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Moving to Ozzy! What to expect?

Pagey

Pagey

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Joined
Apr 11, 2012
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The Valley of Ashes
Hey everyone, not my first time on this forum but it has been a (very) long while. I'm sure no one remembers me but in any case, hope you're all doing well :)

Basically, I studied abroad in Sydney for about 6 months last year - also travelled around Hunter Valley, Byron Bay, and Cairns, and overall it was the happiest few months of my life. My fiancé visited for a month and thought exactly the same and since then, we've sworn we'll go back one day.

So since we're getting married this coming July with no immediate plans afterwards, we'd like to take a gap year, pack our bags and fuck off to Autralia. We have got some savings but they're not huge so our main concern is how easy is it to find a job? We'd be starting in the Northern Territory and hoping to just get a job on a farm there or something (I should add he's just finishing his PhD and I'm in my final year undergrad and working on getting a book published so we could do with a massive break). I know of some people who just fucked off to Australia and were able to find jobs in croc farms and the like really easily. Do you know if we've got a good chance of getting the same experience? Overall, how hard is it to find low-level jobs in the Northern bit of the country?

We'll be applying for jobs in Sydney/Melbourne/Byron if we're lucky at the same time and if we find anything more substantial we do plan to move there, but we want to make sure we won't start off our trip homeless.

On an unrelated note, how does this travel sound plan? (we will have a car)
Darwin - Perth (really want to go cage-diving) - Great Ocean Road - Melbourne - Adelaide - Sydney - Byron - Cairns. Obviously this is all subject to change depending on jobs, finances and stuff.

Any help would be much appreciated! You have an amazing country, I can't wait to go back =D
 
Travel plan sounds like a fuckton of driving. Make sure the car is reliable because you don't want to break down in the middle of nowhere. Don't get bogged in mud, either. SA comes before VIC.
Minimum wage is decent and there is unskilled work around, can't really comment on your odds but it's not exactly easy to get a job.

Have a fun trip.
PS quit smoking before you get here.
 
July is the dry season up north - so expect stinking hot weather until you get around to SA, You will need a reliable car - its about 12k that you plan to drive. Best bet for jobs is likely to be in the waiter/bar industry - we have heaps of foreigners in those areas. You might to check with Immigration on what visa u need to be able to work here. The eastern side will be colder but if it takes u a few months to get there u should be ok. So much to do across that time - its pretty safe down here - get a good phone/internet connection is hard cause its so expensive down here too.
 
^Yup they do, aha. We'll be getting a new car so hopefully it should do the job. Also will probably fly to a few places (like say Ayers' Rock - don't really wanna drive all that way, and my fiancé's epileptic and unallowed to drive so it'll be just me...)

Alright, will bear that in mind. I remember minimum wage being really favourable when I was in Sydney, and kinda figured it'd be easier to find jobs up North. But I think I'll save up as much as possible before we get there.

And thanks! No worries, we quit smoking a few months ago anyway.
 
And thanks for the advice garbagegutz! Will look around in the waiter/bar industry in that case. Luckily I've already got a bank account and australian phone so that should make things easier :)
 
Darwin to Perth.. damn that's ambitious! Although i imagine it will be a fun albeit extremely long drive.. the drive between Perth and Melbourne is quite scenic and nice; there's a stretch of the Eyre highway which is considered one of the longest straight roads without turning in the world at 145km long.. (90 miles).

It's a good thing you'll be in Perth during the winter.. which is basically summer. Because summer in Perth is like been on the sun.

I can't really comment on the availability of work, i live on the west coast and i'm not too familiar with the east coast.. that said I've met many foreigners from UK, US, Ireland and India who were all able to find unskilled work somewhere... my friend's fiance who's from Lithuania quickly found herself in a management position for a bar/bistro here after less then a year.. she did have experience working in bars and was on a spouse visa.. but it just goes to show.

If you can handle the cold weather, Melbourne is a fantastic city.
 
I'm sure no one remembers me but in any case, hope you're all doing well
Click to expand...

Did you ask about shark cage diving last time?

Nice to hear you had a great time last time :)

If you are coming on a tourist visa I dont think you are allowed to legally work here? Or so some customs shows I have watched have indicated. That said if you didn't say you were working you would still be able to get away with some cash in hand work I would imagine, but some places wouldnt be down for that I'd guess.

Im not too sure on all that. Having family in Byron I know work there is pretty hard to get with alot of people on benefits, but still it's not impossible to find some work.
 
Work in Byron bay is even harder when you are a transient. It's every backpackers dream to lob up and work for a few weeks then piss off. Reality is most work in Byron bay will go to locals.

Depending on your skills have you considered a camper with a kitchen attached and running a stall of traditional french food at local markets as you travel? Even a small camp stove with a table tucked away selling bacon and egg rolls near other backpackers would clean up if you avoid paying tax on it. It might require an investment of funds up front, but if you take into consideration the savings on accomodation you might be able to supplement your travels with your own business. If you are following the traditional backpacker routes there is always a demand for cheap food.
 
Cotbusty, Pagey + Klue meetup at the Beach Hotel next year :)

One can be an Ozzy, you can strive to be Ozzy and you can be un-ozzy but there is no such actual place as Ozzy. Sozzy :)
 
Pagey said:
I know of some people who just fucked off to Australia and were able to find jobs in croc farms and the like really easily. Do you know if we've got a good chance of getting the same experience? Overall, how hard is it to find low-level jobs in the Northern bit of the country?
Click to expand...

I have lived in Darwin, and it is very easy to find jobs in the hospitality industry there. A shit load of backpackers and travellers come through so there is a high turnover of staff and many job vacancies. I worked in a bar up there and was actually one of the three or so Aussies that worked there - the rest were overseas travellers. Labouring and fruit picking jobs are common too, but most people I spoke to did them only short term as they're hot, hard work, and if you're picking mangoes the sap gives you a rash.

I love driving around Australia but as others have said, that is a colossal drive you have planned there. Choosing particular sections to drive may be more enjoyable than trying to drive the whole country. Australia is huge and with the massive distances in some areas between settlements, driving that whole way could easily become exhausting and tedious. If I was going to tackle the drive I would have to plan it over a long time period - several weeks at least - to recoop and spend some time in places of interest before embarking on the next long drive.
 
Yeah, why would anyone want to move to this horrible country? The benifits of beaches that are beautiful doesn't outweigh the risk of danger of things that want to kill you.
 
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