JTowers

I am moving to Australia in May with my partner who plans to work as a plumber. We would love to travel for a couple of months before looking for work and somewhere to rent but...funds are limited and I'm worried that by spending money on travelling we may come unstuck later. I know this is one of those 'how long is a piece of string' questions but generally how long has it taken people to find work (weeks, months, years...?), roughly how much should we put aside to set up renting a two bed flat and what are people's experiences of travelling before settling down?

Cheers
Jesse

Shikse

If your moving to Australia - for good or long term, I suggest that you establish yourself on the work front first, as your funds are limited. Once settled and confident within your work market, you can travel around Oz any time you want for the rest of your life, what's the rush? Ayers Rock is still gonna be there in a couple of years time. Also, I believe that plumbers have to take some kind of test and register with an association before they can start to work legally - this may take some time as well. There will be loads of extra, hidden costs you haven't accounted for when you get there.

I realise that the whole experience of moving to Australia is a very stressful time and that you no doubt feel like a couple of months chilling out when you get there. My advice is don't. Good luck anyway.

JTowers

Thanks for the advice but just want to clarify - the travelling we'd be doing would be looking at potential places to live as neither of us have been to Oz before. The plumbing registration is sorted out already and (we think) we have enough money to take a couple of months out providing we find work within a month or so of looking. I guess what I'm asking is is this realistic?!

Jesse

parrot

Hi Jesse
We're going over on 30th September and plan to travel round for two months and end up in Melbourne. We have been to Australia before so know where we wanted to end up, but if you haven't already been I would suggest definitely doing a bit of travelling. Before we went for the first time we were convinced we'd settle in Adelaide, but when we got there we decided it wasn't for us. It was lovely but there just wasn't the job opportunities we needed. If you're worried two months is too long, narrow down potential settling places and maybe go for six weeks instead. We've spent 18 months waiting for our visa, saving up and not going on holiday so we feel we really deserve a break. It will be tough managing money, but we're going to make sure we have enough left to cover us for at leaast six months if we can't find work. Hope this helps.
Parrot

FOX

There are ways of cutting down the cost of travelling, we stayed in backpackers hostels most of the time, most backpackers have doule rooms so you will not have to stay in a dorm style room if you don't fancy it!! This is certainly a lot cheaper than staying in even cheap hotels.

We've spent a year in Australia but certainly are going to travel a bit when we go back, I think it is important to get a real feel for a place before choosing where you are going to settle down


Sarah

andie

we also plan to travel for a couple of months, a long holiday before settling down, and weve got four kids in tow!!!!!:scared: