Travelling to oz 2012- First time traveller

[T_walters54]

Right, this is the second time I have had to type this as the first time I pressed backspace and lost the ENTIRE page of writing! Nevertheless I will type it all again (or there abouts) like a clever person would have done on word hoping some people on here can help!

Hey, I am planning to travel to oz in September/ October 2012 from the UK. This travelling malarky is all new to me but for the last couple of months I have been determined to get out of this country to do some work, get some new experiences and most importantly meet some new people! Like I said I'm young and completely new to travelling and am looking for some more experienced travellers advice. I do know a couple of people currently travelling in oz and have tried to get as much information from them as I can however I still want to know more! If you have the time and the knowledge please can you answer even one of the following questions the best you can as it will really help me out with the planning of my trip!
Some questions I need help answering are:
- I have been told that travelling alone is better as it's easier to make friends with no commitment, is this true or should I be searching for a travel buddy?
- How much money did it cost you to fly to oz? I will most likely be travelling from London. Also I cant decide whether or not to book a return flight?
- My gut instinct was to fly to Sydney however I have heard it is harder to get work out there? Does anyone have any suggestions of where in oz is most suited for backpackers to stay and get work?
- What sort of work is likely to be around over there? I'm not particularly fussy, just generally interested. I know some people get amazing jobs (I'm talking about the sydivers and chefs) but I would love if anyone has any personal experience stories that they could share of what they do and how they got the job?
- However much I love my little ford KA, I'm not taking it over! ...Whats the best way to get around with no car?
- The thing I'm most worried about is getting accommodation. I know I will have to stay in hostels to begin with and I look forward to it as it will be a great place to meet people but I'm wondering how long it normally takes to find shared accommodation? Once again, personal experience stories welcome!
- Last but probably not least how much should I expect to spend A. Staying at youth hostels and B. Sharing accommodation? I know it all depends on where abouts in oz I am but just some rough estimates would be great!

Last thing I will type before I post this on here and my fingers fall off after typing all of this twice, I would love to know if there are any other people travelling from the UK to oz at the end of the summer 2012? I think it would be great to bounce ideas of other travellers, especially other novices!

Thank you if you can help me out!!
Natasha

[Gems345]

Hi Natasha, I can only help you with one of your questions as I am also new too travelling. I am flying to Sydney at the end of February and quite frankly am petrified, a little advice on flights; I found dial a flight to be the cheapest but that may be because i bartered with them. I rang alot of different companies and compared prices offered to me, if i got cheaper i'd ring the previous company back and see if they'd offer me less (remember they are all fighting for your money as they get the commission) I got a return with emirates for £850 and this is a lot less than the starting price of £1100! It is also an 'open ticket' as such. I am booked for feb-nov as this is as far as the systems go at this point however i can change the date for free at a later point so can potentially come home whenever i want. i personally chose to get a return as i know if anythin goes wrong then my flight is already paid for, also it was much cheaper than buying two single fares at around £700 each. Hope this helps

Gemma.

[nathwils]

Hey Natasha,
I'm also heading out to Australia late September. Wanted to ask, are you booking through an organisation such as Real Gap or are you just going to do it alone? Think I am going to use Real Gap, its quite a bit more money but it's such less hassle!
Would love to find other people that are going around the same time as me. Search for me on Facebook if you like, it's Nathan Wilson and you may need to filter the location which is Cottingham.
Cheers!

[CHRISPORTER88]

Hello Natasha!

I have decided to go travelling in september to Australia too. It will be my first try at going travelling so im trying to get all clued up too on everything. I cant remember all the questions you wanted answering as it wont show up while im typing this but i thought id let you or whoever reads this know that im planning to go to cairns in september as it will still be winter season but with cairns so close to the equator the weather is always lush up that way. i plan to go fruit picking next january in mareeba or some area near cairns so i can extend my visa for another year then over the next 18 months work my way down australia going through brisbane melbourne sydney and adelaide.
Ive heard its not worth signing up to an organisation and paying the extra few hundred quid because when you get over there they dont really help you in terms of a job because hostels have notices for vacancies in the surrounding area as a lot of the environment is catered for us travelling lot.
Its best to travel alone as you will be easier to approach rather than if you were with a group or a buddy, but thats not to say dont have a buddy, im travelling alone and cant wait to meet new people all over the place!
take the buses as trains are suppose to be more expensive and so are the specially made backpacker buses apparently.

[T_walters54]

Hello all, thank you so much for the replies I had almost given up on this forum!! Gems 345 that really helps thank you. One of my friends currently in Oz is coming up in March so I am having a good chat to him before booking flights with in reply to nathwils post I will be booking without help from companies such as real gap! (Also i had a look if I could find you on face book and I think I've sent you a request [think being a big word there] if you haven't got one through then I have indeed befriended some unlucky stranger so search for me Natasha Walters from Nailsea and we might have more luck!) CHRISPORTER88 thank you for the advice I don't think I will book with a company, just see what happens when I get out there. If any of you are going to be around the New South Wales area on your travels then let me know as that's where I plan to be!!

[mikeinoz]

Travelling alone is best, remember that there will be hundreds of people just like you doing this for the first time so you will not be alone in wanting to make friends.

Just look online, everyday if you must, for the bargains. I saw a flight for under £700.00 on http://www.netflights.com/

I would say that in general anything between £750 and £850 is what you should expect to pay. Get a return ticket!!! Make it an open ticket valid for up to 12 months. Some companies will let you fly into one city and leave from another i.e. enter via Perth and leave via Sydney, this means that you don't have to end up where you started. Unless things have changed you can only enter Australia with a return ticket on a working/holiday VISA. Anyway if you can now get in on a one way ticket you could end up paying a fortune for a return flight to the U.K.

Sydney is the place for work so I would suggest doing all of your travelling round first and then going to Sydney afterwards and working to build up your funds again. Also when you hit Sydney it will be expensive and there are so many things to do, if you go there first you could end up spending all of your money and then being trapped there because you are just working to stay in Oz.

There should be loads of work there, especially temp office work so sign on with a few good agencies. As soon as you get there open a bank account and get a Tax File number. Attach your current CV to an email and send it to yourself so that you always have a printable version of it.

Big cities have great public transport, Sydney has buses, ferries, trains. I used to go to work on the ferry and it was fantastic to travel along the harbour that way. For cross country journeys try the trains or coaches or if you have the budget try getting a cheap flight on http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/home

I loved the hostels and didn’t bother with shared accommodation, depends on what you are happy to do.

Hostels vary on the place you are at, hostels in Perth may be cheaper than those in Sydney. Also some hostels are more expensive than others but they are cleaner, better facilities etc. Look online at a few websites that review hostels such as

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Revi ... Wales.html

You can see what other people have written about them. Bounce in Sydney looks good but is more expensive. Wakeup and the YHA in Sydney are also ok but again they are more expensive. You can go cheap but the standards of cleaning are lower but then again some of the cheaper hostels have the best, most relaxed atmospheres whereas the more expensive hostels are a bit clinical and people don't seem to mix so much.

Basically it’s your adventure, you will find out what you like when you are there and tailor what you do and where you stay to what you want, that’s the great thing about the Australian adventure, you will have a great sense of freedom and the only danger is you may never want to come home!!!

[michael]

Hey there..!! I have been following your post since last six months..!!

[T_walters54]

Ha, has it been much help?

[Decidan]

Hi. I'm also looking to travel to Oz in Aug/Sept this year. Reading through this thread has helped heaps. There's a mountain of usefull info here. Thanks people.
I'm not sure where to start off though. I'll be getting a years working hol visa, with the intention of extending that to 2 years. I'll have plenty of money on me to get me going and to explore a bit before I start looking for work out there so I think I'm going to cancel out Sydney as the initial touch down point due to living costs there.
I've got a couple of friends who spent a year out there 2 years ago so I'm extracting all the info I can out of them. However they did it a bit defferently to how i'm planning. They've got family out there who provided accomodation, vehicles etc. They had it easy. I'll be on my own with nothing but a backpack, laptop and a bank card. But that's what makes it exciting I suppose.

Dan

[Marko]

Hey guys, is ANYONE going out in september still? i am heading around that time, i have held of on booking flights as i can work round other like minded travelers, i don't mind when or where i fly out off, i dont know much on the whole traveling to oz side of things either, tho i have traveled on my own before, this time i think i'l meet with folk if anyone is heading around this time?


cheers

Mark