if i was lookin to work a bit, have lots of fun, play rugby and enjoy a bit of non-irish weather!?

No problem travelling alone, the Aus visa is $195 = 87euro or something
European travellers, like swiss, german etc seem to travel when they are younger 18-20 just before they start college etc, Irish seem to be in the 22-26 rule (obviously not all, but from avg), so you may feel a bit older if you were to talk to irish people, but most don't care.

The best place to go is Sydney, mainly due to the rugby bit, NSW and queensland seem to be more favoured towards rugby (more accurately rugby league) but sydney is prob your best option.

But I agree with watna, for 5 months seems to be a waste of a visa, they are designed for work + travel and you may regret wasting it, after a few months on this forum the amount of people who would love to stay longer is unreal and this could be a big regret.

But if rugby is really important to ya, head to NZ you'll have the same weather as Ireland ... but they love it over there

Spud83

only1stevo wrote: »

Im dropping out of my college course back here in dublin and instead of working at home till I restart a new course, im thinking of headin down under to work instead
I'm only 18 and will prob be travelling alone.
First up, would you recomend it?
What kind of costs would i be expected to pay for a visa?
Where would be the best place to spend 5 months between february and the summer if i was lookin to work a bit, have lots of fun, play rugby and enjoy a bit of non-irish weather!?

Firstly are you sure you will be able to get enough money together between now and Feb. You will have to get flights, and a grand or two to make sure you have enough to get set up and survive for a couple of weeks over there.

Would I recommend it yes. However there are couple things regarding situation I would ask you to think about. 1) Are you sure you want to use your only WHV for Oz for only 5 months? 2) Have you looked into other options/countries? Work in Ireland and J1 with friends next summer? 3) Have you ever been away from home for so long? Or what's the longest you have been away from home for. I say this is as I met a few people as young as yourself who struggled with the distance.

The visa will be the cheapest part of your trip. I am sure someone on here knows the cost. Just do it yourself and avoid visa companies. Cheaper and just as easy to do it yourself.

I'm not trying to put you off the idea, I loved Australia and would recommend anyone to go at some stage. However I don't want you going over and regretting it because it was the wrong decision to go, rather than not liking the country.


Also remember you will be going between Feb and Winter, not Feb and Summer.

NaiveMelodies

Long time replying to all this, but i've had a long time thinking too!
Cheers the 3 of you for some really good advice.
I've decided to head over, but with two friends who are in a similar situation. I'm heading over in feb and first stop is Sydney.
Just a couple more q's, whats the story with unskilled labour over there? I've worked in Retail, Bars and a PR firm so do you think I would be able to get a job in one of those areas handily enough?
Also, I'm applying for my WHV on Monday, are the rumours true about them cutting down on the amount they let in or is that drivel?