Top Tips

ElecKtrA

Hi Guys,

I'm leaving to go to Sydney for a few months to work and travel.

I really don't know where to start! I have the Visa and that's about it!

Can anyone (who has already made the move Downunder) give me some recommendations or suggestions that I need to do before I leap on the plane over!

TIA

catbear

If I could offer only one piece of advice for the future sunscreen would be it.

drunkmonkey

Get out of the city as quick as you can before it burns through your money or pick a cheaper city than Sydney, west coast is amazing and still relatively untouched, wander your way over to Perth and up the west coat to Darwin, you might even bag a trip to Bali working on a yacht from there.

ElecKtrA

Ha, cheers guys - I don't think i'll be needing much sun lotion as I will be arriving late Autumn/winter into Sydney. I choose Sydney because it probably is the most likely place where I will find work within a few weeks! But I only plan to work a few months and then travel Oz.

Any other tips? In terms of looking for accommodation, jobs etc?

ElecKtrA

Ha, cheers guys - I don't think i'll be needing much sun lotion as I will be arriving late Autumn/winter into Sydney. I choose Sydney because it probably is the most likely place where I will find work within a few weeks! But I only plan to work a few months and then travel Oz.

Any other tips? In terms of looking for accommodation, jobs etc?

drunkmonkey

You'll find work all up along the coasts if you hang out somewhere for a week or two, I'd be after jobs you'll never get the chance to do again rather than Irish jobs in the sun.
If you can't swim good, start getting lessons now.

pete4130

Winter can still be mid 20's and as high as 30 degrees and even on heavily cloudy days, you can be burnt in 15 minutes....it's not about the sunshine....it's about the UV index. Australia doesn't have as great an ozone layer as you are used to.

Work...depends on your experience. Getting a construction white card is good for ANY site work (labouring, traffic control). Costs about $120 to get it and is a day long course.

RSA (respinsible service of Alcohol) is necessary for working in pubs and bars. Again, about $150 to do it and can be done online.

Make sure you have a driving licence or forget any job that you need to drive in and makes getting around the country harder. Public transport isn't great between cities.


Sydney is expensive in general. You hear everybody say it but until you get here and realise how quickly you are spending money...you won't believe it. You can do it cheaply but every day things add up regardless.

Sydney rental market is at about 1%. So expect to send lots of emails, texts to share houses, rooms to rent and not hear anything back or be in a large group of people viewing a room (and the possibility of people offering to pay more than asking to secure the room in some cases). If you can time arrival with Uni's going on break if possible, it opens up the market a little bit looking for rooms.

Phones....Optus network offer better value but once you leave sydney and go anywhere rural, reception can be non existent...Telstra Network is the best coverage Australia wide but don't expect much value to go with it.

Bank account is easy to set up. Tax file number is easy to set up too.

ElecKtrA

pete4130 wrote: »

Winter can still be mid 20's and as high as 30 degrees and even on heavily cloudy days, you can be burnt in 15 minutes....it's not about the sunshine....it's about the UV index. Australia doesn't have as great an ozone layer as you are used to.

Work...depends on your experience. Getting a construction white card is good for ANY site work (labouring, traffic control). Costs about $120 to get it and is a day long course.

RSA (respinsible service of Alcohol) is necessary for working in pubs and bars. Again, about $150 to do it and can be done online.

Make sure you have a driving licence or forget any job that you need to drive in and makes getting around the country harder. Public transport isn't great between cities.


Sydney is expensive in general. You hear everybody say it but until you get here and realise how quickly you are spending money...you won't believe it. You can do it cheaply but every day things add up regardless.

Sydney rental market is at about 1%. So expect to send lots of emails, texts to share houses, rooms to rent and not hear anything back or be in a large group of people viewing a room (and the possibility of people offering to pay more than asking to secure the room in some cases). If you can time arrival with Uni's going on break if possible, it opens up the market a little bit looking for rooms.

Phones....Optus network offer better value but once you leave sydney and go anywhere rural, reception can be non existent...Telstra Network is the best coverage Australia wide but don't expect much value to go with it.

Bank account is easy to set up. Tax file number is easy to set up too.

Thank you for all the above information! I have a SIM card and I was with the network Optus, when I holidayed in Australia three years ago - so I think I will just use that again.

I would be looking for an office job, work Monday- Friday (ideally have weekends off). I didn't realize it would be so difficult to find accommodation but I guess I can look into a long stay hostel.

In order to get a bank account and tax file number, would I need anything specifically ....

catbear

Risk of UV rays can be year round. You can have a really chilly day but still have a good few hours of skin damaging rays, all joking aside don't mess with it.
Agree about getting out of sydney if you want to preserve your cash, unless you've got a free room.

THe hostels will have notice boards about regional work, if you want to be able to get a second WHV then try to get the regional work done asap rather than rushing it at the end of the first year.

The west can be good but I'd be careful about going all the way there at the moment, when I left there a year ago the slowdown was starting to bite so you might have to compete with locals for the seasonal work.

If you have a driving license then imoova can be a cheap way to get around the continent if you can get a few others to help pay for fuel. http://www.imoova.com/imoova/relocations I used it for doing the whole east coast, flipping brilliant.

If at the beach then swim near lifeguards or between the flags, the rips are very dangerous right around Oz.

Take bushfire warnings very seriously.

Where there's poisonous spiders (which is all of australia including suburbs) then don't put your hand where you can't see. see this chart to familiarize yourself so you can hopefully tell someone what bit you. http://www.spiders.com.au/

Most snakes just want to avoid humans but you can still stumble upon one. Tiger and brown bites snakes are potentially fatal, go straight on the A&E. However they can also be used for catching rabbits.

Whenever its hot drink a pint of water first thing, nothing worse than leaving the house and then gagging with thirst after 30 minutes.

A lot of Australian beers are served extremely cold so that your tastebuds are numbed sufficiently to make them palatable. There are some great beers but a lot of their big brands are just dingo sweat.

A marker is called a texter (even when a marker has "marker" clearly written on it don't point this out as it may confuse the locals and lead to hostility.)

The Queens birthday is a public holiday.

Australian Day is called Invasion Day by the aboriginals.

Flip flops are called Tongs.

Petrol stations are called Servos.

Vest tops are called Wife Beaters.

McDonalds are called Maccas.

Afternoon is called arvo.

Hungry Jacks is their supermacks.

High powered UTEs are driven by Hoons.

Chavs/neds/skangers are called Bogans in Oz.

Don't get involved in discussions about Holden and Ford, that's the first step towards Boganism.

If a Bogan says "You're a funny kunt", that's good but if a bogan says "you're a real kunt", that's bad and I'd highly recommend you vacate the Bogan's immediate proximity.

Canberra has an impressive amount of roundabouts and some museums.

Kangaroos are giant rabbits.

Koala can be angry feckers.

FIFO means Fly In Fly Out or Fit In or F**k Off.

"F**K Off We're Full" is a common bumper sticker.

The outback is big.

In the outback loneliness is a religion so if you meet a local and you ask them how they're doing be prepared to hear a life story.

My last bit of advice is New Zealand is much better and don't head back north without visiting. Much better value for money, nothing poisonous and absolutely amazing variations in scenery within short distances. Beer is fantastic, food is excellent quality. However the UVs are even stronger there so......

don't forget the sunscreen.

ElecKtrA

catbear wrote: »

Risk of UV rays can be year round. You can have a really chilly day but still have a good few hours of skin damaging rays, all joking aside don't mess with it.
Agree about getting out of sydney if you want to preserve your cash, unless you've got a free room.

THe hostels will have notice boards about regional work, if you want to be able to get a second WHV then try to get the regional work done asap rather than rushing it at the end of the first year.

The west can be good but I'd be careful about going all the way there at the moment, when I left there a year ago the slowdown was starting to bite so you might have to compete with locals for the seasonal work.

If you have a driving license then imoova can be a cheap way to get around the continent if you can get a few others to help pay for fuel. http://www.imoova.com/imoova/relocations I used it for doing the whole east coast, flipping brilliant.

If at the beach then swim near lifeguards or between the flags, the rips are very dangerous right around Oz.

Take bushfire warnings very seriously.

Where there's poisonous spiders (which is all of australia including suburbs) then don't put your hand where you can't see. see this chart to familiarize yourself so you can hopefully tell someone what bit you. http://www.spiders.com.au/

Most snakes just want to avoid humans but you can still stumble upon one. Tiger and brown bites snakes are potentially fatal, go straight on the A&E. However they can also be used for catching rabbits.

Whenever its hot drink a pint of water first thing, nothing worse than leaving the house and then gagging with thirst after 30 minutes.

A lot of Australian beers are served extremely cold so that your tastebuds are numbed sufficiently to make them palatable. There are some great beers but a lot of their big brands are just dingo sweat.

A marker is called a texter (even when a marker has "marker" clearly written on it don't point this out as it may confuse the locals and lead to hostility.)

The Queens birthday is a public holiday.

Australian Day is called Invasion Day by the aboriginals.

Flip flops are called Tongs.

Petrol stations are called Servos.

Vest tops are called Wife Beaters.

McDonalds are called Maccas.

Afternoon is called arvo.

Hungry Jacks is their supermacks.

High powered UTEs are driven by Hoons.

Chavs/neds/skangers are called Bogans in Oz.

Don't get involved in discussions about Holden and Ford, that's the first step towards Boganism.

If a Bogan says "You're a funny kunt", that's good but if a bogan says "you're a real kunt", that's bad and I'd highly recommend you vacate the Bogan's immediate proximity.

Canberra has an impressive amount of roundabouts and some museums.

Kangaroos are giant rabbits.

Koala can be angry feckers.

FIFO means Fly In Fly Out or Fit In or F**k Off.

"F**K Off We're Full" is a common bumper sticker.

The outback is big.

In the outback loneliness is a religion so if you meet a local and you ask them how they're doing be prepared to hear a life story.

My last bit of advice is New Zealand is much better and don't head back north without visiting. Much better value for money, nothing poisonous and absolutely amazing variations in scenery within short distances. Beer is fantastic, food is excellent quality. However the UVs are even stronger there so......

don't forget the sunscreen.

Thanks a million catbear!!! So much information in your reply!

PS I won't forget to apply the sun lotion! :P

catbear

I just remembered that if you're in an office job Tipex gets called Whiteout!

pete4130

catbear wrote: »

Australian Day is called Invasion Day by the aboriginals.

Vest tops are called Wife Beaters.

Hungry Jacks is their supermacks.

"F**K Off We're Full" is a common bumper sticker.

It is invasion day....it celebrates the day the land of the indigenous people was invaded. Most commonly ignored by privileged people.

Vest tops are called singlets

Hungry Jacks IS actually Burger King. Burger King was already trademarked here so they used a different name.

"F**K Off We're Full" is a common bumper sticker." is a bumper sticker used by ignorant racist, right wing idiots.

astonaidan

I was actually just talking to my wife yesterday about my time in Australia and well I really enjoyed my time in Sydney, I stayed way to long their.
My advice would be to get out of the city straight away, someone said start in Perth and work towards Darwin, I would 100% agree with this.
I wish I had done all the countryside of Australia looking back, I still intend to but it will be when Im older
Believe me Sydney is awesome but its so easy to get stuck their, and well its not cheap, very easy to spend a lot of money, very quickly
You said your arriving into Sydney, just head up the coast after a week, live the real Australia

ElecKtrA

Thanks for all the replies thus far! But I think my chances would be much higher of getting a job in Sydney than anywhere else - also I know people in Sydney. I wouldn't spend more than 6 months there anyway ..I plan on seeing a lot more of Australia too.