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I'm emigrating to Melbourne from the UK on a skilled independant 175 visa (under the previous system), which I was granted in March last year, i'm due to land in Melbourne on 23/01/13. I've booked 5 nights in an apartment 30 mins on foot from the CBD so I can get settled in, and also so I have a base of operations for the many things i'll need to sort out. I plan on securing a house or flat share at first (there seems to be an abundance of these), before eventually getting my own rented apartment. I'm sure I read somewhere that there is an inlux of students in January/February so there is lots of competition for accomodation, is this true? Employment wise, i'm emigrating as a registered nurse, but will need to wait for my AHPRA registration to complete (it can take a notoriously long time depending on which state you use), so plan on working something temporary before I move to a permanent nursing job. I have finance administration and telephone customer service experience, so hoping I should be able to secure something. I also have enough funds to support me for a few months of unemployment. I'll go for a prepaid mobile phone (this thread has given me starters on that), and i've already opened a bank account with ANZ (did that before seeing the better suggestions in this thread). As a permanent resident, i'll also be eligible for medicare, which i'll do within the first 7 days. I'm going it alone, and have no friends or family out there, so I only have myself to worry about. This thread as been helpful, and i'll no doubt have more questions, and would also appreciate any tips for someone starting afresh. EDIT: Also i'm a white male, so i'll avoid any chinese restaurants where I won't be served, or is that just Queensland.
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Dec 27, 2012 16:52
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Lord Dangleberry posted:I've booked 5 nights in an apartment 30 mins on foot from the CBD so I can get settled in, and also so I have a base of operations for the many things i'll need to sort out. I plan on securing a house or flat share at first (there seems to be an abundance of these), before eventually getting my own rented apartment. I'm sure I read somewhere that there is an inlux of students in January/February so there is lots of competition for accomodation, is this true? It's true but I've never had any problems finding an apartment at that time. Since most leases are 12 months it means that a heap of people are also moving out in January/February as well. Competition for rentals in Melbourne is pretty crazy all year round. It's not uncommon to go to a rental inspection and have 20-30 people waiting out the front in nice areas. I've got every apartment I've applied for though - if I like the apartment I just chat to the real estate agent at the inspection enough to put name to a face and then apply asap. As in, overnight, try and make it the first email/message he/she gets. Most rentals are done on first come first serve and applications are only rejected if they find something in your letter/application/financials that they don't like. quote:I have finance administration and telephone customer service experience, so hoping I should be able to secure something. I also have enough funds to support me for a few months of unemployment. My wife used Dixon Appointments for temp work a year or two ago and found them the best - lots of admin/telephone support roles. quote:I'm going it alone, and have no friends or family out there, so I only have myself to worry about. This thread as been helpful, and i'll no doubt have more questions, and would also appreciate any tips for someone starting afresh. The Melbourne Goons facebook group is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/280122712098666/ We get together on a regular basis - theres a few people from the US lately that have moved over here so you may be able to find people in the same situation. They're all nice people. Theres even a nurse who might be able to help you find some work. Other than that, Melbourne is sports, coffee and bar mad. You'll be able to find groups that do just about everything or easily socialise.
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Dec 27, 2012 21:04
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Does anyone happen to know if Qantas (or other airlines, I flew with Qantas last time and really liked them) do any sort of 'January sale' type deals on flights (UK to Aus)? I'm going to book my flight very soon but a few people have told me I should hang on and see if I can grab a deal, but if there aren't actually going to be any I'd rather just get the thing booked now because when I checked the other day for the date I wanted to fly a lot of the flights were either sold out or low on spaces, and I don't want to wait too long and screw myself over cost-wise. (I had a look at the current offers or whatever it's called section of the Qantas site but it seems to just be deals on flights from Germany which aren't of use to me.)
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Dec 27, 2012 22:39
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Gloomiebat - I don't know about UK to Aus flights but I'm a travel agent from Melbourne, and Qantas has most of their 2013 earlybirds to the UK in october. when are you looking at going and what cities to/from and how long staying? Also there are a lot of decent airlines flying into Sydney or Melbourne from London - Qantas obviously, but most of the SE Asian airlines (Thai, Malay, Singapore) and Middle Eastern (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar) are high quality and also decent prices as well. Lord Dangleberry - Make sure you have documentation to prove you have a job etc. When renting you usually have to show payslips/references/etc as competition is fierce as mentioned, so you have to show you're worth it over the other people looking at it. Chinese food places are fine in Melbourne which has a huge thriving asian food culture. Specifically Chinatown in the city or Box Hill in the eastern suburbs.
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Dec 28, 2012 00:40
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Some good advice here, thanks for that. I'll add myself to that melbourne facebook group too shortly, I intend on making an effort for any goonmeets etc (i've had a look in the goonmeet forum, seems a lighthearted jovial bunch).teacup posted:Lord Dangleberry - Make sure you have documentation to prove you have a job etc. When renting you usually have to show payslips/references/etc as competition is fierce as mentioned, so you have to show you're worth it over the other people looking at it. NoArmedMan posted:My wife used Dixon Appointments for temp work a year or two ago and found them the best - lots of admin/telephone support roles. Gloomiebat- For what it's worth, I highly recommend Emirates as a quality airline, i've flown with them before and found no fault with them. They tend to have a changeover in Dubai and refuel in Singapore for UK departures. My one way flight was approx £700, with return flights hovering around the £1200 mark.
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Dec 28, 2012 01:08
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Teacup - any pointers on the best time to book from US <-> Aus? TIA. (Both when to book and also when to travel?)
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Dec 28, 2012 07:00
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Gloomiebat posted:Does anyone happen to know if Qantas (or other airlines, I flew with Qantas last time and really liked them) do any sort of 'January sale' type deals on flights (UK to Aus)? I'm going to book my flight very soon but a few people have told me I should hang on and see if I can grab a deal, but if there aren't actually going to be any I'd rather just get the thing booked now because when I checked the other day for the date I wanted to fly a lot of the flights were either sold out or low on spaces, and I don't want to wait too long and screw myself over cost-wise. (I had a look at the current offers or whatever it's called section of the Qantas site but it seems to just be deals on flights from Germany which aren't of use to me.) Wow, I just had a quick look for January flights and it's as expensive as ever. $3000 SYD > LHR! This may be of use to you for the future (not for January). http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=653462 I've not flown economy UK/AUS for the last two years. Business or first for LESS than what Qantas want for economy. I remember Xmas last year Qantas wanted something like $4000 to get me to the UK over xmas. I did it first class for about $2600. Flying back to Sydney this january in first as it happens 
Vanilla fucked around with this message at 12:31 on Dec 28, 2012 |
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Dec 28, 2012 12:28
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totalnewbie posted:Teacup - any pointers on the best time to book from US <-> Aus? TIA. (Both when to book and also when to travel?) Uhh when to book I'm not sure of what your guys earlybird seasons are. Travelling it's all based on when you leave your city - so leave in low season. Low season is a bit sporadic but it will be affected by holidays (like Christmas, Easter, I guess... thanksgiving? for you guys) and any breaks where people like to go away (for example your winter to escape to our summer, spring break, any school holidays, etc) If it helps say a ticket from Melbourne to Los Angeles can go from 1200-1400 with Qantas in Low Season return (like Feb, march, May, June) and can be 1800-2200 return in mid (april, july-october) and 3000 + return in December around Christmas. Not so sure how you guys do it but I assume sooner the better. If it helps you have a few options getting over Your airlines (Delta and United) Fly direct LAX - SYD and I think UA do SFO to SYD as well. Generally I don't get great feedback from Clients on these ones. Hawaiin Airlines fly HNL - SYD and Brisbane - and obviously connect anywhere they fly to from honolulu. Again not great feedback but lets you break up the journey (5 hours from LAX to HNL and 10 from HNL to SYD Virgin Australia have direct flights to LAX from Melbourne Sydney and Brisbane and are a fairly high quality service Qantas have direct flights to LAX from Sydney and Melbourne and maybe Brisbane? And direct flights to Dallas from Sydney, the return leg being Dallas to brisbane. Sydney to Dallas I think is the longest commercial flight in the world now that Singapore Airlines stopped Singapore to JFK. Qantas are fairly high Quality. Air New Zealand fly from Los Angeles and San Fran to Auckland, then connect to every major city in Australia from there. The layover is generally quick and efficient and breaks up the long flight a tad (3 hours or so AUS-NZ and 10-13 hours from NZ to LAX) and it lets you see new zealand if you want! Air New Zealand are probably my favourite to fly and get really great feedback from them. Other airlines are stuff like Cathay, Korean Air, Japan Air, China Eastern/Southern, Air China, Singapore, etc and some oddball ones like Emirates flying the wrong way round the world or Air Pacific flying Los Angeles to Fiji then an awful layover to here. I'd reccomend against the oddball ones because of time, and the china ones have awful feedback from people I've booked but let you see China I guess? Also takes about 30 hours to get here though. Cathay lets you see Hong Kong, the other ones obviously go through their respective hubs - sometimes a bit cheaper but you are taking ages to get here doing it. Problem is obviously the lesser quality ones will be cheaper. Note also who has codeshares with who - if you don't live on the west coast near LAX or SFO then you'll have to connect- Virgin Australia partner with Delta and Virgin America, Air New Zealand partner with United, and Qantas partner with American Airlines, so if that helps then you may go with one based on connections. It's a long flight so a bit of a bitch but the killer is mainly the jetlag, you leave late at night on one day and arrive in Australia two days later. If you provide more specifics I can try and look around but to be honest looking from Aus. I can really only guide as you will have access to better fares from local agents or online. Quite happy to help though especially regarding times/dates/etc. Big other thing to realise is book enough connection times if you are transiting somewhere like LAX. All Australia flights leave at night so it's not like there are 8 other flights heading to Sydney that day - if you miss your home city - LAX - Australia connection due to a flight delay then you will get put on the next flight but it's a day later so it might put you out a lot.
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Dec 28, 2012 12:30
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teacup posted:Gloomiebat - I don't know about UK to Aus flights but I'm a travel agent from Melbourne, and Qantas has most of their 2013 earlybirds to the UK in october. Ah, oops. I guess I'm getting mixed up season's-wise in regards to deals! I'm flying out end of Feb (the 24th) next year (or plan to at any rate) from London to Melbourne, and I'm planning on staying the full year (maybe two, but I'll be coming back and forth at least once in between.) Thanks for those other options, I will be looking into them (though previously when I checked I think it was Etihad and Emirates they were more expensive than Qantas for the dates I'd picked)- flying really stresses me out so I was wanting to try and stick with Qantas because I know what to expect (I used to be a terrible flyer and though I'm a lot better now having things be 'the same' as the last time I went over would go a long way in settling my mind about everything.) Vanilla posted:Wow, I just had a quick look for January flights and it's as expensive as ever. The dates I was looking at were around £750 for a one-way, economy class, which is fine I suppose, ha! Seeing how expensive (relatively) it is to fly back to the UK has me in a quandary, it would work out cheaper for me if I booked a return flight from the UK but I can't seem to do that in advance unless there's such a thing as an open return? Don't fancy playing upwards of $2.5k for a ticket when I could snatch one this side for a lot less  Thanks for that link!
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Dec 28, 2012 22:46
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Vanilla posted:Wow, I just had a quick look for January flights and it's as expensive as ever. Where did you find this? One way flights Mel > LHR are $1485 nearly every day in January with Qantas and are the same price as most other airlines. Sydney was only a few dollars more expensive.  http://adioso.com/au/sydney-to-london-uk-january
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Dec 28, 2012 23:43
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NoArmedMan posted:Where did you find this? One way flights Mel > LHR are $1485 nearly every day in January with Qantas and are the same price as most other airlines. Sydney was only a few dollars more expensive. I just went to the Qantas website. No one mentioned one way. It was $1500 for one leg and $1500 for the leg back! Edit: i guess i should have clarified RETURN in my post! Vanilla fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Dec 29, 2012 |
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Dec 29, 2012 00:18
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Gloomiebat posted:
If you see yourself flying Australia UK and back in the future then read the thread on that link. I've flown UK > Sydney return twice in first and also over to Japan business class. All for less than Qantas or similar airlines wanted to fly me in economy. I have enough miles stashed away to do *two* more full UK > Australia returns in first. Seriously dreading the day I have to do longhaul in economy! Pic below from the last time I flew. I flew with Thai and the onlt plane they had going on the date I needed was an old one but still.....it's a nice way to travel when you're the only one in first class :d Vanilla fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Dec 29, 2012 |
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Dec 29, 2012 00:26
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Vanilla posted:I just went to the Qantas website. No one mentioned one way. Ah, no one mentioned return in the post that was asking or yours. I assumed since you just had syd > lhr that you were talking one way, it all make sense now  Thanks for that link though, I'll be doing that next long haul flight. Usually I just go Qantas and get seat 71D, the best seat in economy.
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Dec 29, 2012 00:38
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NoArmedMan posted:Ah, no one mentioned return in the post that was asking or yours. I assumed since you just had syd > lhr that you were talking one way, it all make sense now Just remember the air miles offer only comes up every few months and you need at least 120k (more than you can buy with one offer) so you kinda have to stockpile them rather than buy them when you need to fly. If you must go Economy consider Singapore Airlines A380 seat 80 (or 81). I used to do this before I started flying using airmiles. There is a small economy section of the A380 on the top deck. Seat 81 has about 6 foot of leg room and can be reserved for about 50USD per leg. Well worth it! http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Singapore_Air/Singapore_Air_Airbus_A380.php
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Dec 29, 2012 00:45
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Aw hey thanks, that was a lot more than I was expecting. I've actually already purchased my tickets (under $2500 USD for a multi-leg trip from not-LAX so probably not too bad), but I thought I'd ask since you were conveniently here and I may well take more trips to Australia. Thanks very much 
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Dec 29, 2012 01:06
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Whenever I've got to cross the Pacific, I just buy a new book or two for my Kindle that I've been itching to read and pretty much tune out my surroundings. Much cheaper than upgrading to business 
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Dec 29, 2012 01:21
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This might be a stupid question, but...is Australia similar to the UK, in that if you do not have a postal address, filling out applications for various things becomes very difficult? I'm thinking of things like tax file number and medicare applications. While I hope to have an address fairly quickly (within 1 week ideally), i'm thinking of worst case scenarios where i'm still staying in hotels/hostels/guesthouses etc. Will this be a problem for me if finding a fixed address proves difficult? Also, thanks Vanilla for the mention of OzForex earlier in the thread, i'm using them to transfer my money at a MUCH better exchange rate than my bank was giving me. Was all set to let my bank do it too. Phew.
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Dec 29, 2012 01:45
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Vanilla posted:If you see yourself flying Australia UK and back in the future then read the thread on that link. I've flown UK > Sydney return twice in first and also over to Japan business class. All for less than Qantas or similar airlines wanted to fly me in economy. I did a return flight in economy a year ago and of course since I didn't know any different at the time it wasn't that bad I thought (this may have had something to do with the fact on the way over I got 'upgraded' to an exit row right next to the toilets so I could pretty much lie down and not have to ask anyone to move when I wanted a whizz  ) However all the legroom in the world can't compare to like, your own private lounge area; that's pretty drat awesome.(On the way back I was kinda stuck in the middle of the middle row so it was a bit less fun but I completely crashed and slept the whole way from Melbourne to Hong Kong so it didn't feel as long a journey overall.)
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Dec 29, 2012 02:26
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Lord Dangleberry posted:This might be a stupid question, but...is Australia similar to the UK, in that if you do not have a postal address, filling out applications for various things becomes very difficult? I'm thinking of things like tax file number and medicare applications. While I hope to have an address fairly quickly (within 1 week ideally), i'm thinking of worst case scenarios where i'm still staying in hotels/hostels/guesthouses etc. Will this be a problem for me if finding a fixed address proves difficult? When we applied for our TFNs we had to give an address as we weren't given the number on the spot, I think they say it can take up to 8 weeks to have it delivered but ours only took 2 or so. Maybe look into renting a post box for a month or so? Gives you a base for mail to be sent while your moving around before you settle and I've seen quite a few places offering the service in Sydney, assuming it'll be the same in Melbourne! For what it's worth I went with Vodafone for my prepay, I'm paying $30 and get 500mb and I think it started out with $450 flexi credit which rises by $50 every time I top up (every 28 days). I think Virgin might be $5 cheaper but I've only just noticed their offer and I can't be bothered switching now. Flexi credit is odd by the way, it's essentially $450 to do anything with.. calls/text/data which was pretty good as I spent $160 of it calling home for 45 minutes at Christmas yet I've only had to pay the $30 for my top up. Gloomiebat posted:
Could you not just book a return with the latest return date possible and then change it to a later date once you get closer to the time?
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Dec 29, 2012 14:47
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shep posted:Could you not just book a return with the latest return date possible and then change it to a later date once you get closer to the time? I'm pretty inexperienced with dealing with airlines and so forth so I must ask the stupid question; how easy is it to change a booking like that, i.e. what you suggested, phoning up and asking to push my return flight back by a month or two? Obviously I expect to have to pay a fee but it's fairly straightforward, right? (I can book a flight home in Dec for £400 just in time for Christmas, but since I'm desperate to have New Year in Sydney I think I might even just book the return for a little earlier and have early Christmas and fly back out again in time for the 31st. Or just not go home at all until the year is up, I can't decide!)
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Dec 29, 2012 21:09
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Any Australia post office can rent a PO box out, it's fairly easy. Flight changes will incur a fee, the cheaper the ticket the higher the fee, plus any fare or tax difference. If you are moving around Christmas time expect a fairly high difference added onto that fee due to packed out aircraft.
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Dec 29, 2012 22:40
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Gloomiebat posted:I'm pretty inexperienced with dealing with airlines and so forth so I must ask the stupid question; how easy is it to change a booking like that, i.e. what you suggested, phoning up and asking to push my return flight back by a month or two? Obviously I expect to have to pay a fee but it's fairly straightforward, right? (I can book a flight home in Dec for £400 just in time for Christmas, but since I'm desperate to have New Year in Sydney I think I might even just book the return for a little earlier and have early Christmas and fly back out again in time for the 31st. Or just not go home at all until the year is up, I can't decide!) Depends on the airline. - Some do not allow it at all unless you bought a flexible return (often double the price!). - Others allow changes but with a fee. - Some allow changes with a fee but you have to rebook the ticket to the current value! Been stung by that once!! Only a $50 change - sweeeet!! - but now the ticket is $500 more so we have to charge you $550. Find a price and then call up the airline and ask. I did what you are doing last year. I had xmas in the UK but I landed home in Sydney in time for New year. i love NYE in Sydney, it's great and better than the UK. Additionally not going home is going to save you a lot of money...unless Christmas is a magical experience t home and the parents are desperate to see you i wouldn't bother!!
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Dec 29, 2012 22:57
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Gloomiebat posted:I'm pretty inexperienced with dealing with airlines and so forth so I must ask the stupid question; how easy is it to change a booking like that, i.e. what you suggested, phoning up and asking to push my return flight back by a month or two? Obviously I expect to have to pay a fee but it's fairly straightforward, right? (I can book a flight home in Dec for £400 just in time for Christmas, but since I'm desperate to have New Year in Sydney I think I might even just book the return for a little earlier and have early Christmas and fly back out again in time for the 31st. Or just not go home at all until the year is up, I can't decide!) I've never actually done it and was just hoping it was straightforward! Our return flight is meant to be in August but we've already discussed staying a little longer so we'll be trying to change our tickets if it's not too expensive. Vanilla posted:I did what you are doing last year. I had xmas in the UK but I landed home in Sydney in time for New year. i love NYE in Sydney, it's great and better than the UK. What do you advise doing on NYE? It's our first one in Sydney and we didn't check anything in advance so didn't know about booking tickets to get places to see fireworks, that and the fact loads of the vantage points don't allow BYO has left us looking at going up to Birchgrove Park and hoping the view is decent enough. Good idea?
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Dec 30, 2012 03:29
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shep posted:
So NYE is always a personal preference. I always prefer house parties and avoid places with tickets. My cousin once got into the botanical gardens and a great spot but he had to be there from about 10am!! Mad. I used to live on Kent Street so I would usually have a house party and then just walk down to the wharf at 11.30. Was not too busy as it's seen as the back of the bridge. Still an alcohol free zone though. https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=...=w&mra=ltm&z=17 Birchgrove looks OK as it's an official site - http://www.sydneynewyearseve.com/vantage-points/birchgrove-park/ so I doubt the view would be bad!
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Dec 30, 2012 11:39
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shep posted:What do you advise doing on NYE? It's our first one in Sydney and we didn't check anything in advance so didn't know about booking tickets to get places to see fireworks, that and the fact loads of the vantage points don't allow BYO has left us looking at going up to Birchgrove Park and hoping the view is decent enough. Good idea? Birchgrove does have a good view but from experience it is usually filled with drunken teenagers willing to pick fights. Then again, you'll probably find all public spaces are like that for NYE.
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Dec 30, 2012 12:33
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Vanilla posted:So NYE is always a personal preference. I always prefer house parties and avoid places with tickets. My cousin once got into the botanical gardens and a great spot but he had to be there from about 10am!! Mad. One of our housemates is already up at the gardens with a bunch of her mates, they're staying overnight in the queue and then finding a spot and staying all day. Ridiculous as there's no BYO in the gardens so for the next 24 hours they're at the mercy of whatever prices they choose to charge inside the gates. Think Birchgrove will do for us, my girlfriend is working til 3 so we're going to get the bus up there after and see what the deal is. Just got the NYE app which tells you when the official areas are full which I'm sure will come in useful if we decide to relocate during the evening. We live down in Surry Hills so we're all walking back here afterwards for a proper party, not as handy as that Kent Street location though! I know the homeless woman that lives at Circular Quay, one of my mum's friends moved over here years ago and got to know her and introduced me when I got here, and she gets barriers around her "house" for NYE, we were tempted to sit with her for the night! Octy posted:Birchgrove does have a good view but from experience it is usually filled with drunken teenagers willing to pick fights. Then again, you'll probably find all public spaces are like that for NYE. Yeah we'd assumed there's going to be some level of public drunkenness at all of the BYO locations, I'm used to dealing with drunken kids so it's not really an issue. shep fucked around with this message at 13:28 on Dec 30, 2012 |
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Dec 30, 2012 13:22
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Aussie reporting in. Just sold all my poo poo and am going to busk and fruit pick my way from Melbourne to Cairns with only 500 bucks in the bank. Should be an interesting time, I am going with a friend with a van for a while so won't need to lug around tent/trangia just yet. I'll try and put in some updates on doing Australia on the cheap, I'm sure I will get some good knowledge (hosed over) over the months to come.
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Jan 2, 2013 14:28
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gently caress picking fruit. Go for the playing in the pub for bed/board/fuel not straining your back for $100.
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Jan 3, 2013 10:50
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Man, good luck with fruit picking if you decide to actually go through with it. I did a bit of fruit picking while traveling because I thought it would be an interesting experience to have for a couple of months when I came to Australia on a working holiday. It was...not enjoyable. You're mostly living in tents on farms in the middle of nowhere, super hot during the day but uncomfortably cold at night. Climbing ladders with heavy buckets of fruit for 10 hours a day while making almost nothing and having to wake up at 5 am. Complete physical exhaustion mixed with boredom...hmm yeah. Not really worth it. I saved more money working under the table in hospitality in Sydney despite the fact that the cheapest rent I could find was about $1000/month.
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Jan 3, 2013 13:06
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Vanilla posted:Depends on the airline. Yeah, I'm not too fussed about being home for Christmas, so I'm just going to have to hope that the rescheduling won't be too much of a dent in my wallet (there's a £100 booking change fee at the very least.) I'm going to set aside some cash as I go along to account for this (I have enough saved up in 'emergency cash' that just buying a whole new ticket won't be a problem if it all went wrong.) So yeah, my tickets are booked! I leave for Melbourne on Feb 24th with my 'return' flight on Dec 1st but I'll be aiming to move that back to the following Feb (2014) because hell yeah Sydney NYE. Obviously, I'll play it by ear, but I want to try for the second year as well, but we'll see how it all pans out, but I think I'll probably want to come home for a short while in between. I'm so excited about NYE, haha, I live in Edinburgh so we already have a pretty cool New Year celebration but I think Sydney's going to poo poo all over it (plus it's not going to be bollock-freezing) and I cannot wait. Something to tick off my bucket list Also the rents have said something about flying over to see me in June/July anyway so I can have stupid early Christmas then I suppose, haha. Vanilla posted:So NYE is always a personal preference. I always prefer house parties and avoid places with tickets. My cousin once got into the botanical gardens and a great spot but he had to be there from about 10am!! Mad. When I was in Sydney last year I went on one of those walking tours around the city centre to kill a few hours and the guide showed us all these great spots for the new year fireworks and was like 'yeah, you just gotta get there at like 6am!'  Edit: I realise fruit picking was never going to be in any way enjoyable but is it really that bad? I'll need to do a shitload for the second year visa if I decide I want to do so and I just want to have a fair idea of what the gently caress I'm letting myself in for. Gloomiebat fucked around with this message at 23:04 on Jan 4, 2013 |
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Jan 4, 2013 23:01
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Gloomiebat posted:
OK, so it doesn't have to be fruit picking it just had to be agricultural. They call it WOOFING, check out the websites. Some jobs my cousin and his gf had include: - Helping out on a remote cattle farm. He did day to day stuff with the men, she did stuff with the women and kids. Basically cheap hired helped. - Worked on olive farm which don't actually grow any olives. They had their own cabin, the owner was lovely and only visited to entertain them, bring them food, take them shopping, etc. He didn't live there but many miles away. I can't recall what they did there other than cut grass...... It's important to be as legitimate as possible, don't try to fake time spent. Customs will check upon you coming back into the country for any reason. They will call up some of your employers, etc. personally i'd avoid fruit picking like AIDS.
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Jan 4, 2013 23:33
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Vanilla posted:OK, so it doesn't have to be fruit picking it just had to be agricultural. They call it WOOFING, check out the websites. Some jobs my cousin and his gf had include: Oh yes I know how particular you need to be with records of employment and evidence and all that, I'm really anal about stuff like that as well so I'd be keeping records of everything! (I've had stuff suggested to me like taking photos of yourself at work/at the farm and shoving them on Facebook so they're dated, keeping bus tickets and receipts for petrol etc so you've got ridiculous amounts of proof that you were in the area as well as obviously having all the details of your employers and hours worked and so forth.) I've seen the WWOOF website and looked into it, but it kept mentioning like 6 hours per day work and so on in return for bed and board which sounds fairly sweet but if that doesn't count as full-time then it wouldn't be any good I don't think. Obviously I'll be looking into it properly very soon, and I'm sure there's full-time places available. I'd much rather do more general farm-work/related stuff than spend weeks picking oranges but if the latter is all I can get then I won't refuse it! I know there's no money in it at all but if I can scrape by with some small earnings I've got savings set aside exactly for this purpose so I should be okay. Thanks for the advice! I'm just trying to make sure I know exactly what I might be facing rather than going in with notions of some wondrous days skipping about in an orchard having a rare time to myself. A friend of mine who is over there right now is struggling to find specified work, though he has left it until his last four months to do it. I'm planning on doing it early on, or at least spreading it out over the year so it's hopefully not as bad, job availability depending. Hopefully this is a sensible idea
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Jan 5, 2013 02:14
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Gloomiebat posted:Oh yes I know how particular you need to be with records of employment and evidence and all that, I'm really anal about stuff like that as well so I'd be keeping records of everything! (I've had stuff suggested to me like taking photos of yourself at work/at the farm and shoving them on Facebook so they're dated, keeping bus tickets and receipts for petrol etc so you've got ridiculous amounts of proof that you were in the area as well as obviously having all the details of your employers and hours worked and so forth.) I've seen the WWOOF website and looked into it, but it kept mentioning like 6 hours per day work and so on in return for bed and board which sounds fairly sweet but if that doesn't count as full-time then it wouldn't be any good I don't think. Obviously I'll be looking into it properly very soon, and I'm sure there's full-time places available. I'd much rather do more general farm-work/related stuff than spend weeks picking oranges but if the latter is all I can get then I won't refuse it! I know there's no money in it at all but if I can scrape by with some small earnings I've got savings set aside exactly for this purpose so I should be okay. Friends of mine who have done the agricultural work have always recommended doing it as soon as possible, leaving you free for the last 8 months to focus on enjoying yourself, in the comforting knowledge that you have chalked up the required work for the 2nd year. Spreading it out would be a headache I imagine, constantly having to find specific agricultural work when you may be already be settled in a city or something. Gloomiebat posted:new year I'm currently in Glasgow, and have never fancied the Edinburgh new year celebrations, I always imagined it was mostly for people who don't actually come from Edinburgh/Scotland, and as you say it's bloody freezing. Can't wait to have a new year in the middle of summer!
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Jan 5, 2013 03:37
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Lord Dangleberry posted:Friends of mine who have done the agricultural work have always recommended doing it as soon as possible, leaving you free for the last 8 months to focus on enjoying yourself, in the comforting knowledge that you have chalked up the required work for the 2nd year. Spreading it out would be a headache I imagine, constantly having to find specific agricultural work when you may be already be settled in a city or something. Just to add to this, the best piece of advice my cousin gave (which i'm sure I mentioned earlier in the thread). Consider doing the three months agricultural work as *soon as you land*. This then means then when it comes time to apply for the second year visa it's easy. You won't need to move anywhere, break rent agreements, etc. You do the hard work up front
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Jan 5, 2013 14:17
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Thanks guys! As much as I really want to put it off I know it'll be far better in the long run (mainly for peace of mind) if I get the agricultural work out of the way immediately. Hopefully things will have picked up jobs-wis-ish by the time I get over there next month, my friend I mentioned earlier is still struggling. Really idiotic question: I've booked a few theatre tickets spread out across the year, with a couple of plays during the first few months (like, one play per month, I've actually forgotten the dates now but they're pretty spread apart), like how easy will it be for me to try and complete my regional work, assuming I find any, and make the trip back and forth into Melbourne for these? If worst comes to worst, I can miss a few, but there's one play at the end of June that I'm practically going to Australia for (okay, not really, but there is no way I'm missing it; favourite actor is in it!) and I'm just thinking about having the time/ability to get back and stuff. I guess I can worry about it more nearer the time. (God, I just re-read that and I can't believe I just asked all that. Priorities!) Lord Dangleberry posted:I'm currently in Glasgow, and have never fancied the Edinburgh new year celebrations, I always imagined it was mostly for people who don't actually come from Edinburgh/Scotland, and as you say it's bloody freezing. Can't wait to have a new year in the middle of summer! The street party is totally tourist-oriented, I've never actually attended (I can stand outside in Princes St gardens getting drunk and freezing my arse off for free any night of the year, never mind paying £15 for the privilege!), but the fireworks themselves are the part I love the most, and just being in the middle of my home city while everyone is having a great time can't be beat. That said, this past new year was a bit rubbish, spent it in a club, only three of my mates showed, missed all the fireworks. Oh well, Sydney awaits!
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Jan 8, 2013 01:26
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Depending on where you are there are Greyhound or equivalent buses. Generally under $50. And only a 10% chance of breakdown in my experience.
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Jan 8, 2013 10:50
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Suggestions for short term (6 month max) adsl providers in Sydney? No idea where to start but the house we're moving into next week has no internet and I've been tasked with setting it up as nobody else there is really interested in it, although they're willing to chip in which is nice.
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Jan 10, 2013 20:47
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shep posted:Suggestions for short term (6 month max) adsl providers in Sydney? No idea where to start but the house we're moving into next week has no internet and I've been tasked with setting it up as nobody else there is really interested in it, although they're willing to chip in which is nice. I was always happy with internode. I went with their 'naked' product which mean I didn't need an active phone line and i think it was just a rolling monthly contract too. Vanilla fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Jan 10, 2013 |
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Jan 10, 2013 21:25
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Vanilla posted:I was always happy with internode. I went with their 'naked' product which mean I didn't need an active phone line and i think it was just a rolling monthly contract too. Internode are good for nerd types. You'll get unmetered data from Australian steam servers (this is the bulk of my data ~*videogames*~). They've got good latency and low degradation in peak times, at least at my exchange it's good at St. Leonards in Sydney. Just check their website for better plans every so often. Also, the lady is on a big roadtrip around QLD / NT; I'll see if she is ok with me putting up some of her photos here. They make me want me to explore Australia as well (which I haven't done at all).
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Jan 10, 2013 21:53
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| # ? May 16, 2024 13:29 |
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I also have used internode and can't fault their services.
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Jan 10, 2013 21:53
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