Setting Up for Your Aussie Adventure

I know several people who are considering, planning, or going to Australia for a working holiday.  Since they've been asking for pointers, I figure I'd just post them here - beats writing them over, and over again.  I've broken them up into four topics: house hunting, finding a job, choosing a bank and buying a mobile.

Now bear in mind, I set up shop in Sydney.  But I think most of this stuff will be fairly universal.  I'm hoping this information saves even one person the time, research and stress that I went through.  Cause I'm not going to lie, I wanted to pull my hair out at times.

HOUSE HUNTING

Be prepared to pounce - at least, if you're planning to live in Sydney.  I don't know what it's like in other Australian cities, but Sydney's rental market is FIERCE.  There are a lot of students, expats and working holiday-ers like yourself competing for short-term, affordable housing.  

Rooms/units get snapped up quickly.  Make an appointment to check out the place as soon as you see it posted.  Gumtree's a popular site for house hunters - that's how I found my itty-bitty room.  Don't hesitate to throw down money if you really like a place and it's within your budget.

A room in or close to Sydney's CBD or Bondi Beach will set you back anywhere from $200 - $400 PER WEEK.  It helps if you don't mind sharing a room with someone.  In fact, that's quite common.  If you want a flat to yourself, then be prepared to shell out anywhere from $400 - sky's the limit.  Landlords usually ask for a security deposit ranging from 2 - 4 weeks.

FINDING A JOB

Australia's job market is pretty good compared to many countries still recovering from the global financial crisis.  If you're on a working holiday visa, you can only work with one employer for up to six months so that might limit your options.  But the good thing is the pay can be quite high - the national minimum wage starts at more than $15 an hour!

Some of the popular job hunting sites are: SEEK, monster, and Gumtree.  You can also try hitting up some recruiters.  I know in Sydney, recruitment is big business.

CHOOSING A BANK   

Now that you have a place to stay and a job, you'll probably want to open an Australian bank account to deposit the big money that'll be rolling in.  Some of the big banks are: Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, and National Australia Bank (NAB).  

I spent some time comparing the accounts from several banks and eventually went with NAB's Classic Banking Account.  First off, NAB has plenty of branches and ATM's.  I never had to venture far to find a bank machine.  Secondly, I hate paying for bank fees because, seriously, who doesn't?  This account is free, doesn't require a minimum deposit and gives you unlimited transactions - it's kind of hard to beat.
 

BUYING A MOBILE

If you're looking for a prepaid mobile phone, the choices are endless.   The big phone carriers are: Optus, Telstra, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone.  I ended up picking up a cheap phone from Vodafone for $25 then buying $29 prepaid recharges each month.  I found Vodafone offered pretty good recharge options.  Most of my friends were with Vodafone too, so the Vodafone to Vodafone credit came in handy.

If you have an unlocked phone, all you have to do is pick up a SIM card from any carrier and you're good to go.  You can also get your phone unlocked for about $35.

The good thing about phone plans in Australia is that incoming calls are free.  So get your friends and family to ring you in Oz as much as they like because it won't cost you extra.

Happy traveling!