DrSmith

Hi there,

I have just been granted my working holiday visa. I plan to land in Sydney as that has been recommended to me. Other than that I have no plans, so I'm looking for a bit of advice on where to start.

For reference I'm 22, male.

I plan to arrive early November, though I've not got a definite date set. I will probably stay in a hostel for the first few days while I get things sorted like my TFN, bank account, mobile phone etc. Does this sound like a good idea? If I stayed in a hostel for a week to get myself sorted and get a job lined up, is that being too ambitious?

As for work, I'd ideally like to find something out on the water. Perhaps crewing/deckhand on a yacht or passenger vessel, is there much hope for me getting something like this in Sydney, or should I be looking in bars? To be honest anything in the harbour area would be ideal.

As you can probably tell, my plan is half baked at best at the moment so I need a little advice with moulding it in to something realistic. Sharing your experiences of similar situations is very welcome.

Cheers.

Kooky.

If you like being outdoors and have some sales experience (or at least the gift of the gab), get in touch with some charities. They take on WHV people for on-street fundraising.

I can point you to one, if you rack up enough posts to PM me.

DrSmith

A nice idea, but I'm not sure I would be very good at that sort of thing. I'm more of a hands-on, labourer kind of guy. Though I'm sure I won't be able to afford being picky once I'm there.

I've got a couple of Hostels lined up for once I arrive in Sydney. I plan to first fly to Malaysia and spend a couple of weeks backpacking there before entering Australia. Any thoughts on that idea?

Kooky.

Cool - I would post that bit in the Far East forum and see what ideas you get. I don't know Malaysia that well but KL is a fun city. Penang, ok for a few days (sorry, friend who has just moved there ), you could even take the bus down to Singapore for a couple of days - am assuming you are flying via KL. And a ferry to Bintan in Indonesia; it only takes an hour or so from the north of Singapore.

Eat lots of char kway teow, is my best tip. Yum yum *

As to jobs, I would have a look on career.com.au and seek.com.au. IIRC here are also specific websites/forums for backpackers and WHV holders so, if you haven't found them, have a google. seek also has a volunteer job section - don't discount those, good way to get in and network - and there's ethicaljobs.com.au if you want to polish your halo.


* I really must stop doing the "yum yum" - it's a reference to a really naff Singaporean advert and not many will know that, just think I'm a bit wanky

RainDog

You can set up a bank account before you leave the UK - I used Westpac (but wouldn't recommend them). Most of the big banks (ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB) will have a link on their front page for migrants. You can set the account up and transfer money over here, then when you arrive just go into your local branch with your passport for ID and they'll post your cash card out to you a few days later.

I can't help much on the job front, but it might be worth contacting a couple of agencies before you get out here.

goessee

Yes, most of the big banks are relieble.

Besides, you also need to exchange for some Australian cash once you arrive. You need them urgently for current issue.

JoeBloggs80

Definitely stay in a hostel for a while if you don't know anyone. Its a great place to meet people. Try staying in smaller ones that have plenty of 'long termers' in there so you make friends that will be sticking around a while. I lived in hostel in kings cross for 7 months the first time I lived here, it was a great laugh.

Also hostels can help with work. There was one where a labouring company would rock up every morning seeing who needed a days work, and I got a job doing market research (i.e hanging out in malls/parks chatting to girls) through my hostel as well.

Voyager 3

Hi,
I had a WHV in 2007/08. It took me a while to find a job but eventually I began fundraising for a charity-it was one of the hardest jobs I've ever done but I saw it as a challenge and it boosted my confidence so much so that I'm really glad I did it (we also got to do a 1 week roadtrip to outback Victoria to work there all expenses paid which was great-the people were incredibly friendly!)
I stayed in quite a few hostels around the city-mainly the ones in Rawsons Place i.e. the yha, Wake Up and Backpackers on George which was great! There more pricey than most but just really comfortable and the staff were fantastic! I also stayed in a hostel in Bondi & one in Coogee-loved Coogee so much that we managed to find a room in a house there for the christmas/new year period when hostels get too expensive. When I returned to Sydney after doing the east coast I found work quite quickly and worked in a bakers in Surry Hills. Really early starts as I was living on the north shore but not bad.
There are plenty of jobs there for people on WHV you just need to work hard at finding one and try and network. I found both of my jobs through word of mouth so talk to people!

Voyager 3

In addition I'm not sure about working out on the water in Sydney but if your desperate to find work out on the water then looking further north might be an option for you. We met a couple of guys in 1770 Queensland who had been working on boats in the Whitsundays-bloody miles from Sydney but absolutely out of this world place!
If you want to do bar work in Sydney you'll need your rsa-responsibly service of alcohol certificate. If I remember right it was a 1 day course (I did mine somewhere on Pitt Street) then you get your certificate straight away. It cost me $70 to get it but you won't get work anywhere that sells alcohol without it.

DrSmith

Great response so far, please keep the replies coming, I can't enough knowledge at this stage. Your experiences and ideas are very welcome.

I'll visit the far east section for my idea of a Malaysian trip too.

Cheers

DrSmith

The Whitsundays really appeal to me (duh..), it would be amazing if I could do what those couple of guys did. I'm trying to work out the logistics of that though; Perhaps I could make my way south down the east coast heading toward Sydney. Though I'm not sure how I would get from Malaysia to the north of the east coast of Australia. Are there any airlines that fly that way from Malaysia?

Kooky.

If you don't yet have your flights sorted there are any number of ways to get here. You could bus to Singapore very cheaply if necessary, and come out of Changi airport - much more choice from there as it's a major hub. You could come via Bali You could even take boats around Indonesia.

You really need to do a lot of homework though as chopping and changing airlines can cost a lot of money, compared to one airline and fixed stopovers. That said, you could look at budget airlines for the Asia to Oz legs.

DrSmith

I like your style.

I've just been checking flights out of Changi and other international airports in Indonesia etc, and it appears that it's not possible to get a direct flight to somewhere up the north of the east coast. They all involve flying to Brisbane or Sydney then transferring on to an internal flight up to Townsville or Cairns.

I wouldn't normally mind, but as my plan is to move southward down the east coast then it feels like I'd be going back on myself. It's not economically efficient. It's possible to get a ferry from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to Cairns I believe, but it's finding a way to PNG which may be a problem. I've heard Indonesia isn't the easiest place to backpack through for a beginner...

bcworld

From Singapore you can fly to Cairns via Darwin with Jetstar...involves a connection in the middle of the night, but no backtracking.

If you plan to travel a lot I think you have your plan back to front. Arrive in summer in the south & head north for winter.

DrSmith

I got chatting to someone tonight who had been over and he said similar things.

Do you think I would be better off starting in Melbourne and working my way up the east coast after the new year? I heard it can get quite cold in the south in winter time, but further north and in areas like the Whitsundays it's nice weather pretty much all year round.