brian.w

Going on a working holiday visa next year can anyone recommend what i should not take and take with me for that year also what i must do before going and what not to do.

also what i should sort out when i get there etc.

i do have a list of thing i need to get and do before going but im sure i may have missed something out so any info out there would be great

bondipom

The working holiday is a great opportunity. I arrived with with a 1000 GBP debt built up from a 6 week stop over. I had some shirts and trousers made for me in Bangkok so I had something to wear to work (I was office temping). I was in work within 3 days although that was in 1997.

I had soft and hard copies of my CV, a backpack and work shoes. I had to hit the agencies straight away and was working within days.

In Sydney most of the backpacker hostels are prepared for WHVs and provide phone messaging. You may want to buy a PAYG mobile. Virgin offer the best deals and they are available on the Pitt Street Mall in Sydneys centre.

You can only work for 3 months with a single employer but other than that just get here and figure it out.

renth

DON"T take your girlfriend.
DO take lots of johnnies.

bondipom

Be careful as there are a few on this forum who went to Australia with no plans to stay and ended up getting engaged. I am one of those and now happily married living in Aussie with an Aussie wife.

I have no regrets whatsoever about the working holiday.

renth

If I'd met a suitable Aussie woman on my WHV it would have saved all the skilled Independent visa aggro.

I meant, don't bring your girlfriend from the UK.

I remember seeing all the miserable "couples" on WHV while all the singles were having the time of their lives.

bondipom

You are right it is a good time to be care free (with a Johnny). I met my wife after 3 months in Sydney. I was not intending on settling down and went on my travels. I somehow just knew she was the one for me and went back to Sydney.

I think being carefree makes it easier to meet women as they know it is only a fling and they make the most of it as well. There is nothing worse than meeting someone who wants to tie the knot straight away and rush into something way too serious.

Badge

don't expect to get much sleep if the bottom bunk in your dorm is occupied by a couple. How to tell - the towel hanging down to create more privacy. Or expect strangers to alternate in and out.

Expect to see a couple doing it doggy style in your room whilst you pack your bag at 8.30 am in the morning.

"oh sorry guys - see you later - I'm off now".

One time, a group of us blokes got a bit fed up with one bloke and insisted that he shag on the beach or he could bloody well "share". A new girl every night. Judging by the hand movements coming from one of them looks like he wasn't too bothered.

I got up to take a leak - went outside, all her mates were listening outside.

My mate was incensed as it was his bed that was shaking around all night.

Badge

bondipom

You have reminded me of the worst dorm I have ever stayed in. The whole bunk bed (with me on top) started shaking with 2 people underneath. Then at 4 in the morning this huge monster of a Mauri got in after finishing his night on a club door. 5 minutes later the whole room was shaking from his snoring.

Everyone was too shit scared to disturb him as he was probably one of the hardest bastards on earth. Nice as anything but not to be disturbed. I lasted 3 nights.

Badge

or the bloke in Coogee with a very strange English accent and a very big smell coming from his bag.

Eventually, days later, we openened it to find a dead rat inside it.

He was ejected but then went berserk - eventually the cops turned up.

He was replaced by a funny bloke who turned out to be a thief on the run from another hostel. He was turfed out too 15 mins after he arrived. I lost nothing - I think.

bondipom

I am so glad I only stayed about 3 weeks in hostels. 1 week was in the tiniest room in the world with my best mate on the top bunk. There was no ventilation and he refused to wash his socks. He had 3 pairs of boxer shorts and did laundry once a week.

bundy

Ahhhh, those hostel memories...it's all part of the backpacker experience. Wouldn't be the same without the shagging couples (or those going solo:scared: ), the dubious smells, the grime, the noise, the snoring, the packing in the dark whilst trying not to wake the rest of the dorm....

I spent one miserable night in the Arts Factory in Byron...in a teepee...with blood-stained sheets...and fornicating couples (x3). And it's supposed to be a backpacker mecca! The lesson I learnt was never book more than one night's accommodation in a hostel until you've spent one night there to check it out.

Never plan anything: have an arrival date and leave it at that. On my WHV I went out intending to live a chic and sophisticated life in Sydney - you know, apartment in Bondi with cool Sydneysiders, decent job in an office, inhabiting fashionable bars and clubs. After 4 days in the country I found myself living on a converted bus on a sheep station in the middle of nowhere working as a camp-oven cook wearing a shearing singlet and an oversized pair of dungarees. Needless to say, like others here, I had fallen in love with a local - I stayed there all year, pretty much went native and I'm now working on going back with the very same local. See, never plan anything. Take opportunities as they arise.

And when travelling, always remember to take twice the money and half the clothes.