Hi guys, my names sarah 22 from newcastle in the uk,
I'm planning to go to oz in dec for a year and just wanted to know other people
that were travelling on there own around that time and whether or not to use
OZ intro, i think im gunna use it as its easiest and they set up everything i need
really. IM really excited and it would be nice to chat to people in the
same situation.
Hey I'm Ema, 23 and am going it alone in January. Am proper excited but am so scared! Have never travelled before but have an itch that needs scratching. Plus i imagine Oz to be pretty safe and helps being english speaking. You going on WHV? Are you doing the whole hostel, backpacking thing? x
HI emma! Aww awesum im feeling the exact same, well i worked on the cruise ships for 9 months 08/09 and it was awesum but obviously this is totally different! Im soo excited just to get out there, i have heard amazing things about oz like just cant wait to get there. Im honestly not sure what i want to do would be good to find a group of people and maybe rent one of those vw van things. I just want to travel if i have to work to get another 12 months in oz ive heard you can do that, have you heard of this at all? Yeah im going on a WHV but guna get it through that oz intro thing, u guna go on that? You gunna go early jan or late? I think im going end of dec would love to be there for NYE but not sure. x
Hello Sarah (and Ema),
My name is Lewis, I'm 21 and will be going out there in October with my girlfriend and a mate..
Like you I am very excited, but I have already sorted out things like WHV and Bank Account from right here in the UK.
I *really* recommend doing the WHV on your own using the government website:
OzIntro (and all companies like this) have to go through them anyway, so all they are doing is slapping an extra £30 on..)
I set my bank up with Commonwealth, banks are pretty subjective depending on what you want, I wanted online access and an easy way to do things. I won't bore you with the details but setting up a bank account was pretty easy, they even gave me a call from their UK branch to go over it
Maybe we could meet up at some point and have a drink or something when we are out there?
We will be in Sydney from NYE for a few weeks/months.. Depending.
Good luck!
I agree with Lewis, got my WHV last week through immi website..heard similar things that companies just charge for the privilege. Think you can still go with Oz Intro and your own visa, they'll just deduct the cost. It took a few hours to come back and that's it..think it worked out about £140. I think if i understand correctly you can apply for a 2nd WHV if you work for 3 months in rural Oz eg fruit picking. Last year i had a rubbish new year and promised myself i'd be in Oz for this new year but when i actually thought about it i would like to say goodbye to everyone here and have christmas at home (I work as a nurse in Manc but my family are in Wales so missed a couple of proper christmasses thanks to work). And then Sydney for NYE 2011 and i'll hopefully have some friends to celebrate with. So early Jan, 3rd something like that. Although i want to stopover on the way for a bit, really can't decide where though..am a bit too scared of going somewhere on my own in this bit. Where are you both thinking of stopping? I would absolutely love to rent a campervan, it's my ideal but would obviously be something i couldn't do alone..i'm not doing Oz intro as have friends in Melbourne so they can be my oz intro, then onto Sydney via Canberra for late feb for Mardi gras After that only rough plans to follow the sun north and then maybe to NZ and fuji over the Oz winter months before down the west coast and along the bottom finishing in Sydney for christmas and NYE 2011. I know it's cheeky to ask but how much of a budget are you planning? I'm really worrying about that and nobody seems to mention it x
Not cheeky at all, I found that when I was trying to find out how much money I would need, I was never able to find any actual figures.
To this day, I haven't really got a proper idea how much the trip will cost, and I wont lie, it is a little bit worrying at times.
I have had advice from friends who have been out there, but even they were on much shorter trips than me.
I can't tell you how much money you will need. I don't think anyone can, it is entirely dependant on how much you eat and what you want to do while you are out there.
I can however tell you what we are doing, we have between £3,000 (AUS $5280) and £4000 (AUS $7040) each. We expect this to last around 3 months, but we are looking to subsidise our travels with Bar Work, Farm Work and if I'm lucky, maybe even a little Web Design work
These figures don't include things like:
Travel insurance: £190+ (we havent booked that yet, cheapest I've found..)
Flights: £1068 (We have a RTW Flight; Bangkok > Singapore > Perth > Los Angeles > San Francisco)
Internal Flights: £220 (Only have one booked and its on Boxing Day; Perth > Sydney)
Excursions: We are looking to do quite a bit.. Probably spent in excess of £700 on these already
I leave on the 10/10/10 at 10pm. Anyone else impressed with that date? :P
lewwy- great dates! i leave 09/10 a few days in bangkok then syd 13/10, cant wait!!
did it cost anything to set up the account from here?
try 24/7 insurnce, i got it for 170
general q- is anyone taking a laptop with them?????
I am a webdesigner, so I will indeed be taking my Macbook with me
Does make me nervous, but I have software installed that tracks the device should it be stolen (Mac only; but thtere probably is a Windows version).
HI ema, lewwy and "rduff", lewwy u have everything plannned! Im deffo not that organised but thanks for your guys advice on the visa ill deffo not do it through oz intro and i like your idea of setting up the bank account, maybe i dont even need to do the oz intro thing. About the laptop thing, i was thinking of it and buying a dongle or sumthing but i thought i may aswell just use the internet cafes.
Ema thats a lovely plan to come over after xmas and stuff i was thinking the same and coming out very start of jan, not 100% sure yet though. Im the same i met 2 different guys on the ships from oz and ive always kept in touch so ill deffo go and see them, it will give me a place to stay for a little while i supose. Have your mates travelled there or do they live there? I would love to stop over somewhere for a few weeks or so before oz but i dont know where i would go and your right its like you feel a bit unsafe on your own dont you. For some reason i feel safe going to oz on my own. ps vw campervan thumbs up
Ive been looking on STA travel for flights but i dont know if i can get a one way ticket or i deffo have to get a return which i have heard of flexi returns and stuff does anyone know where we can get those from? As otherwise ive heard you just pay a bit extra to change the date.
For NYE i would LOVE to be in sydney but not sure what im doing yet as ive said so many times ha. I just worry to think i get there and be totally lost and not have anywhere to stay and not get on with anyone, but i know/hope i will im just a worrier i think.
sarah x
lewwy- great dates! i leave 09/10 a few days in bangkok then syd 13/10, cant wait!!
did it cost anything to set up the account from here?
try 24/7 insurnce, i got it for 170general q- is anyone taking a laptop with them?????
It hasn't cost anything to set up yet, I got a courtesy call the day after I submitted my information and explained that I was just testing to see how difficult it was and that I wouldn't be leaving till October.
A nice gentleman said he would give me a call in September and run through the final stages.
I think all Australian banks have some sort of charge. I haven't checked the other rates, but Commonwealth are like $4 a month to use, and then the other banks charge if you use a Commonwealth card at one of their ATM's (works the other way round, can't escape this). Fortunately Commonwealth have allegedly the most ATM's in Australia.
Sarah, if you find yourself in Sydney not getting on with anyone, feel free to send me a private message on here (because it will send me an email, and I will definitely check those), and we can sort something out. You might even be able to take my girlfriend off my hands for a bit
Cheers,
Lewis.
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