Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening everyone....
My name is Annemarie...I am a graphic design student in my fourth year in England, and I graduate in May/June this year.
I have been accepted for a visa to Aussie and I fly to Sydney on the 25th of November this year.
I just wondered if you guys could help??
What is the best option for living when i get over there? the cheapest and most effective...i.e. is it better to do a house share...rent a flat with someone...etc etc...and are there specific places you can register with that sort all that out for you?
also...I will be looking for work out there too...as a graphic designer preferably...so are there any agencies that you know of that specialise in finding work for travellers??
It all a bit confusing as im going it alone...but any help is apreciated
Annemarie x
Hi Anne, I did the working holiday thing alone too, my bestie met the guy who she eventually married so didn't end up coming along til later. It was pretty hard at times, met some great people but not the easiest to go the other side of the world with no support network. Do you have any rellies you can stay with when you first get here? How much money have you saved up?
With the WHV, it prohibits working for one employer for longer than 3 months making it unlikely you would get anything other than casual office temping or barwork, and in Aus you will pay non resident tax rates too which means 100% income is taxable, no tax free threshold. So you pay 30% + on every penny you earn here making it pretty hard to save much. I'm not sure about work in your field do you have any connections in Aus you can use because most places will be looking for experience and you mentioned that you were only graduating now. See seek.com.au and careerone.com.au for jobs and ato.gov.au for tax info.
Try and make as much money as you can in the UK before you come out.
As for accomodation you will probably need to find an australian with their own place looking to rent a room, unless you have enough $$$s to buy all the stuff you need to rent out your own flat, (with a 21kg baggage allowance coming out its not like you can bring household effects). Make sure you bring a warm jacket and jumper for the winter as well, whilst temperatures are generally milder houses are less insulated and heated than in the UK.
There are websites you can look for share accomodation from - others on this branch may be able to help with that one, google.com.au is a good starting point for Aus searches.
They have changed the rules and you can now work for six months for the one employer, which helps a lot for service-industry jobs such as yours. Australia is fairly prosperous and you may find your skills are in demand, working contract. However can I suggest you see your WHV year firstly as a <b>holiday</b>, and let the work follow from that? There is no need to think you have to go straight to Sydney or Melbourne and work for six months and then travel. I think it is much better to work out a rough itinerary over your 12 months, and you might be surprised how much work there is in a lot of second-tier cities (such as Darwin, Cairns, Canberra, Gold Coast, Albury, Townsville, and so on) - and will compare well with the state capitals.<BR><BR>Arriving late November means you should spend about 5-6 months in he southern half of the country (Perth - a nice place to start BTW - and there is plenty of work there) and around via Adelaide, Melbourne, Tasmania, and Sydney by late summer. From about April, its good to head to Brisbane, the rest of Queensland, and the tropics (Darwin and Cairns) - leaving by about October, before the humid season kicks in. You could then go to New Zealand and do it all again! Or if you're prepared to do three months seasonal work (fruit-picking, other farm work, etc) then you can stay in Australia or another year as well.<BR><BR>Sharing a house (with either locals as per #2, or with other reliable backpackers doing the same thing) is clearly the cheapest way to live in cities and large regional centres, and of course you can gain entree into the social life of the town that way. If you do decide an itinerary that will take you right round, or nearly so (recommended!) then you need to consider buying a small car - it is the best way to travel and saves you money in the end. If staying in big cities for some months, it is obviously less essential. Have fun in the planning - pretty easy country to find your feet, but I would say that wouldn't I!
I can't give any advice about work, but for accommodation, a house share would be the best option. You might be best not sharing with other backpackers(this is still a good option), but renting a room in a shared house. This would mean that it would already be set up with things like a TV and kitchen utilities etc. Most properties do not come furnished here. Also, rent is a lot cheaper.
Sharing a house with locals will also put you in touch with things that are not in your guide book and is a good way to make friends. There are loads of house shares, so you shouldn't have any problem.
Good luck!
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