hello
Often when I've travelled for a short holiday, I've paid money into my credit card in advance, and just used that - yes, you may get stung for international transaction and currency fees, but your money is safe, because if you lose the card you can cancel it, get it replaced, and depending on your bank, you may not be liable for any unauthorised charges.
Because you've paid money in advance, you can usually withdraw from an ATM as well.
It would be a good idea to advise your bank that you are going OS.
As far as cash goes, you could do an exchange into the foreign currency for a small amount, (to Australia, maybe AUD300) before you leave, just for incidentals, like transport from airport to accom, a cup of coffee, etc...
You can set up an Australian bank account for free, I used Commonwealth, but theres also ANZ and WestPac that are big, and just arranged where to collect my bank card from when I got there, it was really easy :-) And the bank were so helpful, when I got there they set up online banking for me so I have one account that has most of my money in, and no bank card so I know it's safe, and my other account which I have a debit card for, and I just transfer money into it from the other account. You should only use your card in your banks ATM's though, otherwise you get charged.
To transfer my money, I just went into my bank (Natwest) and asked them to transfer the money and gave them my Aussie account details, I think I got charged £20 but that might have been because I wanted it doing straight away, I'm not sure...
Hope that helps :-)
x
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