An Australian Retrospective

I've been home a few months now and it I can give some thoughts to my year in Australia and the changes I might have made. Hopefully it can give some ideas to people who are thinking of doing it themselves! It is of course, all opinion and I'm sure that many people have different experiences than me, who did the complete opposite perhaps and still had an amazing time. Everyone is different and this is just my perspective.

Things I did right:

 Go over with a company.

Some people I knew went with Ultimate Oz, some with OzExperience, some with BUNAC. There's a number of companies that do the same thing. It's not right for everyone, and I knew a great number of people who didn't use a company but most of those people weren't travelling alone.  If you are alone, I recommend it. They set you up with your bank account and sim card. You meet people when you get there, you see parts of Sydney (or wherever) that you might not have seen otherwise. There's job help and accommodation help. I'm glad that I did it, because it helped with the overwhelming panic that started when I landed in Sydney airport. I'm pretty sure without it I would have come home after a month. It is quite expensive though, and since I didn't actually use the program to get a job it perhaps wasn't as valuable for me as it could have been. Really a personal choice here.    

Stay in hostels

I think this one is really essential for people travelling alone. It's the best place to meet people really. The best people I met while travelling were in hostels. You're all really in the same boat, you start talking, start drinking and you make friends for life. If you're planning to stay somewhere for a while I would also suggest seeking out work for accommodation. Hostels do this differently - some are shifts for example, mine did it where you worked 2 hours a day everyday and it paid for your accommodation that night. The work varies, reception, housekeeping and night managing are the most common I know but I'm sure there are hostels where you can also work in the connecting bars and such like. Saves you so much money in the end, plus it's a saviour if you find yourself in the unfortunate position of unemployment! Money runs out quickly in Australia, so always save where you can.

Don't feel bad about changing plans

I had it all sorted - I'll get to Sydney and I'll fall in love with it - I'm going to spend 6 months there minimum and do all sorts of things, and all sorts of jobs. Then I got to Sydney and hated it (although, I think this was mostly home-sickness). So on a whim I decided to go to Cairns and loved it. I'd never even heard of it before I arrived and now it's one of my favourite places in the world. I had also planned to travel a lot more, but I ended up breaking my ankle in the middle of my trip, so those plans had to be put on hold too. But if I had stayed in Sydney, or moved on from Cairns I wouldn't have met some of my favourite people and I wouldn't have done some things that I can't imagine having missed out on. I'm not usually a great believer in fate, but with travelling, sometimes things just are meant to be.

Experience the outback

Do your farmwork! Or at least find a way to experience real Australia some way. Don't get me wrong the cities are beautiful and the East Coast backpacker towns are great fun but I find they're very insular. It's mostly all other backpackers! You'll meet the greatest Germans, the friendliest French people and craziest Canandians but honestly, very few Australians. For me I worked in an outback bar in Western Australia. It was amazing fun and one if the few times I really felt like I was in Australia. I will warn you, this is where you'll get the creepy crawlies Australia is so famous for, and while the people are wonderful, casual racism/sexism/homophobia runs rampant and it can be unsettling sometimes. But it's worth it, trust me.

Have fun

It's scary travelling alone. And it's lonely sometimes. It's very easy to run out of money and get caught up in what you're doing next, or working too much, but you must remember you are travelling, you are on holiday. You're young and free and it's a chance to let your hair down and be a bit stupid. Be safe, but you can afford to be a bit riskier than you would be at home.

Things I did wrong:

Have money

Yes, the Australian minimum wage is really good, and you can make some really good money there. But also, everything is expensive. You'll find that your money will disappear fast if you're not careful and there's so much to do in Australia. An east coast trip will set you back $3000 minimum, and that's not including food and drinking. If you want to get the maximum you can out of Australia save really hard before you get here, and don't be stupid with your money. I had to take a $1000 loan out with me, expecting to pay it back straight away. Guess what? I didn't, and I'm still paying it off now. I also didn't save as much as I could, buying clothes I didn't need and eating out all the time. Be smart!

Travel as much as you can

I loved my trip, but if I could do it again, I'd want to see much more of Australia. Try and do an east coast trip if you can, everyone I know that did it, loved it. Go and see Uluru - apparently it's breathtaking. Make a trip to Melbourne, I've heard it's the coolest city in the world (albeit a bit chilly). Pictures I've seen of Tasmania are breathtaking. This bit requires money, naturally, and if I'm honest, a little more bravery than I had. But I don't think you'll ever regret seeing them as much as I regret not seeing them.

Do your second year visa work

I know you're thinking that you won't come back, 3 months is a long time to be working etc etc. But it's good to have, and 3 months to get another 12 isn't that bad of a deal. If I had more time I could definitely have seen more, and earned much more money! I can use the excuse of my broken ankle, but if I'm honest, I had time. I was just lazy. Don't go to working hostels though - they're not a scam, exactly, but there's better work out there. My best advice is get some friends, hire a car and go looking for work yourself. Go to local farms wherever you are and just ask. I've found from others that it's the best way to find good, well paying work.

So that's it. My regrets and my achievements. I hope it's helpful to anyone thinking about doing the visa themselves. It's honestly the best thing I did, and I would recommend it to anyone. I'm hoping now to get the Canadian visa and do it all over again in another country!

The Next Adventure

The time comes and we all need to move on.It was coming into the Australian Winter so I decided against going south and instead opted for Darwin.

I flew from Perth to Darwin and I was lucky enough to get a window seat, allowing me to take photos of the gorgeous Australian landscape:

 Darwin is absolutely gorgeous. It's a lot like Cairns (my favourite!), but it feels a little more resort-like. The hostel I stayed at was one of the top rated in the city and I spent my two days there exploring the city and taking photos.

 Now I did love Darwin, but I realised that nowhere did work for accommodation, looked at my pitiful savings and panicked! Decided on impulse to buy a flight to Cairns and go back to Global! A little pathetic, I know. Travelling is supposed to be about new experiences, new places and new people but I couldn't face the thought of my parents having to scrape together the money for my flight home and I knew in Cairns I'd be able to find work for accom at least, if not paid work.

If I'm honest, I also really wanted to see my friends again!

So here I am, back at the Global desk, preparing to go home after a year in Australia!

 I've arranged to meet my sister and Gillian in London and I'm really excited! I put my sister's flights and the hotel on my credit card so I think I'm going to go home in quite a bit of debt unfortunately. Seems ridiculous considering the money I earned here.

It's hard to believe, but I'm less than a month away from the end of my visa! Here was me thinking I wouldn't make it 3 months. It really has been amazing and I feel like I've grown up and changed for the better in the (almost) year that I've been here. If anyone is thinking about doing it my advice would be go for it - it's one of the best things I've ever done.

If I were to do my year again I would probably have tried to travel more. I spent a great deal of my time in Cairns and as much as I love it here, Australia is a big country with so much to see. Money issues and a broken ankle put a little damper in my grand Australia plans though, so c'est la vie.

In all honesty, I wouldn't really change a thing though - I've had an amazing time here and met the greatest people. Unfortunately it looks likes I'll be unable to see Uluru like I'd hoped, but I've got the rest of my life - I do plan to come back to Australia, definitely see Uluru and perhaps the East Coast. It all comes down to money and time, doesn't it? So much to see, not enough time to do it!

So thanks Australia. For being like, awesome and stuff.

Good Times @ Grass Valley

So after I had left Cairns and spent time being a tourist in Perth I decided that I needed a job. (Australia: still expensive). I had already added a women on my facebook named Danielle Prowse - in addition to being a photographer she also sources backpackers for bar jobs around rural Western Australia. My timing lucked out and I managed to land a job working in the Grass Valley Tavern in Grass Valley, Australia.

 Although I had completed a bar skills course in Sydney and worked the bar a little at Ala Turka I hadn't actually worked a full time bar job before Grass Valley, so I was a little apprehensive when I started. Turns out the most difficult part is pulling a pint, and it's actually pretty easy. Within a week I'd pretty much settled in. I lived with the family who owned the bar in a twin room with the other backpacker Lauren:

I spent 8 weeks living and working in the Grass Valley, as well as picking up some shifts at the Riverside Hotel in Northam which Jenny and Adrian also owned. There I got to make coffees and serve food as well which felt a little more comfortable as I'm used to waitressing - plus on Friday and Saturday night it turned into a cocktail bar!

The overall experience was quite new to me - not only working in a bar, but to be so rural and to be surrounded by Australians! As much as I love Cairns - and I really do - the only people I met were other backpackers. Being in WA felt like a much more authentic experience and I got a real taste of Australia. Although some of it could be a little unpleasant (it was extremely hard to bite my tongue at some off-colour remarks), most of it was amazing. All the regulars at the bar were so lovely and genuinely interested in your life and travels. Often they would offer to take you on trips around the area. We got to see sheep shearing on a local farm, as well as Hilary Boat Harbour and Cottesloe beach.

I would say the best part of working here was drunken Thursday nights. The pub ran a Jag the Joker game, with the money rolling over every week and it was an excellent excuse to get extremely drunk. Not that I need much excuse in Australia apparently - it's gotten to the point that my father has discreetly asked my sister if I might have a drinking problem!

I spent 8 weeks at the pub and I loved it. Every time I encounter a backpack that's a little low on cash or looking for a new experience I always tell them to go work in an outback bar now. Just I was writing this Danielle Prowse put up a new ad on Facebook looking for a barmaid a certain Grass Valley! Looks like someone else gets to have the cool experience I did!

(We had a rule - if the song 'Mustang Sally' came on the jukebox we had to stop what we were doing and dance on the barrels. No one seemed to think this was strange).

Beautiful (expensive) Perth

So let me tell you what I've been up to since my last update! Originally I posted that I was heading to Innisfail to attempt to do my farm work - shockingly, that didn't happen. Nothing ever really goes to plan when you're travelling (or in general, I guess). So rather than spending 3 months doing boring, difficult work in sweaty Far North Queensland I escaped to the other side of the country and ended up working in a country pub in rural Western Australia.

When I first landed in WA I decided to spend 2 weeks in Perth to check out the city and what it had to offer. It's a really lovely city and I much preferred it to Sydney. Although it's a decent sized city it doesn't have the loneliness or lost feeling that I associated with Sydney (which in fairness can probably be attributed to homesickness) and I just think it's super cute. Lot's of culture, a good nightlife and just really pretty.

Because I didn't have a lot of time to spend in Perth I decided to pack in as many tourist-y things as possible such as:

• SciTech, which is a really cool science museum - but it is very much a children's museum, something  I didn't realise until I got there - bit awkward! 
• Western Australian Museum, I love a good museum and there were two excellent exhibitions while I was there - a cute, slightly frivolous one on the history of wedding dresses and a thought provoking one on the history of the Western Australian Aborigines population (some info if you're interested).
• Perth Mint, admittedly my least favourite stop, but worth a trip to see a gold bar smelted and then re-moulded. 
• King's Park, really nice place to chill out, with amazing views of the Perth harbour plus home to the DNA tower (a lookout point shaped like a strand of DNA).   
• Fremantle Prison, undoubtedly my favourite place - the prison is a world heritage building built by convicts in the 1800s and served as a working prison until the 1990s. Really interesting history.

A random hodge-splodge of photos from my fortnight in Perth and Fremantle:

 If you are going to Australia then I would definitely recommend going to Perth (although I will worn you, it's a pricey city!) - if I'd had more time I would have definitely visited Rottnest Island and also tried to see more of the West Coast. If I end up returning to Australia (and I hope I do!) seeing more of Australia would be my first priority.

The next chapter of my journey brought me about an hour away from Perth to the town of Grass Valley where I worked as a barmaid for 8 weeks. But more on that in my next post!

2013 already.

NEW YEAR'S!!

New Year's Eve was spent getting very drunk at various bars, and I got to do it in 20's costume again because that was PJ O'Briens theme of the day. I knew that Halloween Costume wasn't a waste of money!

January has mainly been spent working and maybe going out to eat a couple of times. Jennifer and I are a little over the club scene here. It's so quiet here now for wet season that it almost doesn't seem worth it!

So here I am nearing the end of January and potentially nearing the end of my time in Cairns. Next month I should be in Innisfail doing farm work!

Here's hoping!

Christmas and The End of the World

December meant a) the end of the world and b) Christmas. I got to dress up as a zombie at work for the 21st of December (end of the Mayan Calender) and as a green t-shirted reindeer for Christmas.

Just before Christmas Jennifer (my roomate) and I decided to go with Nelli and her cousin Eric to Fitzroy Island. Like Green Island it's an Island just off the coast of Cairns, but it's a little more fun. It has kayaking and a trampoline in the ocean. 

I spent Christmas day having a BBQ on the rooftop of my hostel - it ended very messily with a food fight and many people (including myself) being thrown into the pool fully clothed.

Birthdays and Broken Ankles

November was a cool month, I can tell you. Originally it was going to be the month that I finally left Cairns and started my farm work for my second year visa. That didn't really work out though, since I went out for my birthday on the 14th, got ridiculously drunk, started dancing on a table - and fell off, breaking my ankle. Oops!

Gillian left for her Asian adventure as well, which made me very sad! She's back at home now which is a little surreal considering I'm still here in Cairns! I couldn't waitress anymore with a broken ankle so unfortunately I had to give up working at Ala Turka! On the plus side, I started working as a receptionist at my hostel for better hours and better wages so every cloud has a silver lining I guess!

Even with a broken ankle I managed to get quite a few nights out!