Moving to Australia? (apartment, to rent, how much) - Australia and New Zealand - City-Data Forum

backdrifter · 06-02-2008, 12:40 AM

Hello all. A friend and I are considering going together to Australia for a year on a working holiday. This is something we're seriously considering within a year.

We're not sure where we'd like to settle.
We're scared Sydney might be a little too big for us, and even Melbourne might be too big. (We've lived in a city of 2.3 million metro, but not 4 mil+)
Brisbane seems a nice size, but it might be a little too humid and hot for us. (We don't get humidity over here! So we're not used to it!)
And Adelaide might be just a little too small...
Perth seems a little isolated.
We know nothing about Canberra except vaguely where it is...

Any thoughts on these things?
What are the temperatures like in the cities besides Brissie?
Which are the safer cities? We're used to walking around all through a big city (Seattle and Portland, U.S.) late at night armed with nothing more than common sense.
Which cities tend to be more artsy and/or open-minded?
Anything else we should know about these cities?

Some other questions:
How much can someone make at retail or restaurant work in these areas?
Are jobs easy to come by in these areas?
How expensive is housing? (We'd like to rent an apartment or small house relatively near a CBD if possible. 2 bedroom would be nice, but we could share a 1 bedroom just fine. Would two of us working be able to afford that plus other living expenses? It can get pretty spendy here in the Northwest U.S.)

Thank you soooo much in advance! Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Also I wanted to add that we're younger folks... About 20 years old. And we'd like to be somewhere with lots of outdoorsy activities if possible and somewhere we could meet lots of new people. And somewhere to avoid driving if we could!

azoria · 06-02-2008, 01:00 AM

More information is needed.

If you're Canadian and a Commonwealth citizen, I believe you can just up and go to Australia and do whatever. If you're American it's a whole different story.

Visit the Australian embassy website here: Visitors - Visas & Immigration

In general, in this global village in which we live, people are not free to go to any country of their choice, set up residence, get a job, and live happily ever after. Many people do not seem to realize this.

Most countries have provisions for tourist visitation and more formal residency. It's fairly easy to be a tourist for a short time almost anywhere, but far more complicated to go to another country to work and live, for whatever period of time.

Most countries--very much including the US--have strict procedures and guidelines for foreign citizens working and living within the country. Most countries become very restrictive of foreign visitors beyond a 90 day period. That's when a whole lot of visa and residency permit and work permit provisions start to kick in.

You should do more investigation of Australian foreign worker immigration before you start worrying about how safe their cities are.

backdrifter · 06-02-2008, 01:51 AM

As they say, I wasn't born yesterday, eh? Believe me, I have looked into this and know all about what I'm getting myself into. Otherwise I wouldn't have posted this.

There is a program called a "working holidaymaker" open to Americans where one can stay up to a year in Australia. You have to have enough money to pay for a flight out of the country and to support yourself until you find employment there. One can only stay for a maximum of 6 months at one employer however. Jobs are typically those in retail, restaurant work, seasonal work, etc. That's why I'm asking about the availability of those kinds of jobs in those areas and what they pay, how much rent is, etc.

We'd really like for our jobs to completely pay for our basic expenses (not necessarily things we want, just what we need) while we're there and not have to save up exorbitant sums of money to pay for our boarding and food for a year, because that would definitely be unrealistic!

Besides New Zealand, Australia is the only country with a program (scheme?) like this that's open to Americans. We really would like to avoid the sheep though.

So, alas, Australia is where we have our hearts set on. We'd just like to get out of the U.S. for a while and see what it's like somewhere else!

Thanks again.

Kangaroofarmer · 06-02-2008, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azoria

More information is needed.

If you're Canadian and a Commonwealth citizen, I believe you can just up and go to Australia and do whatever. If you're American it's a whole different story.

Visit the Australian embassy website here: Visitors - Visas & Immigration

That only applies to New Zealanders (Kiwi's can travel, With just their passport or on a Special Category Visa "SCV"), English, Canadian and other Commonwealth citizens, Must have a proper visa and be considered eligible.

We may all share a Queen, But thats all we share!

As the original posters questions about wages , Try this site?

Wages / Salaries Australia (http://australia.emigratenz.org/salaries-australia.html - broken link)

Or this site for more info about Cities,Attractions etc..

AUSTRALIAN CITIES, STATES AND TERRITORIES, CITIES IN AUSTRALIA, STATES IN AUSTRALIA, TERRITORIES IN AUSTRALIA, INFORMATION ON AUSTRALIA, AREAS OF AUSTRALIA, REGIONS OF AUSTRALIA

azoria · 06-02-2008, 02:24 AM

Backdrifter, I sent you a PM.

Best of luck to you and many happy journeys ahead.

ciggas · 06-03-2008, 12:09 AM

adelaide is an alrite city similar to brisbane but slightly cooler. melbourne is a nice city aswell there is always something to do and it is close to sydney, tasmania and adelaide and you'll get cheaper air tickets since melbourne is near these places. Melbourne , Adelaide, Canberra are all safe to walk at night except in some spots as in all cities you'll just need some local knowledge.