1

Do you have a WHV? You do mention you would like to meet others on a WHV, but you in particular though. Hostel stays for sure, will hold you in good stead.

Quite a lot of hostels ask for passports on check in, and people with Aussie passports will be turned away. This would be a plus in your situation. Try to see if other people are keen to get up into the River Murray area of country Vic to pick fruits.

I had one like that about 2.5 years ago, in Perth though..., but some of the websites of hostels I have seen, do stipulate that only non Aussies can stay. BUT, one of our colleagues on here said he has stayed at hostels with an Aust passport.

The most lucrative work, you can get, will be to about Jan/Feb, preferabally Jan, is to go into the Riverina of Vic, on the corner of NSW/Vic/SA on the Murray to pick fruits.

Really, only working for a month? No WHV then? There might be ways to work or more so, exchange your efforts for food and lodgings, if you are not going to get a WHV, then don't ever mention "work" prior to your arrival into Aust.

In metro Melbourne, it would be most likely bar or office work-office temp work. If bar, check and see if you need an RSA Cert for Vic.

2

Main point: DO YOU WANT TO "work" for cash???

If so, get the WHV, if you only want to holiday, then save that WHV for another time.

Aust Immi do field work to chase up errant people working in Aust without a valid working holiday visa, so tread with caution, if you want to "work" for only a month on an eVisitors visa, apply for it online, free of charge for certain European nationalities.

ETA allows you to stay too, but has a charge of Aud$20.

Either way, you will need an eVisitors visa or an ETA. OR a WHV if you want to do cash/bank transfer type of payment work.

Wwoof is still an option, if you don't want get the WHV yet.

3

It hardly seems worthwhile to come all this way just to work for a month and go home. You would be better to stay home a bit longer and save some money so you can come without having to work, or come and work for longer. In any case, you will need a working holiday visa if you want to do ANY work at all.

4

• You can't work here unless you have a working visa - don't even think about doing this on a holiday visa. Some do find work illegally BUT in return, you get underpaid, exploited, and if discovered deported and banned from returning for 5 years.
• There is no hope of you getting any working visa, apart from the WHV.
• You only get 1 WHV per lifetime, so it would seem a waste to get this and come here for 1 month
• That said, I can't think of any employer who would hire someone who planned to leave after 1 month. Most people take longer than that to even find a job.

5

Harry sounds like a grumpy old guy that I wouldn't take any notice of except he is correct.
Lets say you arrive and take a few days to get your bearings, party and send out resumes.
By the end of the week, you get replies for jobs and then spend the next few days going to interviews.
It could be close to two weeks before you get a job but that depends on if you have experience working in a bar or cafe (which is where you will end up)
It really isn't worth wasting a WHV for just a month.
Sorry to be a grumpy Harry too.

6

That may well be the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me Kuri. Certainly on this forum ....

7

Thanks guys for all your advice, it was very helpful!
I think I might not get the WHV then, if you can only use it once, it is not worth it for possibly two weeks work.
Instead I want to travel from Melbourne to Cairns, how much time do you guys think I'd need for that, would 2 months be enough?

8

2 months would be fine. Maybe a week to get to the NSW border, then roughly split the next 2 states.
I'd pretty much stick to the coast, but divert inlamnd near the NSW border to see the snow mountains, canberra and maybe southern highlands, then come back down at Bateman's Bay, and make diversion for Jervis Bay, Minamurra, Grand Pacific Highway, spend decent time in Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Port Stephen, Byron Bay and hinterland, Gold Coast and hinterland, Noosa, Fraser Island, 1770, Whitsundays and at Cairns head a bit north to Port Douglas and the Daintree.
If you are actually going to be here that long, and don't think you will be back, might be worth having the WHV if you think you will need to supplement funds with a bit of work.