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I’m planning a three-week trip down to Australia in December (currently in the UK) and I was thinking of hitting up Melbourne mainly and Sydney depending on funds and before I list my many retarded questions I think my most pertinent one is; is it extremely stupid of me to be planning to go on a holiday to the other side of the world alone? I’m 25, and female, and I don’t want to get murdered  (I am not as blithely ignorant as my post may indicate, I've been emailing back and forth with an acquaintance in Melbourne about basically everything as well, but I want to get as good a scope of what to expect/what to do/what not to do as possible.)
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Aug 31, 2011 21:45
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December is national murder a backpacker month so their is a high probability you will die. If the locals don't get you its only a matter of time before mother nature kills you with all the dangerous spiders, snakes, sharks, jelly fish, stingrays, crocodiles and drop bears. Word of advise any time you see an Australian come within 1 meter of you just start yelling rape. Especially if he has a beard and offers to help you in anyway. Other than that it will be the start of summer, lots of warm weather perfect time to hit the beach!
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Sep 1, 2011 01:30
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It will be hot (but probably not as bad as it can be in December), but you should be booking accomodation now. Everywhere fills up quickly over Christmas/New Years.
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Sep 1, 2011 01:40
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Gloomiebat posted:I’m planning a three-week trip down to Australia in December (currently in the UK) and I was thinking of hitting up Melbourne mainly and Sydney depending on funds and before I list my many retarded questions I think my most pertinent one is; is it extremely stupid of me to be planning to go on a holiday to the other side of the world alone? I’m 25, and female, and I don’t want to get murdered It's like Saudi Arabia here, all women must walk around with their man owner. No women here that travel around by themselves, especially not ones from the UK which are certainly a rarity in major cities like Melbourne and Sydney. I'd scratch the trip now if I was you!
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Sep 1, 2011 04:41
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Gloomiebat posted:(I am not as blithely ignorant as my post may indicate, I've been emailing back and forth with an acquaintance in Melbourne about basically everything as well, but I want to get as good a scope of what to expect/what to do/what not to do as possible.) If you go bush, watch out for the stinging trees.
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Sep 1, 2011 05:03
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Honestly I'm a 27 year old woman and I would do it, but I'm fairly careful and have a decent chunk o' common sense. If you are also like that then you will probably be fine. No QLD? I suppose it will be pretty hot at that time.
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Sep 1, 2011 05:07
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British people are the worst at traveling.
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Sep 1, 2011 11:30
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Sharks Below posted:Honestly I'm a 27 year old woman and I would do it, but I'm fairly careful and have a decent chunk o' common sense. If you are also like that then you will probably be fine. Yeah, I'm insanely careful. I've managed to live by myself in a city (and gone off to various other cities etc for holidays) for the past six years without getting murdered but I guess it's just the distance aspect, and the fact I've never been there before obviously. As for accommodation, I'm looking into that now, as well as insurance and my visa and all that malarky. I've never been very adventurous and I really want to do this but I hope my enthusiasm isn't blinding me to the fact it might be a stupid thing to do alone.
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Sep 1, 2011 21:13
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You'll be fine.
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Sep 1, 2011 21:29
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Gloomiebat posted:Yeah, I'm insanely careful. I've managed to live by myself in a city (and gone off to various other cities etc for holidays) for the past six years without getting murdered but I guess it's just the distance aspect, and the fact I've never been there before obviously. What kind of places are you going to stay at? I just worry about some of the individuals that frequent backpacker hostels etc if you're a woman by yourself.
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Sep 1, 2011 23:09
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Sharks Below posted:What kind of places are you going to stay at? I just worry about some of the individuals that frequent backpacker hostels etc if you're a woman by yourself. Really if you're travelling by yourself hostels are about as safe as you can get, as a male or a female. Lots of people around to deter anyone trying anything. The desk will have a safe or lockup for valuables, and don't go out and get shitfaced with a bunch of strangers. If you want to get shitfaced you don't need to cross the world for it.
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Sep 1, 2011 23:41
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unixbeard posted:Really if you're travelling by yourself hostels are about as safe as you can get, as a male or a female. Lots of people around to deter anyone trying anything. The desk will have a safe or lockup for valuables, and don't go out and get shitfaced with a bunch of strangers. If you want to get shitfaced you don't need to cross the world for it. Good post. Very true.
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Sep 1, 2011 23:48
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Joking aside, Australia is a really safe place, you've not got anything to worry about. As for the not getting shitfaced with strangers thing, most hostels will have organised nights out for people staying there so I wouldn't worry about that too much either. Hell, a couple of the hostels here even have their own bars.
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Sep 2, 2011 02:09
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Sharks Below posted:What kind of places are you going to stay at? I just worry about some of the individuals that frequent backpacker hostels etc if you're a woman by yourself. I've been looking at backpacker hostels and suchlike using the links in the OP and my own research (still not booked anything yet but will do soon to avoid the Christmas rush- the dates I'll be in Aus are roughly from November 28th to December 19th-ish, so not actually there for Christmas itself,) and I've a couple of mates in Melbourne who've been really great at giving me lots of stuff to check out and recommending hostels etc, and even offered a bed for a few nights should things go wrong. I'm being very cautious about accommodation, and have been asking my mate what places she'd recommend. Some places have female-only dorms which would obviously put me more at ease, or if it came to it I'm not adverse to splashing out on a private room for a night or two, but obviously cost is an issue and I don't want to bankrupt myself when the cheaper alternative is just as secure Another of my mates actually flew down to Melbourne yesterday for a holiday, so I'll be grilling her when she gets back about what to see and do as well Thanks everyone for your replies, they've really set my mind at ease as everyone I've asked/everything I've read has pointed toward it being a pretty safe place (or at least no worse than the UK), but obviously I'm not going to take that as a reason to be stupid about safety. I'm actually looking forward to meeting other folks at the hostels doing the same thing as me and having a good laugh and a crazy-rear end time (although every time I think about the fact I'm disappearing off to the other side of the world by myself I kind of want to be sick with nerves a bit.)
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Sep 2, 2011 02:27
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Sounds like you're being really sensible - that's great I lived in London for 4 months and in that time I was pickpocketed three times (man they're good) and mugged once. I didn't live in that bad of an area. It was a HUUUUUUUUUGE culture shock, in my town (which, to be fair, is regional and not a big bad city) I never worry about leaving my bag on the table at bars and I sure never zip it up  Just an example. In fact, last month when I had my phone stolen from a table while my friends weren't looking, it ended up being a US Marine who had taken it.. though some debate was had ("healthy" debate, one might say) as to whether he had done it with good intentions. I found it by ringing it. By pure happenstance I walked out of the bar because I couldn't hear the person who picked up and saw my friend's name on the screen of a dude talking on my phone  Anyway that is irrelevant. Australia is pretty safe and a super rad place.
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Sep 2, 2011 02:38
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Sharks Below posted:Sounds like you're being really sensible - that's great Haha, your phone story made me giggle but honestly thanks for your input! Literally everyone I've spoken to about this has concurred on the safety aspect and agreed how awesome it'll be, so to say it's a load off my mind is a bit of an understatement. I'm not stupid; just because everyone says it's safe doesn't mean I'll be leaving my stuff lying around or taking risks but it's so reassuring to know that I'll likely run into little trouble. I'm not the sort of person afraid to ask locals stupid questions either (if I get lost or if I do get into difficulty, touch wood.) London's insane, and I've been there countless times (wandering about drunk at 3am included) and never had any bother at all but I think it's honestly always a combination of street-smarts and pure luck. I guess if someone really wants to nick your stuff they'll do it, but there are many things you can do to make it really difficult for them (keeping your bag in sight at all times, hiding valuables, etc, etc, which I'm sure you're aware of.) To be honest the only place I've ever had any trouble was Glasgow and it's only ever been neds shouting abuse from passing cars, which is lame but not exactly what I'd call a reason to never go there. (Or the time in Dudley of all places where a white transit van slowed down in order to give me the finger as I walked past  ) As with any city I know I've just gotta be sensible. I'm absolutely utterly pants-shittingly terrified of doing this but I have to do it because I know how completely amazing it's going to be, and I know the opportunity to do this isn't going to come along very often (i.e having the time and cash at the same time!)
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Sep 2, 2011 14:41
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You'll be pants-shittingly terrified at first but then you'll realise we're tops and you'll relax. That kind of terror is normal in a new place Yep I'm sure I had "MORONIC TOURIST" stamped on me for at least the first two pickpockets and definitely still "MORONIC" for the rest.
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Sep 2, 2011 15:43
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Sharks Below posted:You'll be pants-shittingly terrified at first but then you'll realise we're tops and you'll relax. That kind of terror is normal in a new place Oh yeah I'm fully aware I will probably be broadcasting a 'I'VE NO IDEA WHERE I AM' aura for a while at first, haha, but I'm confident I won't get into any serious poo poo. I think the fear is a good thing, yeah it's making me feel physically ill (in particular thinking about the flight oh god oh god), ha, but it's driving me to do something I know I will regret for the rest of my life if I cave and don't go now. Here's to doing crazy poo poo with my disposeable income!
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Sep 2, 2011 15:54
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Is it the flight itself, or the LENGTH of the flight that is scary to you?
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Sep 2, 2011 16:00
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Sharks Below posted:Is it the flight itself, or the LENGTH of the flight that is scary to you? Both, to be honest. I've flown before many times but nothing of this length by a long shot. I know it's a totally safe mode of transport and I've been reading up on 'fear of flying' stuff online and all that, but I'm still very apprehensive about the entire concept, but I'm going to have to man up and do it. I'm not the sort of person who gets on the plane and has a panic attack and starts crying and demanding to get off or anything, but I do feel very uncomfortable and anxious for the whole flight. I have a fear of heights which probably plays a part, and whenever I remember I'm basically suspended thousands of feet in the air I actually have to take deep breaths. This will also be my first flight on my own. I'm sure I'll probably fall asleep (I've done it before, despite being amped up to gently caress I've nodded off on a 40 minute flight before!) and it'll be 100% fine, but it's just one of these thing I have to deal with if I want to travel in the future which I fully intend on doing. I've no idea where this fear of flying even came from, but it's possible because I never flew as a child and therefore became used to it before I was old enough to understand the concept of fearing it. I think I was maybe 18-ish when I flew for the first time. The length too is daunting me...I don't think I've even been in my house for 24-ish consecutive hours let alone a plane, which I find a little claustrophobic but not oppressively so. I think it's the lack of control (i.e I can't get off if I really wanted to like on a train.) I think too it's because I'm in a car or bus or train hundreds of times more often than a plane so it's still a 'big thing' to me and I'm just not used to it yet. Any good tips for stuff to do on the plane? I'm thinking of buying a Kindle and taking lots of music and stuff like that; I'm a huge reader so having something good to read will chill me out I hope. I need lots of stuff to distract me from the 'oh god what's that noise?!' stuff that just goes through my head on a loop when flying. Obviously I will probably sleep too I know I'm being silly!
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Sep 2, 2011 16:16
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Gloomiebat posted:You should visit a doctor and tell them what you just said here and they will likely give you something to help you through it. If that's not your style kindle's are great, ipods and a few good magazines have also gotten me a long way. An eyemask and ear plugs are also real useful. The time on the plane is not really that bad, especially if you have a stopover/change to split it up. unixbeard fucked around with this message at 02:46 on Sep 3, 2011 |
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Sep 3, 2011 02:44
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unixbeard posted:You should visit a doctor and tell them what you just said here and they will likely give you something to help you through it. If that's not your style kindle's are great, ipods and a few good magazines have also gotten me a long way. An eyemask and ear plugs are also real useful. The time on the plane is not really that bad, especially if you have a stopover/change to split it up. Agree. Your doctor can prescribe you a sedative if you think you're really going to struggle. Remember there is a refueling stop, mine was Beijing for an hour on the way over and Singapore on the way back for a little longer. Earplugs are also an essential in case of screaming children. You'll be fine
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Sep 3, 2011 03:32
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Sharks Below posted:Agree. Your doctor can prescribe you a sedative if you think you're really going to struggle. Remember there is a refueling stop, mine was Beijing for an hour on the way over and Singapore on the way back for a little longer. Earplugs are also an essential in case of screaming children. Long haul flights where you only stop to refuel aren't that common really (and cost more). I think only BA/Qantas do them for London-Australia. Most of the time you will change planes in Bangkok/Hong Kong/Kuala Lumpur/Singapore or Abu Dhabi/Dubai (obviously depends who you fly with). So you at least get off the plane for a few hours and its not so bad. When you think about having a 12 hour flight - Break - 8 hour flight it goes ok. The 8 hour flight is pretty easy. You can always look at going with a cheaper flight which stops in China or Korea for like 8-10 hours sometimes if you want to have a long break (note that sitting in a chinese airport for 8 hours might not be as glamourous as the other much much better asian airports).
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Sep 3, 2011 05:31
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Makes sense since I flew Qantas both ways.
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Sep 3, 2011 06:48
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To be honest, if you're worried about culture shock, Sydney and Melbourne are easily the most European places in Australia. Melbourne is a little London, pretty much. If you could be bothered making the effort to get up to Brisbane, you'd get more shock, but apart from the bogans, there's pretty much nothing to be worried about there. Australians are, on the most part, far too lazy to be shitheads to tourists (other than telling them stupid stories, or trying to force them to eat spoonfuls of vegemite). I would say that avoiding small towns is wise, but it doesn't sound like you were planning on going anywhere near any, anyway. People in small towns can be rather "Deliverance" towards all strangers, even other Aussies. As for flights, they should keep you pretty entertained (free movies, TV shows, games etc. on the little TV screen in front of you) Flying around then will probably be pretty packed, though.
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Sep 3, 2011 10:58
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unixbeard posted:You should visit a doctor and tell them what you just said here and they will likely give you something to help you through it. If that's not your style kindle's are great, ipods and a few good magazines have also gotten me a long way. An eyemask and ear plugs are also real useful. The time on the plane is not really that bad, especially if you have a stopover/change to split it up. Sharks Below posted:Agree. Your doctor can prescribe you a sedative if you think you're really going to struggle. Remember there is a refueling stop, mine was Beijing for an hour on the way over and Singapore on the way back for a little longer. Earplugs are also an essential in case of screaming children. I'm going to try and hold off on the doctor for as long as possible, at the moment it's just a mild trepidation and I'm sure I'll be jittery as hell on the morning of the flight but I know I'll eventually succumb to boredom, ha! I'm booking the flights tomorrow, so I'll be able to find out what the change-overs and things are. Ideally I'd rather it was a quick stop somewhere for refuelling and whatnot than spending a day in China; I've nothing against China in particular but I just want to get to Australia and crash out like a motherfucker and just get there as soon as! And have a nice shower and freak out because, hey, I'm in some other hemisphere by myself! I'm going to have to fly down to London in any case to make the flight (I'm in Edinburgh) so by the time I get on the actual proper plane I'll probably be okay. (Eek!) But yeah, Kindle, or a good book, loads of magazines and music and I'm sure I'll be a-ok!Bet I have to sit next to some horrid bratty child all the way there  Fists Up posted:Long haul flights where you only stop to refuel aren't that common really (and cost more). I think only BA/Qantas do them for London-Australia. Most of the time you will change planes in Bangkok/Hong Kong/Kuala Lumpur/Singapore or Abu Dhabi/Dubai (obviously depends who you fly with). I think the flights I'd been looking at had a decent stop-over in Hong Kong, but I'll know for sure and get everything sorted out tomorrow. bobthecheese posted:To be honest, if you're worried about culture shock, Sydney and Melbourne are easily the most European places in Australia. Melbourne is a little London, pretty much. I'm not worried so much about culture-shock, I mean, I want to experience somewhere totally new and exciting. I love visiting new cites so I'm particularly exited about wandering around Melbourne and Sydney. In an ideal world I'd be able to take months off and do a proper tour and visit more places but sadly at the moment funds and free time are a limiting factor (as well as how much I initially underestimated the distances between things in Aus!) The small-town-visiting thing I'd never do alone anyway, or at least not on my first visit. I'm looking forward to the vegemite, and only just realising the plane's gonna be crammed full of people amped up for Christmas on the way home- it's going to be so depressing flying back into our crappy crappy winter and going straight back into my retail job like two days later  Thanks everyone for your advice and help! It's been really really useful and reassuring Fake edit: hoooly poo poo wall of text!
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Sep 3, 2011 23:06
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So instead of reading the entire thread (I am lazy like that), I will just post my simple question here. I will be visiting Perth from the 22nd of September to the 4th of October with my pregnant girlfriend. We need a hotel or something here. Can you goons recommend anything?
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Sep 4, 2011 10:45
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^^ wotif.com.au is the best site I've found for booking hotels, price-wise. They're almost always cheaper than on expedia/going through the hotel directly/etc Gloomiebat, I love how your idea of something completely new and exciting where you'll experience culture shock is going to another country full of white people who speak English and originally came from England. HookShot fucked around with this message at 12:06 on Sep 4, 2011 |
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Sep 4, 2011 12:04
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HookShot posted:Gloomiebat, I love how your idea of something completely new and exciting where you'll experience culture shock is going to another country full of white people who speak English and originally came from England. Haha, I didn't think of it like that! I suppose it's better to have my first solo long-haul far-off adventure to not be somewhere where I don't speak the language or have a general clue what's going on, though. I think buggering off to, for example, Japan, would be a lot more overwhelming, and though I'd love to visit there and other places some day I think to ease myself in gently with the whole idea is a good start Plus, Australia is somewhere I've wanted to visit for a long, long time, and I can't wait!
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Sep 4, 2011 14:27
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Keetron posted:So instead of reading the entire thread (I am lazy like that), I will just post my simple question here. Where abouts are you staying? North of river, south of river, do you want something close to the cbd?
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Sep 5, 2011 00:45
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What is the secret to getting a plane ticket to brisbane that isnt insanely expensive? I'm coming from SF and my friend wants to meet me in brisbane before, after, or during my thailand/SEA trip. All the plane tickets I can find are definitely not worth it. What is the cheapest route to go? SFO -> BKK -> BNE -> BKK -> SFO? Round trip from SFO/BKK is around $1000 and roundtrip from BKK/BNE is more than that, ~1300 or so. Doesnt really make sense... e: oh wow, they are 15 hour flights between BKK/BNE. I didn't realize it was so far :|
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Sep 8, 2011 16:59
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mitztronic posted:
That's not right, it should be about 9 hours BNE > BKK.
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Sep 8, 2011 21:34
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You may find, since there are many more flights BKK-SYD, that it may be cheaper to fly into Sydney then get a domestic flight on Virgin or Qantas to BNE.
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Sep 8, 2011 21:37
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It might also be cheaper to go BKK -> OOL on like Air Asia, and then wander up to Brisbane, but if I remember right getting from the Gold Coast airport to Brisbane can be a bitch on public transport, so make sure you've figured it out before hand. (The trip by public transport between these two airports shouldn't take more than 2 hours at the very most)
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Sep 8, 2011 23:43
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Thanks for the ideas, I'll look into them :
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Sep 12, 2011 23:14
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Long thread, read some of it, but didn't find any specific info on migrating agencies I was looking for. I'm specifically interested if there is some way to hire an agent or agency that arranges the whole package: visa, job and apartment? Looked around the internet and all I found was agencies that get you a visa.
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Sep 14, 2011 20:26
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HookShot posted:It might also be cheaper to go BKK -> OOL on like Air Asia, and then wander up to Brisbane, but if I remember right getting from the Gold Coast airport to Brisbane can be a bitch on public transport, so make sure you've figured it out before hand. I'd recommend the AirAsia route. It looks like now they even sell connecting flights, which is ideal if you want to go from Bangkok to the Gold Coast. There are minivan shuttles that go between OOL and the Brisbane CBD that are around $40 one way. Not super cheap, but not too bad. Also, the Gold Coast airport actually closes at night so don't plan on spending the night there. But yeah, it's a 8-9 hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to the Gold Coast, so it's not like a little diversion.
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Sep 15, 2011 14:49
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1000010 posted:Long thread, read some of it, but didn't find any specific info on migrating agencies I was looking for. I'm specifically interested if there is some way to hire an agent or agency that arranges the whole package: visa, job and apartment? Looked around the internet and all I found was agencies that get you a visa. I don't believe there is. Agencies used to be able to sponsor you on 457 visas so they used to be able to do this kind of thing but now an employer needs to sponsor you. The exception is seriously skilled people like senior doctors and surgeons, they can easily have everything done by the agency. So order of business is -- Find a job with someone who is willing to sponsor you (hard unless you've got a skill set people are looking for) -- Let them worry about the visa (quite a lot of companies are used to the process as a lot of the australian work force is on visas) -- Get your rear end over to Australia, stay in a room somewhere until you find an apartment. Have you considered a working holiday visa?
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Sep 16, 2011 06:20
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Agency's will help you find a job, my friend was lined up with interviews through the agency but they want 20% of your salary up front. On a regional skills visa my mate had to pay $20,000 - he decided its cheaper to spend $6,000 on another year of school and find a job himself. These agents are usually dealing with people from countries where English is not the first language so watch out, they are probably going to try and rip you off. As for accommodation, if its regional work I am sure the agency will help you out or even the company hiring you would be able to point you in the right direction. imnotinsane fucked around with this message at 08:54 on Sep 16, 2011 |
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Sep 16, 2011 08:52
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Depending on your city/experience/industry I can (and I'm sure others as well) reccommend some recruitment agencies to go through. Job/Visa is the most important. Finding an apartment can come later and you can slum it for a few weeks at first or just stay in a hotel/hostel.
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Sep 16, 2011 10:05
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