|
Mr Chips posted:Why? I've been to Broome a few times for work, and on weekends off did some exploring. The attraction of the place is a complete mystery to me - there are plenty of other coastal regions in Australia that are just as nice without being so hellishly hot or remote I really liked Broome the one time I went, but that may be because my grandparents had a house right on the beach (well, there was a lagoon to get past first which crocodiles apparently liked in summer) with a bit of land. It's a fair way from anything, though. Not exactly a day trip like the Blue Mountains is for Sydney. Also, I finally bought my plane tickets for Melbourne so it's almost all locked in. Early November for a week. Going to be good, I'm sure. EDIT - So my complaint has been registered with the taxi company re my excessive cab charge a few weeks ago. Looks like they're going to refund me about $45. Just goes to show you can get results if you make a fuss. Octy fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Sep 19, 2014 |
#
?
Sep 16, 2014 09:25
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 11:01 |
|
|
Okay so I'm actually from Perth, but I've got my partner coming down to visit between the 7th and 16th of December. Does anyone know if any major festivals/night markets etc. happening during that time? Seems all the fun only really heats up from the twentieth onwards  Perths become pretty cool in the last few years festival-wise (Beaufort street festival etc) but I'd love to hunt down a few more to show off to him.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2014 15:54
|
|
|
Perth Hawkers Market seems to be back up and running: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Twilight-Hawkers-Market/220654328006092 It's every Friday night during the spring/summer. I haven't been myself, but I've heard good things.
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2014 04:58
|
|
|
JBark posted:Perth Hawkers Market seems to be back up and running: Ah thank you! I didn't realise it was back in town. I went last year and the satays were fantastic. Cheers.
|
|
#
?
Oct 21, 2014 12:11
|
|
|
Just got back from a week in Melbourne. Lovely city, despite the expensiveness of the coffee (often almost $4 for a small flat white) and beer. I walked everywhere for the first few days, and then I relented and started catching public transport. All in all, I had a generally pleasant time (apart from one small occurrence which might be put up to drunken dickheads) and you should all go there now.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2014 07:39
|
|
|
I instantly fell in love with Melbourne and am immensely jealous of Australians for having such wonderful cities.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2014 07:41
|
|
|
I'm going to Melbourne next month for about a week, and if anyone has any suggestions for things to do there that are fun for a one year old (and her parents) I'd love to hear them. 
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2014 07:52
|
|
|
I don't know about someone as young as one, but Melbourne Museum has plenty of stuff aimed at adults and children. I enjoyed it when I was a little kid and I enjoyed it just last week. Plus, I think children get in free.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2014 22:18
|
|
|
Octy posted:Just got back from a week in Melbourne. Lovely city, despite the expensiveness of the coffee (often almost $4 for a small flat white) and beer. I walked everywhere for the first few days, and then I relented and started catching public transport. All in all, I had a generally pleasant time (apart from one small occurrence which might be put up to drunken dickheads) and you should all go there now. Have lived here for a bit over 2 years now, it is a nice city.
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2014 22:41
|
|
|
Octy posted:I don't know about someone as young as one, but Melbourne Museum has plenty of stuff aimed at adults and children. I enjoyed it when I was a little kid and I enjoyed it just last week. Plus, I think children get in free. Thanks! That sounds great!
|
|
#
?
Nov 8, 2014 23:39
|
|
|
Whelp, holy poo poo, just got my PMV Subclass 300 visa granted. It only took 2 months of insane paperwork and 5 months of waiting, which my Fiance and I used to backpack the EU and New Zealand. Can't wait to get back to Perth and have a proper coffee
|
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2014 06:53
|
|
|
those of you trying to get visas, it's currently really bad as the current government made a big anti immigration platform and got elected on it. their poorly thought policy is probably having flow on effects for regular immigration. if you are in Perth and like beer I recommend visiting the Feral Brewery in the Swan Valley by day and the Little Creatures Brewery in Fremantle by night. Feral is a young brewery that's winning awards and makes many more beers than they bottle. Creatures has a restaurant inside the brewery and has an amazing atmosphere. also seconding the Fremantle gaol night tour. don't come to queensland, the government pulled some monumentally stupid poo poo for G20 and should be punished. Negative Entropy fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Nov 23, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2014 21:49
|
|
|
Kommando posted:those of you trying to get visas, it's currently really bad as the current government made a big anti immigration platform and got elected on it. their poorly thought policy is probably having flow on effects for regular immigration. Yeah, it has me a bit concerned. On the one hand, from the official publications I've read, the government seems pretty decent about grandfathering people in to whatever the old rules were when they came to Australia. On the other, I've still got two years on a student visa -- after which theoretically it should be a direct transition given the amount of points I'd have (IIRC my margin is 10 over the current threshold). Worried it'd make employers even less likely to look at me being on a transitional visa though (and being a teacher there's really kinda one main hiring season), and there's the possibility of being rejected for whatever reason, so I wonder if I should go for that two-year 485 Temporary Graduate visa. Would cost at least AU$1500 just to cover my arse with that one though, and the Independent Skilled one would be $3500. I've been making some starts at getting back into Thai, might be useful for a teaching practicum idea I have, and I'd like to take a swing at the NAATI exams just to try and pad my margin a little better. Leaving for Hobart in a bit over two months, quite excited! Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 23:47 on Nov 23, 2014 |
|
#
?
Nov 23, 2014 23:45
|
|
|
So jealous, Hobart rules. I just did a 2 week tour/honeymoon of Tas if you want to know cool poo poo to do hit me up. I am leaving for the USA soon where the government isn't as vile or corrupt 
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2014 02:27
|
|
|
I'm planning an extended trip beginning this February and Australia is my first destination. Along with figuring out what exactly I'm going to do while there, I'm also curious about flight options. I'll be flying in from the states but would like to fly to Thailand from Australia. Do I need to buy a round trip ticket and then change it while in Australia or can I buy a one way?
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2014 16:37
|
|
|
skinner posted:I'm planning an extended trip beginning this February and Australia is my first destination. Along with figuring out what exactly I'm going to do while there, I'm also curious about flight options. I'll be flying in from the states but would like to fly to Thailand from Australia. Do I need to buy a round trip ticket and then change it while in Australia or can I buy a one way? I'm going from the US to Thailand to Australia then back to the US in April/May. I did one way for every leg and it was a little bit more expensive than round trips to any given destination, but not ridiculously so. It seemed the easiest way to go, but ymmv.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2014 22:50
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:Yeah, it has me a bit concerned. On the one hand, from the official publications I've read, the government seems pretty decent about grandfathering people in to whatever the old rules were when they came to Australia. On the other, I've still got two years on a student visa -- after which theoretically it should be a direct transition given the amount of points I'd have (IIRC my margin is 10 over the current threshold). Worried it'd make employers even less likely to look at me being on a transitional visa though (and being a teacher there's really kinda one main hiring season), and there's the possibility of being rejected for whatever reason, so I wonder if I should go for that two-year 485 Temporary Graduate visa. Would cost at least AU$1500 just to cover my arse with that one though, and the Independent Skilled one would be $3500. There are terrible bits of news coming out about refugee visas being denied (seemingly out of spite and to carry the political narrative) and people being bundled up from their beds in the middle of the night and being deported. Its horrifying. An aquaintence of mine was here as a student under her parents visa, they were Malaysian, when her parents moved to singapore for work she was unable to secure a semi-skilled work visa while she finished her studies and found work when her student visa ran out. The Dept of Immigration (and later Border control) figured if she was Malaysian, she can go back to Malaysia, not Singapore. Even though she has no friends or family there and grew up in Australia for the majority of her life. She was panicked. She was unable to stay in australia and managed to get to Singapore.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2014 23:26
|
|
|
A Time To Chill posted:I'm going from the US to Thailand to Australia then back to the US in April/May. I did one way for every leg and it was a little bit more expensive than round trips to any given destination, but not ridiculously so. It seemed the easiest way to go, but ymmv. I don't mind the extra cost, I'm more worried about being denied entry or some other hang-up because it's only a one way ticket.
|
|
#
?
Nov 24, 2014 23:49
|
|
|
skinner posted:I don't mind the extra cost, I'm more worried about being denied entry or some other hang-up because it's only a one way ticket. It's my understanding that as long as you have a ticket in and a ticket out, they don't really care where you're coming from/going to. At least I hope so or I'm screwed too.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2014 00:21
|
|
|
They don't even care if you don't have a ticket out, most of the time. I've never been asked for one, even when on a tourist visa, and entered Australia multiple times this summer with a one-way ticket while joined by my Australian husband, basically the definition of an overstay risk. New Zealand on the other hand you won't be let on the plane if you can't prove you have a ticket out (doesn't have to be return, just have to leave to elsewhere).
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2014 01:35
|
|
|
Can't you show $X in a bank account en lieu of that though?
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2014 02:17
|
|
|
I'm honestly not sure, since they've never cared enough to ask me. I imagine that would be fine though. All of this is with the caveat that you're white though, if you're not I would definitely want to make sure I actually filled all the requirements.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2014 05:30
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:Can't you show $X in a bank account en lieu of that though? This is Australia. Of course you can buy a visa. It probably outside the price range of most goons though.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2014 05:49
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:Can't you show $X in a bank account en lieu of that though? At least for a working holiday visa it's ok. It says you either have a return flight or enough funds for a return flight but no one asked me for a proof of either. New Zealand is the same for a working holiday but when I flew to New Zealand they made more of a meal of checking my visa and flights (I forgot to print it off but they still let me on).
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2014 08:46
|
|
|
Thanks for the info. Buying a one-way is ideal for me at this point.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2014 12:42
|
|
|
SPM posted:At least for a working holiday visa it's ok. It says you either have a return flight or enough funds for a return flight but no one asked me for a proof of either. Basically this. I've been to Australia three times on three different visas (tourist visa, working holiday and then whatever the temporary 40-day or whatever work visa thing is) and was always paranoid about getting in but they didn't give a poo poo. I always had a return ticket plus funds to cover my rear end but I got waved through immigration each time with no questions.
|
|
#
?
Nov 25, 2014 22:13
|
|
|
Been looking over rents on Gumtree, I see a number of postings require you to "apply through real estate". As someone new to Australia, would I be boned there by not having a renting history? To be honest, even if they did want to follow up on my references overseas, I really don't have much they could go on; it's pretty much either uni accommodation from years ago, foreign landlords who don't speak English and I mostly have no contact info for, or my parents for a couple months here and there in between being overseas. On the plus side, as a result of my programme (Teaching) I do have police checks from every country I've lived more than a year, and can show plenty of funds. Most likely going to book a short-term place for the first ~3 weeks, and do some apartment hunting/roommate screening once I'm there. The real estate check thing is far from universal on the posts I've been seeing, just wondering if I should discount them entirely. Another question: what sort of deductions are there taken out of your paycheques for basic, hourly-type jobs? In the US you get some taken out for social security/Medicare, as well as usually getting income tax withheld (as well as maybe state or local income tax, if the area you live in has that). In Australia I understand the Medicare Levy doesn't kick in until much higher levels of income, under ~$18k income isn't taxed (I'll be applying for tax residency), and superannuation is on top of your salary, not deducted from it. Is there anything I'm missing? Talking Tasmania, if it makes a difference. Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Dec 18, 2014 |
|
#
?
Dec 18, 2014 16:15
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:Another question: what sort of deductions are there taken out of your paycheques for basic, hourly-type jobs? In the US you get some taken out for social security/Medicare, as well as usually getting income tax withheld (as well as maybe state or local income tax, if the area you live in has that). In Australia I understand the Medicare Levy doesn't kick in until much higher levels of income, under ~$18k income isn't taxed (I'll be applying for tax residency), and superannuation is on top of your salary, not deducted from it. Is there anything I'm missing? Talking Tasmania, if it makes a difference. It should just be tax taken out. Employers have to provide a payslip(it can be electronic) every time they pay you by law. It should show your total hours worked, payrate and total earnings and then break it down showing tax taken out and your after tax earnings. It should also detail any Super contributions if you have earned enough. If they are not providing a payslip, something is dodgy.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2014 03:56
|
|
|
Pompous Rhombus posted:Another question: what sort of deductions are there taken out of your paycheques for basic, hourly-type jobs? In the US you get some taken out for social security/Medicare, as well as usually getting income tax withheld (as well as maybe state or local income tax, if the area you live in has that). In Australia I understand the Medicare Levy doesn't kick in until much higher levels of income, under ~$18k income isn't taxed (I'll be applying for tax residency), and superannuation is on top of your salary, not deducted from it. Is there anything I'm missing? Talking Tasmania, if it makes a difference. You can check up on how much tax they should be witholding here: https://www.ato.gov.au/Rates/Fortnightly-tax-table/?page=10#PAYG_withholding_publications Medicare levy is calculated when you do your tax return (ie after each financial year ends), details about the threshold for that here: https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Medicare-levy/Reduction-for-people-on-low-incomes/Income-thresholds-for-Medicare-levy-reduction/ There are no state income taxes in Australia. Superannuation is only required when you earn/work more than a certain amount in a given period. It should not be deducted from any hourly pay rate you earn.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2014 10:27
|
|
|
I recently found out that I'll be spending some time this May/June at the University of Newcastle. (My PhD advisor is taking some sabbatical time there and wants me to join him.) The details aren't in yet, but it sounds like I'll be there 3-4 weeks. So, as an American who's never been closer to Australia than southern California, what is there to do around Newcastle? I figure it would be silly not to travel around afterward, while I'm there. Is June a good time to go to Cairns/Port Douglas/the Great Barrier Reef? What about hiking/nature-y stuff in New Zealand? (I know this is the Australia thread, but I didn't see one for NZ.) Can I hang out with koalas somewhere? Also, I'm hoping the university will give me some advice on this, but housing in Newcastle- any recommendations for finding a place for a month? Particular neighborhoods to look for? How much should I expect to spend?
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2015 20:40
|
|
|
If you like nature outdoorsy type stuff, you're in luck. Newcastle has some of the nicest beaches around. About an hours drive outside Newcastle is Port Stephens, where there's heaps of eco tourism stuff going on such as dolphin cruises, some excellent hiking trails, and camel treks through the dunes. Drive about 30mins west from Newcastle and you're at the Hunter Valley vineyards, also a nice place to spend a weekend. Or you can catch the train down to Sydney. To go see elsewhere in the country though, you're looking at either a really long drive or a flight. You can fly out of Newcastle Airport (but be aware it's a 45min bus ride out of town) to other places like Cairns, Melbourne etc through jetstar airways, usually for around $100 one way. As far as house rentals, suburbs close to the uni include Wallsend, Mayfield and Jesmond. But there is an adequate bus/train system you can use if you decided to live in a nicer, closer to the beach suburb such as Merewether, Newcastle city or The Junction. Hamilton is pretty cool too, there's a lot of interesting restaurants and bars around there. You probably want to rent a room in a sharehouse rather than try to find a fully furnished private rental as these are hard to come by and even harder to get a short lease for. To rent a room in a student share house you can expect to pay around $120-200 per week, depending on the size of the room and how nice it is. Do a search on facebook for Newcastle university stalkerspace and join up, as people sometimes advertise rooms there. Edit to add: if you want to see koalas, you might get lucky enough to spot some if you hike tomaree national park, as there's a relatively big koala population there. But if you really want to get up close and pet one, both Blackbutt reserve (15min drive from uni) and oakvale farm (in Port Stephens, 30mins drive from uni) have captive koalas you can touch. bee fucked around with this message at 12:07 on Jan 21, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2015 11:59
|
|
|
bee posted:If you like nature outdoorsy type stuff, you're in luck. Newcastle has some of the nicest beaches around. About an hours drive outside Newcastle is Port Stephens, where there's heaps of eco tourism stuff going on such as dolphin cruises, some excellent hiking trails, and camel treks through the dunes. Drive about 30mins west from Newcastle and you're at the Hunter Valley vineyards, also a nice place to spend a weekend. Or you can catch the train down to Sydney. To go see elsewhere in the country though, you're looking at either a really long drive or a flight. You can fly out of Newcastle Airport (but be aware it's a 45min bus ride out of town) to other places like Cairns, Melbourne etc through jetstar airways, usually for around $100 one way. Thanks! This is super helpful. It's good to know flights to Cairns are relatively cheap. I'd love to see more of the country while I'm there, but things are so far apart, it's hard to justify for time/money reasons. And yeah, I'll definitely be looking to rent a room, not a place to myself. I'll check out the places you mentioned. bee posted:Edit to add: if you want to see koalas, you might get lucky enough to spot some if you hike tomaree national park, as there's a relatively big koala population there. But if you really want to get up close and pet one, both Blackbutt reserve (15min drive from uni) and oakvale farm (in Port Stephens, 30mins drive from uni) have captive koalas you can touch. This just made my week!
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2015 21:45
|
|
|
If you like animals (and it sounds like you do), I'd definitely recommend checking out Oakvale Farm as most of the animals there you can feed and/or pet. The last time I was there a wombat chewed my finger  Blackbutt reserve also has a couple of exhibits with wombats, emus, possums etc but from memory you can't get up as close as you can at Oakvale. However Blackbutt has the advantages of being closer to the city, and it's free to visit as it's a public nature reserve. It's a great place for a picnic too.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2015 21:59
|
|
|
I live in Rockhampton, on the southern ish end of the GBR, about 1100 km south of Cairns and flights for me to get to Cairns are like $300+ each way most of the time. Guess why? Because I have to fly to Brisbane first, then to Cairns. Australia is loving weird and bad like that. Curse you, regional town...
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2015 00:47
|
|
|
Sharks Below posted:I live in Rockhampton, on the southern ish end of the GBR, about 1100 km south of Cairns and flights for me to get to Cairns are like $300+ each way most of the time. Guess why? Because I have to fly to Brisbane first, then to Cairns. Australia is loving weird and bad like that. Curse you, regional town... It's terrifying to think that a place like Rocktampton, which is further north than I've ever been this side of the coast, is still further away from Cairns than Melbourne is from me in Sydney. It's a good 200km difference too. I guess maybe the route from Sydney to Melbourne is a little more circuitious but still.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2015 22:34
|
|
|
Octy posted:It's terrifying to think that a place like Rocktampton, which is further north than I've ever been this side of the coast, is still further away from Cairns than Melbourne is from me in Sydney. It's a good 200km difference too. I guess maybe the route from Sydney to Melbourne is a little more circuitious but still. Totally. I drove to Cairns from Rocky twice in 2013, because my now-husband lived on Guam and the flights from Guam arrive in Cairns (well, the cheap ones do) and sometimes it was cheaper to drive to Cairns since I was on a novated car lease and needed the km. We also did some cool stuff on the way down, went to Eungella which is glorious. But man, it is a good 12 hours each way if you only do the briefest of stops. It's loving full on and I don't ever plan to do it again. The way back is particularly brutal because the stretch between Mackay and Rockhampton is SO BORING, just a total dead zone and a really bad fatality stretch because people constantly fall asleep. And you're doing that at the end. And it is terrible the end
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2015 01:46
|
|
|
Myself and my girlfriend happen to be in Sydney and have a free week from Feb 14th to Feb 21st. However at this point we've already "done" Sydney, and want to spend that week elsewhere. She's really keen on doing the GBR, but I've read that Feb is the worst time of year to visit there. But how bad is that? Apocalyptic "You will hate every moment" kind of bad? Or just "It's not the best time"? Spending a week in a tropical place sounds really neat, but we normally live in Auckland so choosing another time isn't impossible. It would just be disappointing to miss this opportunity.
|
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2015 10:38
|
|
|
Oh my god if you don't take Heron Island up on their amazing 25% off in Feb and March offer you're a huge loving idiot, ngl. It's the most spectacular place. It's "kinda" pricey but honestly it's so incredible that you won't even remember. And 25% off! Meals are included (as long as you get the package that includes same). If you guys are boozehounds I wouldn't recommend it as the booze is pricey. To get there you fly to Gladstone from Sydney and then get a beautiful 2 hour ride on a huge catamaran. Lemme dig up some pics, husbo and I were there last April. The February thing is because of stingers but Heron is fine, because it's pretty far out on the reef and quite far south, the stinger issues are all up north. HUGE PICLOAD INCOMING Sunset on the first day from out the back of our room.  What's that? You want to see baby turtles hatching and making their way to the sea? Well these dudes are loving EVERYWHERE at this time of year and you will DEFINITELY see that at least once if not multiple times.   And their mummas and daddies  Cuddle puddle of totally harmless, mostly sedentary cowtail rays? OKAY SURE  How's the loving serenity.  The wreck at low tide. At high tide it is excellent snorkelling!  Seriously dude I can't recommend it highly enough. The snorkelling is fantastic RIGHT OFF THE BEACH especially in the harbour (ie a trench dug for boats, it's nothing industrial). First time we put our faces under, a large lemon shark dawdled by in front of us, serene as can be, completely harmless. All the sharks, rays and turtles are basically tame (but you're not allowed to touch them obv). People see manta rays, whales, dolphins and all kinds of rad poo poo all the time. It is paradise. Go. Reasons to not go: If you are scared of birds. This is a nesting site for noddy terns and muttonbirds (shearwaters). They are everywhere, as are seagulls. You may also get pooped on. We were there three days and did not get pooped on. If you literally cannot be without the internet for a single loving day. No service out there. It was magical! Those reasons are silly. Do the thing. Sharks Below fucked around with this message at 12:49 on Jan 28, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jan 28, 2015 12:44
|
|
|
Thanks for that, it at least convinced me that summer can't be too bad for a tropical paradise. We ended up booking a place just south of Port Douglas, partially because the idea of being stuck on a tiny island for a whole week with one restaurant would have gotten to me (we love variety in dining!). Gonna stay here: http://www.thalabeach.com.au/ as the reviews on Trip Advisor were just gushing. Really looking forward to it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2015 00:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 11:01 |
|
|
NZAmoeba posted:Thanks for that, it at least convinced me that summer can't be too bad for a tropical paradise. We ended up booking a place just south of Port Douglas, partially because the idea of being stuck on a tiny island for a whole week with one restaurant would have gotten to me (we love variety in dining!). Sweet! I cannot say that being that far north will result in no stingers. Like I said, Heron escapes because it's not near the coast and it's pretty darn far south. There may be stingers. Suits may be worthwhile. Check with the locals.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2015 03:41
|
|