Australia, St nicholls

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Permalink Reply by Anna Scrivenger on March 2, 2009 at 16:34

Hi Rebecca,

I am not sure where St Nicholls is, can you shed any light? However, if you are visiting Australia for less than a year and want to be able to work there, you can get a Working Holiday Visa as long as you're under 30 - you look like you are.

This enables you to work for up to three months with any one employer, up to 12 months altogether - and is a great way of picking up casual or temping work anywhere in Australia. You can supplement your travel funds with money earned in cities, resorts or farms as you go.

The downside is that you only ever get one Working Holiday Visa, so if you don't use up all 12 months you cannot come back and use the rest up in future years. I'd recommend staying 12 months if you can, because you'll want to.

What to take depends on where you go - but you don't need to pack a lot. Pack what you think you might need, then halve it. You'll buy clothes and beachwear there anyway - hard not to, so a set of underwear, some jeans, sunnies and a work-interview outfit will suffice. Everything that's available here is available there, for less.

What sort of work are you looking for? Popular short-term options include office temping/admin, bar or cafe work, work in hotels and resorts, or agricultural work. Some require previous experience, certification or certain skills, however - what's your background?

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Permalink Reply by Anna Scrivenger on March 2, 2009 at 16:58

Hi again Rebecca,

Having read up on it a bit more for you, it seems you can get a secondary working holiday visa later on (as long as you're still under 30), but ONLY if you spent three months of the first visa working in primary industries.

Australia is short of workers in primary industries - agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and construction) so they reward foreigners for 3 months hard yakka by giving them an extra year in Australia, when their first year runs out - either following on from it or at a later date.

Anyway that's something to bear in mind while you are out there if you think you might want to come back.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on March 2, 2009 at 18:56

Right well apparently its about 60 miles north of sydney i think! Yeah im 18. Well ive never worked abroad so i dont know anything to be honest.
As for work I'd take anythink really except working in cafes and restaurants.
I'd only be staying for 3-4 months then going south africa, I dont think i could stay away from home for 12 months to be honest, i'd miss my boyfriend, family and friends to much, I wouldnt mind if my boyfriend would come with me but hes not into travelling really:(.

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Permalink Reply by Anna Scrivenger on March 3, 2009 at 12:08

Hi Rebecca,

Is it near Newcastle (a small city 60 miles north of Sydney), or a suburb within it? Any particular reason you are heading there? That area is not a particular tourist destination so I am curious as to why you want to work there - just being nosey! Newcastle is known as an industrial town (though has some lovely beaches nearby), but the vineyards of the Hunter Valley are within an hour inland, and there may be some winery and tourism work there.

Well three or four months is enough time to see the major points of the east coast, if you are planning to travel around and see a bit of Australia? You can stay for three months on a tourist / visitor visa which enables you to travel around although does not allow you to work.

But if you are only staying a few months and want to work, you risk spending the whole holiday working (on low wages) and not seeing anything of Australia - in a regional district like the Newcastle area you may not have much choice the length of your employment.

If you are not staying very long, I would strongly recommend using the tourist visa on this occasion and then you have the option of coming back for longer and finding work, later on. Work in the UK to save up beforehand (you'll get paid more here) and then use that for travelling, it all works out the same but you are keeping your options open.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on March 3, 2009 at 13:33

Im not sure to be honest, you see its my friend who has friends there so thats where we could stay because it would be free!
Winery sounds great to me! hahahah :)
Yeah definitly only a few months, Even though i'd love to stay I dont think I could stay that long.
Probally be best to just save loads and come then.
Its not that I WANT to work there, its more of a case that i'd HAVE to work.

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Permalink Reply by Anna Scrivenger on March 3, 2009 at 14:43

Well the wineries are great, but since there aren't a vast number of jobs to choose from around there, you are best off working until November and saving as hard as you can. Free accommodation will certainly save you heaps! However you don't really want to be stuck in the same small town for three months.

You can do day-trips to Sydney from 60 miles away (there are fast trains from Newcastle), and Sydney will certainly keep you entertained for a couple of weeks, but if you want to see any more of Australia you would have to pay for hostels along the way, which will cost from around £15 a night. Aussie hostels are brilliant though - full of people your own age, all having fun, and you'll meet various travel and/or party buddies and learn loads about the places you go to.

Bear in mind that all major cities are at least an hour's flight apart from each other (Sydney to Brisbane, Melbourne or Adelaide are all flights of over an hour, or a couple of days' drive). Flights can be expensive unless you book them really far ahead.

I would recommend heading north after you have explored Sydney. Head towards Cairns, and see how far you get. Look up some of the must-do spots en route: Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Stradbroke Island, Fraser Island, the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef.

Car shares are one of the cheapest ways to get around (www.catchalift.com)

The easiest and most fun way is to get a flexible hop-on, hop-off bus pass with a company like Oz Experience (www.ozexperience.com) who will look after you, show you the sights and give you the adventure of a lifetime at very good value... check out their website for price lists. They specialise in showing young adventurers around Australia, and they'll entertain you all the way.

Start saving as much as you can, now. All in all, if you can save at least £2,000 between now and November, you've probably covered your travel, accommodation and food. If you can double that you'll have the time of your life with adventure activities, excursions, partying, safaris and scuba diving.

I would certainly find work now rather than in Australia, so you can enjoy the adventure properly in the short time you're there.

If you do decide to use up your working holiday visa on a short stay, you can expect to earn about £5 an hour for most casual work - commuting into Sydney would be your best bet for choice, or picking up resort work en route.

However, since you have another 12 years to get a working holiday visa, I would strongly recommend keeping that option open so you can return to Australia at a later date. You will certainly want to, I promise!

Use this opportunity as a taster, see as much of Australia as you can with the time and money you've got, and when things change in the future, you can head there to kick-start your career with a working visa.

I am very curious about this St Nicholls place as I can find nothing on it. It must be very small! Do ask your friend and find out more, then I will look it up for you and point you in the right direction for transport, employment and local attractions.

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