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imnotinsane posted:Pretty much any convenience store sells prepaid sim cards so no it's not going to be hard to get a cell phone. We do require insurance to drive. Compulsory 3rd party, so anyone you injure in a car accident is covered. No coverage for property damage or damage to yourself. This is included in your registration fees. Hope you dont rear end a merc.
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Aug 9, 2012 02:36
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Usage of foreign drivers licenses in Australia is the most nebulous topic there seems to be. It seems that you can use your license if its in english and you're on a temporary visa. My plan A right now is get my visa translated and plan B is to pretend not to speak any english if the police arrest me.
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Aug 9, 2012 03:15
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Archives posted:Usage of foreign drivers licenses in Australia is the most nebulous topic there seems to be. It seems that you can use your license if its in english and you're on a temporary visa. My plan A right now is get my visa translated and plan B is to pretend not to speak any english if the police arrest me. http://australia.gov.au/faq/existing-licence-driving-in-australia
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Aug 9, 2012 03:20
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ExecuDork posted:I've read if I get an International Driver's license I should be OK for up to a year or more, but I don't understand Australian (or maybe it's state-by-state? and Tasmania is different?) car insurance & registration. I've been browsing gumtree, and I noticed many ads specify the length of time the car is registered for. Is there an insurance company or government website I can find with the right keyword search? imnotinsane posted:Some people sell car with some registration left otherwise you will have to pay about 600 for a years worth of rego. Unlike Canada and USA we do not require insurance to drive a car so you can organise insurance when you have brought the car. If you've been paying insurance in Ontario, you'll be amazed at how cheap it is to insure a car in Australia.
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Aug 10, 2012 05:59
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I live in Houston, Texas and work for FedEx part-time while attending college. I've always wanted to live out of the country buy I don't think I could stand the weather in Europe and Australia seems to have very "Texas" weather. Since I work for an international company I've got it in my head that getting a sponsored visa wouldn't be as hard as what others would experience. Anyway, I wouldn't consider this until graduating and saving up some money, but I was wondering about the difficulty level involved in moving there. Also, any advice from people who have done it before would be appreciated.
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Aug 10, 2012 19:29
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What are you studying? If you are under 30 you can get a 12 month working holiday visa as well which lets you work 6 months at one place I think.
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Aug 11, 2012 05:06
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Bo_Bashy posted:Australia seems to have very "Texas" weather.
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Aug 13, 2012 01:33
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I'd like to take about a 2 week vacation to Australia in... February? I hope that's not a terrible time. I would like to visit Cairns, Sydney, and Melbourne. How should I divide up my time? Any other general suggestions? I'm just starting to think about doing the actual planning for this trip so I'm just looking for high-level stuff. TIA.
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Aug 13, 2012 05:26
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It'll be hot (in Sydney, Melbourne) and also wet (in Cairns). Assuming you're around for the whole 14 days, I'd do 5 in Cairns, 4 in Sydney and 4 in Melbourne. Cairns I'm guessing you'll be doing more day trips - checking out rain forests/reefs/the areas around Cairns, so that's why I suggest 5. Melbourne and Sydney being cities are more condensed so take less time to cover. Since it'll be hot, be sure to spend a day or two at Sydney's beaches. Theres Manly, Bondi, Coogee and a heap more that are all awesome. Sydney has great beaches and the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and The Rocks are all around the same general area - Circular Quay. Sydney is great for sights. Melbourne doesn't have the big name sites like Sydney does and takes a little more exploring - it's known for it's food, coffee, art and sport. Being Februrary, I'd recommend checking out a 20/20 game of cricket if you can. It's a fast, condensed form of the game and you'll get to go to the MCG - a big Melbourne landmark. Other than that - let us know what you're in to, Melbourne has heaps of things to offer - street art, markets, big shopping centres, good live music venues (especially in the summer months as it's when a lot of big acts are touring with festivals) and pubs/bars.
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Aug 13, 2012 05:56
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Are any of the theme parks worth seeing near Gold Coast? We'll be there in about 3 weeks time (is this during a holiday season in Australia? will it be completely swamped?) We'll probably be travelling from Brisbane
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Aug 13, 2012 10:11
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I'm currently living in Korea and considering making the trip to Australia (probably to my friends in either Sydney or Melbourne). I'm an Irish citizen. Does anyone know what's the story with how much money you have to have in an account to get in on the working holiday visa? I'll have the bones of 4000AUD going over, not sure if this is enough to satisfy customs or not?
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Aug 13, 2012 12:12
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ClownSyndrome posted:Are any of the theme parks worth seeing near Gold Coast? We'll be there in about 3 weeks time (is this during a holiday season in Australia? will it be completely swamped?) 3 weeks time? I don't recall Queenslands exact holidays, but you should be safe. I don't know whether you posted earlier, but who are you with? Tbh I'd suggest all the theme parks, they're probably 30-40 minutes drive from Brisbane, however you can easily fill a day at each one (if you go this path you can get good combo tickets: http://movieworld.myfun.com.au/tickets-and-deals.aspx). If you have to pick/don't have time I'd rate: Movie World > Dream World > Sea World (Not including water parks, but if the weather's decent, which it might be, they're worth it). Alternatively, or as well, you can go to Australia Zoo (The [Steve] Irwin family), which is really good as well. It's about an hour the other way and is a good day. I'd highly recommend it if you enjoy that sort of thing, or if you don't know just take my word for it that you will. http://www.australiazoo.com.au/ John Sheehy posted:I'm an Irish citizen. Does anyone know what's the story with how much money you have to have in an account to get in on the working holiday visa? Financial requirements You must have access to sufficient funds to support yourself for the initial stage of your holiday. Generally, AUD5000 may be regarded as sufficient, but the amount may vary depending on your length of stay and the extent of your travel. You should also have a return or onward ticket or the funds for a fare to depart Australia. http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/working-holiday/417/eligibility-first.htm#d Alkazard.exe fucked around with this message at 16:18 on Aug 13, 2012 |
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Aug 13, 2012 16:07
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John Sheehy posted:I'm currently living in Korea and considering making the trip to Australia (probably to my friends in either Sydney or Melbourne). I'm an Irish citizen. Does anyone know what's the story with how much money you have to have in an account to get in on the working holiday visa? I'll have the bones of 4000AUD going over, not sure if this is enough to satisfy customs or not? Also adding another vote for Australia Zoo. It's one of my favourite things in Australia, I just wish it wasn't in loving Beerwah.
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Aug 14, 2012 05:56
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NoArmedMan posted:Assuming you're around for the whole 14 days, I'd do 5 in Cairns, 4 in Sydney and 4 in Melbourne. Thanks! Thinking about booking tickets now, so I'm wondering how to split my time exactly. So, my current plan will be, Melbourne -> Cairns -> Sydney -> Home. Option REEFS Sunday morning arrive in Mel: Sunday afternoon + 3 full days Thursday noon arrive in Cairns: Thursday afternoon + 6 full days + Thursday morning Thursday evening arrive in Sydney: 3 full days + Sunday morning Sunday afternoon depart for Home So, looks like I have way too much time allocated for Cairns. Maybe change to Option BALANCE Sunday morning arrive in Mel: Sunday afternoon + 4 full days Friday noon arrive in Cairns: Friday afternoon + 4 full days + Wednesday morning Wednesday evening arrive in Sydney: 4 full days + Sunday morning Sunday afternoon depart for Home Option F-MELBOURNE: 1 less day in Mel and 1 more in Cairns Anyone comment? This would be in the middle of February. Also, what area in Cairns to stay in? Melbourne and Sydney I can figure out fairly easily, but Cairns, not so much. totalnewbie fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Aug 25, 2012 |
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Aug 25, 2012 05:28
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There's a whole strings of touristy towns with hotels north of Cairns. If you have a car (you probably should in Queensland) it's a 20 minute drive from the usual place there into town. 6 days in Cairns alone is probably a bit much. I would recommend staying there 3-4 days, then traveling to the tablelands and staying in Atherton for the rest and checking out the sites near there. Undara is amazing and a must-see imo but it's about 4 hours one-way if traveling there from Cairns.
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Aug 25, 2012 15:38
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Well, I have to spend time in Sydney and Melbourne so I don't know about going anywhere far from those cities :/
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Aug 25, 2012 20:22
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totalnewbie posted:Well, I have to spend time in Sydney and Melbourne so I don't know about going anywhere far from those cities :/ Sydney/Melbourne and Cairns are two completely different things, compare them on the same scale on Google Maps. If you want to leave the first cities it's about an hour from the city center until you're out in nature, from Cairns it's more like 5 minutes between the central shopping mall until you get eaten by crocodiles.
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Aug 25, 2012 20:32
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Yeah, that's a good point. I have friends in Sydney and Melbourne that I need to visit, and our company has an office in Melbourne as well. From what I gather, Melbourne is just a lot of little places, as opposed to YOU MUST VISIT X Y Z, so I figure it'll be good to just go there and get caught up on jet lag for the first few days while visiting friends and generally taking it easy. Cairns is just about the beaches and since it seems more touristy, it seems I shouldn't have a hard time finding things to do. Maybe I'll go with the F-Melbourne option. That'll give me some leeway in Cairns to get somewhere a bit further, maybe. Thanks!
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Aug 25, 2012 21:32
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Cairns is pretty awesome. You can go to Kuranda, scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef (I totally recommend you do this, BTW), swim in the lagoon on the esplanade, go do a Daintree Rainforest tour and tons of other cool stuff.
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Aug 25, 2012 21:35
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I'd need a license to scuba dive, yea? 
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Aug 25, 2012 21:55
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totalnewbie posted:I'd need a license to scuba dive, yea? You don't need to, touristy places will usually have beginner trips where you don't need certification to go dive, but it will be more expensive because you need to have a 1:1 diver/guide ratio. Port Douglas will certainly offer those. I went with these guys: http://www.poseidon-cruises.com.au/ On the ship there were about 30 snorkelers, 6 uncertified divers and 4 certified ones. peak debt fucked around with this message at 22:20 on Aug 25, 2012 |
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Aug 25, 2012 22:14
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:O How much does that cost?
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Aug 25, 2012 22:31
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I went with Poseidon too, it was awesome. Should be around $250 including the cruise. You can add other dives on too, when we went there were three different reefs we stopped at, my husband and I went diving on two of them and just snorkelled at the third. But yeah, I'm not a licensed diver at all. We had about 5 people in our group of divers and one instructor. It was hands down one of the coolest things I've ever done.
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Aug 25, 2012 23:07
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Things are coming together for my 4-month visit to Hobart. It looks like I'll be able to get by on a tourist visa, as I am not being paid by anyone in Australia for what I'll be doing. Apparently, I have two options that *might* work, visa-wise: 1. Tourist visa on-line application (e676), specifying 6-month instead of default (and presumably more common) 3-month. 2. Tourist visa, 3-months, go take a week or two in New Zealand at some point (e.g. chistmas-new years period), renew/extend. Has anybody had luck (good or bad) with either option? Edit: Canadian citizen, 34 years old.
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Aug 28, 2012 02:32
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Tickets booked. Thanks for the help, guys! ...and funeral arranged. I hear everything in Australia kills you. 
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Aug 28, 2012 23:24
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Update: I applied for a tourist visa e676 this morning, and was granted it this afternoon. I'm good for multiple visits of up to 6 months each, until the end of August, 2013. Awesome. Australia, how did you get an efficient, friendly bureaucracy?
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Aug 29, 2012 00:33
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Since when?  We just want your sweet, sweet tourist dollars.
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Aug 29, 2012 00:36
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The tourist visas have almost always been pretty much automatic if you come from a country with mainly white people. I'm surprised it took a half day, actually. Every time anyone I know has gotten one it's been immediate.
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Aug 29, 2012 04:47
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totalnewbie posted:...and funeral arranged. I hear everything in Australia kills you. The one thing to take seriously, as it seems to kill the most tourists, is the ocean. Really, swim in the patrolled areas - our currents can be pretty hardcore. Drunken night swims in the surf is a sure-fire way to get your name on the front page of the newspaper the next day. Everything else will try and kill you, obviously, but it's the sea that people don't expect. Knowing is half the battle!
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Aug 29, 2012 04:49
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Gromit posted:The one thing to take seriously, as it seems to kill the most tourists, is the ocean. Really, swim in the patrolled areas - our currents can be pretty hardcore. Ah yea, I have definitely scared myself a bit with some sober swimming so this is definitely good advice. Thanks. Next up for me: hotels. Any recommendations for specific hotels or areas in Mel/Cairns/Syd? Cheaper is better but at least I would like to avoid having to share a room in a hostel. Especially in Cairns, somrthing nicer would be good. Even general areas would be a great help to getting me started. TIA!
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Sep 4, 2012 17:08
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HookShot posted:The tourist visas have almost always been pretty much automatic if you come from a country with mainly white people. I'm surprised it took a half day, actually. Every time anyone I know has gotten one it's been immediate. I applied for my working holiday visa last week and it took longer for me to fill out the application than it did for it to get granted  Now begins the huge panic about actually organising the thing.
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Sep 4, 2012 19:07
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Gloomiebat posted:I applied for my working holiday visa last week and it took longer for me to fill out the application than it did for it to get granted They've been pretty quick approving visas last month - my boyfriend's (462) and my own (457) were both ready the next day after submitting all documents. Good luck with organization! We still don't have a place to stay, but that'll have to wait until I'm physically there next week to check out rooms/apartments. I have a question though - I'll bring my (unlocked) phone to Melbourne and would like to have a data plan with minimal calling/texting for it. My current provider at home has something at 9,99€/month with free calls within their own network, 50 min/month to landline phones, and unlimited data (with the first 300 MB being fast). Do any of the Australian providers have something like this? Or would I be better off with a prepaid plan? plasmoduck fucked around with this message at 21:06 on Sep 6, 2012 |
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Sep 6, 2012 20:36
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plasmoduck posted:They've been pretty quick approving visas last month - my boyfriend's (462) and my own (457) were both ready the next day after submitting all documents. Good luck with organization! We still don't have a place to stay, but that'll have to wait until I'm physically there next week to check out rooms/apartments. Thanks! I've not actually done anything other than get the visa and save up the dosh, but I'm not planning on going until the end of February so I've a bit of time to get rid of all my possessions (stressing out a lot about having to fit my vast collection of crap into my old bedroom at my parents' house.) I was there (Melbourne/Sydney) last year on holiday so I've an idea of hotel/hostel costs etc., (though I hate hostels, ha! Also will probably be looking at apartments at some point later if I stay on for the second year) and I'm starting off in Melbourne which I know (and love) well enough to hope that major oh-gently caress-alone-in-new-country freak-outs will be minimised! Bricking it, but really looking forward to the adventure too! I'm interested in what folk have to say about phone info too; last time I was there I just had my UK phone obviously and it cost like £1 a minute to make/receive calls which wasn't ideal! I'll of course be looking to get an Aussie sim when I make it over there. At the moment I have a pay-as-you-go sim that gives me 300 free texts if I top-up £10 a month and I'd prefer to stay on pay-as-you-go, is it fairly easy to pick up an Australian sim along those lines?
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Sep 6, 2012 21:33
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Yeah just go to any electronics store and you can get the sim card + $10 worth of credit for $10 usually. You'll just need a passport since they require ID. It's been way too long since I've had a cell in Aus to know what the paygo plans are like now, but all the major websites should have their info: telstra.com.au optus.com.au three.com.au virginmobile.com.au vodaphone.com.au (don't use them) Basically if you can afford it Telstra is better than everyone else, Optus is second best and for the love of god avoid everyone else. Especially vodaphone. I say this having never been a vodaphone customer, I've just heard so... many... horror... stories...
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Sep 6, 2012 22:29
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plasmoduck posted:phone 9,99€/month In Australia that will net you about 10 texts a month.  Okay, slight exaggeration, but telco's here have no competition and all bend you over as far as you can, and then a little more. Prepaid is literally.. pre-paying. You rarely get deals beyond "You paid for $20 of calls/texts/data, that's what you get. Texts are 25c, calls are pretty high, and data is something stupid like $2/mb. THAT SAID: You can buy data packs (which are still extortionate compared to EU). I'd say this is about your only option[Telstra]: $5 = 250mb; $15 = 1GB; $30 = 3GB; $60 = 8GB; A MONTH. That means at the end of the month anything you didn't use is out the window. Plans are your best bet if you know you're going to be staying for a set period of months. You wont get unlimited data unless you want to fork out ridiculous amounts. In fact I'm not sure that any even offer unlimited data. Sincerely, Australian currently in EU who is spiteful about only paying $20 a month unlimited everything. xoxo
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Sep 7, 2012 00:59
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HookShot posted:Yeah just go to any electronics store and you can get the sim card + $10 worth of credit for $10 usually. You'll just need a passport since they require ID. This. Avoid Vodafone like the plague
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Sep 7, 2012 01:01
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If you want data/3G then Telstra is by far and away the best. Optus is pretty good now too. If you want talk/texts only then you have many options really.
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Sep 7, 2012 01:17
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We seem to be talking about phones here anyway, and nobody replied to my question in the recommend-me-a-phone-and-plan thread... My contract here in Canada, with Sasktel, is up at the beginning of January. I'll be in Tasmania by then, and I'm leaning towards Telstra and some kind of pre-pay idea as I'll be there for 4 months and it's about time I upgraded to a smart phone anyways. The smartphones I can buy here are mostly not exactly the same phones I could buy in Hobart - Sasktel doesn't sell the Samsung Galaxy Y, for example, but does sell the Galaxy Rugby, while Telstra appears to be the other way around. Sasktel talks about 4G, Telstra something called "NextG". If I buy a 4G phone in Canada, will I be able to use an Australian SIM card in Australia? If I buy a Telstra phone, will I be able to swap in a Canadian SIM card when I return to Canada?
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Sep 7, 2012 01:27
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ExecuDork posted:We seem to be talking about phones here anyway, and nobody replied to my question in the recommend-me-a-phone-and-plan thread... Yes it should work as long as the phone is unlocked. I was in Toronto in June and seemed to have no issues. You'd be happy to know that you guys get royally hosed over with your phone plans compared to us. At least we can call Australia wide for no long distance charges on mobiles. Also make sure the sim card isn't embedded in the phone. I know my cousins had phones which had that (not sure how prevalent it is in Canada)
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Sep 7, 2012 01:36
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ExecuDork posted:We seem to be talking about phones here anyway, and nobody replied to my question in the recommend-me-a-phone-and-plan thread... Next G and 4g aren't the same but Telstra do have 4g coverage in major cities. It's not extensive though, especially in Tasmania, but they'll have a coverage map on their website. The answer to both questions re: SIM cards is "yes, if the phone is unlocked".
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Sep 7, 2012 01:38
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