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TheDude42 posted:One note is I desperately want to dive the GBR. It seems like the Cairns / Port Douglas area is the place to be for that. Can anyone recommend a good site and/or dive shop? (I'm a PADI advanced diver btw). I just got back from a month long trip in Australia, and spent a little over a week in the Cairns area and did some SCUBA. We went through SilverSwift: http://www.silverseries.com.au/swift.htm - They are combo snorkeling/SCUBA trips, (most companies do this), and definitely cater to the SCUBA divers. The boat was huge and had just shy of 100 people on board. But all preference was given to the divers. The equipment (BCs, Regs) was practically brand new. The guides knew their stuff and were very helpful. We did buy Skyrail tickets as well, and this was also fantastic. As others have said, there's no way you're going to enjoy yourself driving the distance between Sydney & Cairns. Large sections of the highway there are lower speed limits and under construction right now as well. We drove small sections but otherwise took cheap flights in between the major cities.
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May 18, 2011 14:32
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Hey all, I'm gonna be celebrating my 25th birthday by doing a road trip from melbourne to byron bay and areas nearby. I'm going with 3 other mates and we haven't been here before but all keen to surf and have some fun at the pub but also explore some nice wilderness and scenic beach breaks. We have about 10 days to do a roundtrip so not sure of other places of interests to stop by on the way and back. Have no idea on route but we're just going by the criteria of surfing, beer, nature, hanging out in town and chilling out. Would love to stay right on a good beach break but it could be pricey in byron. We're thinking 100$ per night per person. I'd love to hear any ideas for stopovers, food, towns to check out or whatever you think will make a nice addition to a road trip.
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May 29, 2011 14:20
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Me and my fiancee plan on getting married soon. (She's an Australian national. I'm American). I plan on moving to Australia after that happens. We're starting the immigration/VISA headache soon, but before we go ahead with that we're trying to figure out if it would be better for us to get married here in the US, or over in Australia? (FYI, I was there last year. She plans on visiting the states later this year) The goal is just to streamline the process and make things easier for us. It's already sort of daunting.
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Jun 1, 2011 19:52
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I dont know the visa implications, but as for the actual process of getting married it's quite easy. You fill out an intent to marry form, send it off, they send you a certificate and you're pretty much set, sans ceremony etc.
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Jun 1, 2011 23:53
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Quellex posted:Me and my fiancee plan on getting married soon. (She's an Australian national. I'm American). I plan on moving to Australia after that happens. We're starting the immigration/VISA headache soon, but before we go ahead with that we're trying to figure out if it would be better for us to get married here in the US, or over in Australia? I went through the process with my husband (he's the aussie, I'm the yank) a year ago. It doesn't really matter where you get married, just keep in mind that you will have to wait for a few months for the paperwork to go through. We got married in the US, had most of our paperwork sent off within the week, and were granted the visa within 4 months, and I had a fairly complicated case due to an issue that turned up during the health screening. One site I found really helpful is http://yanksdownunder.net, they've got a lot of people that have gone through this, and are really good about giving advice. Feel free to inbox/email me if you've got questions as well.
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Jun 2, 2011 23:14
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Awesome info. Thanks to everyone who replied to my questions...it's greatly helping with my choice of itinerary (and scratching the drive). Is the diving in Port Douglas (heeding your and other's advice to head there instead of cairns) dramatically better than diving in the Whitsundays area, as my sister wants to check that out too. Also, any suggestions for dive shops? I checked out raging thunder while looking at the rafting stuff, and it seems they arrange lots of dive packages, and the person I chatted with was very helpful, which is always a good sign. Any particular experience with them or others out of Port Douglas?
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Jun 7, 2011 05:19
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Just booked my trip for September! Will be doing 7 days on a live-aboard with a day and a half in Cairns before hand and I have three days on the tail end of the trip to do something not yet planned.(Probably check out Sydney, but open to suggestions.)
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Jun 7, 2011 08:23
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Just to let you know, if you're doing the Working Holiday visa (or Work and Holiday visa), you don't only have to bartend, wait tables, or pick fruit if you don't want to. When I was there, I signed up with some of the big temp agencies and I got work through them. Mostly call center stuff, but it wasn't too bad and it paid pretty well. Also, thanks for that spousal information. It might come in useful for me. 
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Jun 7, 2011 15:06
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Shnicker posted:Just to let you know, if you're doing the Working Holiday visa (or Work and Holiday visa), you don't only have to bartend, wait tables, or pick fruit if you don't want to. When I was there, I signed up with some of the big temp agencies and I got work through them. Mostly call center stuff, but it wasn't too bad and it paid pretty well. Indeed, as long as your employer knows that you can be with them for only six months you can do whatver you want. I know a few highly skilled guys who got jobs with top companies in Sydney. They had the skill sets and they were cheaper than hiring contractors.
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Jun 8, 2011 00:09
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Maybe someone has some information that can help me out. I'm living in the USA with both US and Spanish citizenship. I want to go to graduate school eventually for English Literature, and ideally in Australia, but the International student fees might end up being too much if I can't get funding. 1. Anybody have any info on funding for graduate school? I'd be getting a Masters in Research first and then a PhD. 2. I'm considering living in Australia for a while working, building up savings and a permanent residency visa before going into Grad School, however, as a Theater/English major, I don't have any of the skills for the specific workers visas. However, I am fluent in Spanish, Catalan, and French, having lived in France, Spain, and Bolivia, and having experience with translating/interpreting. Any ideas if those skills can get me a job in Australia? I'm looking into the Spanish Embassies, seeing if they might be able to sponsor me, but how could I look into other areas?
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Jul 16, 2011 21:49
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I think its about 10k a semester but I could be wrong. If you do a pHD you might get a scholarship but I'm not sure.
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Jul 17, 2011 04:24
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Trying to put together a trip to Australia. Does anyone know the requirements for renting a car there? I have a U.S. Drivers License but am currently in Japan with the military so I can't exactly go to AAA to get an International Drivers Permit easily. Also does anyone have an experience with http://www.wickedcampers.com.au ? Seems to be the best way to do a multi person Cairns/Gold Coast/Sydney trip while dragging a bunch of dive gear around.
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Jul 17, 2011 06:14
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Spaceguns posted:Trying to put together a trip to Australia. Does anyone know the requirements for renting a car there? I have a U.S. Drivers License but am currently in Japan with the military so I can't exactly go to AAA to get an International Drivers Permit easily. US Drivers licence will be fine.
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Jul 17, 2011 09:43
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Spaceguns posted:Also does anyone have an experience with http://www.wickedcampers.com.au ? Seems to be the best way to do a multi person Cairns/Gold Coast/Sydney trip while dragging a bunch of dive gear around. Most of the backpackers I've met have just bought a shitbox van for AU$1000 and driven that into the ground. It seemed to work for them. I guess it depends on what you can get your hands on when you get here.
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Jul 17, 2011 09:50
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The Pillowman posted:Maybe someone has some information that can help me out. 1) You can take out US student loans to pay for Aussie grad school. There are some scholarships for international students, but as an American you're eligible for the pretty much least number of them. If you're doing a Research programme IIRC there are more available (and more if you're doing a PhD), check out the Endeavour award, as well as the universities you're interested in for specific scholarships they might offer to international students. The University of Queensland has (or at least had, when I applied for a Master's in Development Studies back in 2006) an award for internationals, but it's highly competitive. I got into the programme but didn't get the scholarship, so I wound up staying in undergrad and going to Thailand for a year on an American scholarship instead. 2) I would say the best way (not knowing how difficult or likely it is to work out) would be to go over there on a working holiday visa, get hired by a large company as a translator/interpreter, and then hopefully make enough of a favourable impression that they'll sponsor you for a proper work visa when the time comes. Alternatively, you could go the slow route of having your qualifications/language abilities assessed by the relevant Aussie accrediting body, and come over on a work visa straight away, as I'm pretty sure translation/interpretation is on the Skilled Occupations Shortage List. (disclaimer: American, studied in Australia for a year as an undergrad, probably going back there for grad school in a year or two)
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Jul 17, 2011 13:24
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For context, I've lived in Canada my entire life, but I'm lucky enough to have a dual Canadian/Australian citizenship. I also just graduated with a degree in Computer Science and have about a year of experience as a developer. Moving down to Australia to work for a couple years has always been in the back of my mind. My question is: is the there an extremely good job market for software devlopers/engineers in Australia right now? I've been looking at some Australian job boards and there are a ton of junior software engineer positions with requirements of "a good attitude and some PHP would be nice" that pay 50-70k plus all sorts of other perks.
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Aug 3, 2011 01:56
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4liters posted:Most of the backpackers I've met have just bought a shitbox van for AU$1000 and driven that into the ground. It seemed to work for them. I guess it depends on what you can get your hands on when you get here. I've met people who have done that with great success, but I've met just as many who have broken their budgets on repairs. All you need is a US driver's license. Driving on the other side is really mentally exhausting, especially at first, so I wouldn't plan really long days on the car right off the bad.
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Aug 3, 2011 09:51
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Freeze posted:For context, I've lived in Canada my entire life, but I'm lucky enough to have a dual Canadian/Australian citizenship. I also just graduated with a degree in Computer Science and have about a year of experience as a developer. Moving down to Australia to work for a couple years has always been in the back of my mind. I can't speak for all of Australia, but my boyfriend is the manager at a software development company located outside of Newcastle, NSW and they seem to have trouble finding people to fill positions whenever they expand. I also have another friend who is a programmer and he seems to change jobs every couple of years whenever he started to get bored of where he is working and doesn't seem to have much trouble finding himself new employers.
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Aug 3, 2011 11:22
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Freeze posted:For context, I've lived in Canada my entire life, but I'm lucky enough to have a dual Canadian/Australian citizenship. I also just graduated with a degree in Computer Science and have about a year of experience as a developer. Moving down to Australia to work for a couple years has always been in the back of my mind. Yep, very good market for developers especially in Sydney. 50k would be the absolute minimum you'd earn. Have a look at seek.com.au which is our main jobs site if you want to specifically see what's out there.
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Aug 3, 2011 21:57
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brendanwor posted:Yep, very good market for developers especially in Sydney. 50k would be the absolute minimum you'd earn. Have a look at seek.com.au which is our main jobs site if you want to specifically see what's out there. This and push for more $$$. 60k isn't a lot over here, especially not in Sydney. Do your research into rent costs, etc. For example, a female friend is on a temp working holiday visa. She has a job as a PA doing menial office stuff and she's on about $60k with no real qualifications.
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Aug 4, 2011 11:32
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Thanks for the info guys, I'm going to keep an eye on the job postings. I also didn't realize rent in Sydney was so expensive even compared to Vancouver, jesus. edit: Oh, one other question. I see some jobs that are salary + Super. I know that Super is some sort of retirement fund, but I was under the impression that all jobs were required by law to pay into Super. How come some of these jobs specifically say salary + Super and some don't? Freeze fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Aug 5, 2011 |
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Aug 5, 2011 01:19
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Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world, both for real estate and for everything else. It sucks but what can you do. Superannuation is a forced retirement fund. By law your employer must pay 9% of your salary into a superannuation fund (you can choose one if you want but if you're only here for a few years don't worry too much), which the superannuation fund company then invests on your behalf. You can tell them how much risk they should take when investing etc. The money in the fund is inaccessible to you until you approach retirement age (I think the minimum age is 55 but generally higher). The idea is that everyone has a nest-egg to retire on so they don't have to live off a government pension. As for salary + super, there's no rules about what they can or can't say in an advertisement. For a job that's advertised as say a $50k per annum package including super, $4,500 of that (9%) will be automatically deducted by your employer. It comes out each pay, so you never even see that money. Just be aware when it's advertised that way, your $50k package is really only $45,500. So if you were comparing that to a job that was $50k base + super, the latter job will give you more weekly income.
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Aug 5, 2011 03:33
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This thread is a little dead, but hopefully I will get some useful information. I'm moving to Perth for two years in about a month's time for academic purposes (I'm following my PhD supervisor to his new job). Job-wise I'm obviously secure, including my funding, so I'm not too worried about things like that; they're even covering my medical insurance. My visa is sorted and I have accommodation for 3 weeks from when I arrive so that should hopefully give me enough time to find a place to rent. I was hoping to get a bit of information about what life in Perth is like. Most people tend to talk about Sydney and Melbourne, so I've found it difficult to get an idea of what it's like in Perth. I guess I just want to be able to get a reasonably good social life going and not get too bogged down with work and feel lonely!
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Aug 17, 2011 14:53
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Montalvo posted:This thread is a little dead, but hopefully I will get some useful information. I've heard that its a relatively dead town, rather isolated and made up of lots of suburbs. Housing wise, I'm sure someone can point you to a more exciting place to live at. If you're outdoorsy, however, there is a lot of hiking and such to do around there, a couple of national parks, stuff like that. Also you're close to the Little Creature Brewery. It's delicious delicious beer. You might also want to move into the brewery.
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Aug 17, 2011 16:40
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The Pillowman posted:I've heard that its a relatively dead town, rather isolated and made up of lots of suburbs. Housing wise, I'm sure someone can point you to a more exciting place to live at. If you're outdoorsy, however, there is a lot of hiking and such to do around there, a couple of national parks, stuff like that. Also you're close to the Little Creature Brewery. It's delicious delicious beer. You might also want to move into the brewery. Pretty much this. I really like Perth, it's a nice city and the beaches are awesome, don't expect a big city nightlife but that said once you've settled you'll find plenty of places to have a drink and to eat with workmates.
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Aug 18, 2011 00:53
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NoArmedMan posted:Pretty much this. I really like Perth, it's a nice city and the beaches are awesome, don't expect a big city nightlife but that said once you've settled you'll find plenty of places to have a drink and to eat with workmates. I dunno, they have clubs and stuff. Sure, it's not Sydney or Melbourne, but there was plenty to do when I was there in 2004/2005 at least. Don't live in Joondalup though, lovely neighborhood, lots of mugging (when I was there anyways, but a guy from Perth I met a few months ago said it was still pretty poo poo).
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Aug 18, 2011 01:24
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So guys I'm a brazilian citizen who may be getting a great opportunity to set sail and live in another country. Australia is one of the countries I'm seriously looking into (alongside Canada and NZ). The basic idea is to go to Australia under a simple study (or work) visa and earn a certificate on a skilled trade, then use said certification to apply for permanent residence. However there are a few things I'd like to ask if possible: 1- Trade school or apprenticeship? Is it something you have to choose (either TS or Apprenticeship) or you have to do both of them together? 2- While searching for institutions near some affordable places to live (excellent thread btw), i quickly realized that there is no mention of a fee or any kind of recurring payment for said education, while the international websites have a pretty big fee on them (about $20k). Is this just a tourist trap of sorts or immigrants do have to pay for this? Is there any kind of scholarship or financial assistance i could possibly apply to? 3- If i understood everything right, i will need a student visa to be able to do this legally. The student visa only allows for part time work (20h/week). Is it possible to live on part time work only? What about paying a semester of tuition fees? The course is 2 years long, and costs about 20k. Thanks and sorry for the long post and terrible english.
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Aug 18, 2011 02:57
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HAIL LORD ZLATAN posted:1- Trade school or apprenticeship? Is it something you have to choose (either TS or Apprenticeship) or you have to do both of them together? IIRC an apprenticeship includes some classes at a trade school (mostly called TAFE here). Some info here: https://www.tafensw.edu.au/courses/types/apptrain.htm
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Aug 18, 2011 03:22
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2ndclasscitizen posted:IIRC an apprenticeship includes some classes at a trade school (mostly called TAFE here). Some info here: https://www.tafensw.edu.au/courses/types/apptrain.htm So I'd have to find an employer willing to give me an apprenticeship then enroll at a trade school? Sorry I'm just really confused.
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Aug 18, 2011 03:26
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HAIL LORD ZLATAN posted:So I'd have to find an employer willing to give me an apprenticeship then enroll at a trade school? Sorry I'm just really confused. I believe that's the way it works, yes.
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Aug 18, 2011 03:40
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Pompous Rhombus posted:I dunno, they have clubs and stuff. Sure, it's not Sydney or Melbourne, but there was plenty to do when I was there in 2004/2005 at least. Don't live in Joondalup though, lovely neighborhood, lots of mugging (when I was there anyways, but a guy from Perth I met a few months ago said it was still pretty poo poo). Oh I agree - I didn't mean drink as in just pubs - I more meant that there is generally plenty of stuff to do in Perth if you don't go in expecting big city living.
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Aug 18, 2011 06:21
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HAIL LORD ZLATAN posted:So guys I'm a brazilian citizen who may be getting a great opportunity to set sail and live in another country. Australia is one of the countries I'm seriously looking into (alongside Canada and NZ). The basic idea is to go to Australia under a simple study (or work) visa and earn a certificate on a skilled trade, then use said certification to apply for permanent residence. However there are a few things I'd like to ask if possible: Not sure about the legality of it but like 90% of the guys when I worked at a KFC were working 40 hour weeks while studying as indian students and seemed to have no issues whatsoever. That said I am quite sure if they audit you you'd get in trouble. If you sharehouse and save 20 hours you can get by on but it can be hard sometimes. I'm not too sure on all the other poo poo but I am fairly sure you'll have to pay for the education sadly. Melbourne rocks though!
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Aug 18, 2011 13:01
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NoArmedMan posted:Pretty much this. I really like Perth, it's a nice city and the beaches are awesome, don't expect a big city nightlife but that said once you've settled you'll find plenty of places to have a drink and to eat with workmates. Thanks for the information -- I really looking forward to visiting the beaches, actually; and my workplace is right next to a pretty large park! I also plan on doing quite a lot of hiking and generally exploring while I'm down there. I'm not too fussed about the lack of pubs, because let's face it, I am down there to work. How easy would you say it is to pick up a social circle though? I do enjoy hanging out with workmates, but it would be nice to unwind with a different social circle from time to time. I was thinking of taking up a sport or joining a local club.
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Aug 18, 2011 15:51
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HAIL LORD ZLATAN posted:So guys I'm a brazilian citizen who may be getting a great opportunity to set sail and live in another country. Australia is one of the countries I'm seriously looking into (alongside Canada and NZ). The basic idea is to go to Australia under a simple study (or work) visa and earn a certificate on a skilled trade, then use said certification to apply for permanent residence. However there are a few things I'd like to ask if possible: You should check out this site if you havent already http://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/en/Home it will give you information including how much courses should cost
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Aug 18, 2011 18:03
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Melbourne is basically the city for international students looking for a way to migrate here. It's pretty expensive in the short term, my room mate is from South Korea and is currently doing a Certificate 4 in Motor Mechanic, he spent about $15,000 a year with the course basically being 2 years part time - 2 days a week. There is a whole bunch of courses you can do to get in, just look for things on the skilled shortage list and do courses in them. The most important thing is to find work in the relevant industry as soon as possible and make sure its a legit job, no cash under the table job because they just changed the laws and you need to show payslips. http://www.deewr.gov.au/employment/lmi/skillshortages/pages/skillshortagelists.aspx Doesn't need to be very technical things too, we seem to have a national shortage of hairdressers so you could probably do a course in that and aim for a graduate skill visa. I guess the biggest concern my room mate has is english levels, as long as you can get a score of 6 in IELTS you should be good. Schools set up for this kinda thing are places like Cambridge International College, Menzies Institute, etc. Just make sure they are listed here: http://www.cricos.deewr.gov.au/
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Aug 19, 2011 01:11
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imnotinsane posted:Melbourne is basically the city for international students looking for a way to migrate here. It's pretty expensive in the short term, my room mate is from South Korea and is currently doing a Certificate 4 in Motor Mechanic, he spent about $15,000 a year with the course basically being 2 years part time - 2 days a week. Yeah thats what I'm planning to do, get a cert for a position in the skill shortage list and go from there. However one thing bothers me, 2 days a week only? In the case of your roomate, how often does he work? I'd like to be able to pay the tuition with the money I'd make working over there. Is that possible with (what i expect to be) minimum wage pay? Also what are some good and cheap places to live?
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Aug 19, 2011 14:56
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HAIL LORD ZLATAN posted:Yeah thats what I'm planning to do, get a cert for a position in the skill shortage list and go from there. However one thing bothers me, 2 days a week only? In the case of your roomate, how often does he work? Minimum wage is about $15.50/hr I think, which is $32,240/year at 40 hours a week/52 weeks a year. Tax on that is approx $4k, so you would be left with about $540/week after tax. You can get an idea of cost of living in melbourne from this: http://cms.unimelb.edu.au/studentservices/finaid/planning/cost_of_living/summary and this http://www.studygroup.edu.au/csu/living_expenses.aspx I think the gist is minimum wage is enough to live off but you're probably not going to have a spare $15k/year. If you have a drivers license or can do phyiscal work like in construction (called a labourer in aus) you can probably do better than minimum wage.
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Aug 19, 2011 17:24
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Sydney people about what do you budget per week for food/bills/transport (i.e. not rent or tax)? Maybe I should go live in Melbourne for a while, it seems a lot cheaper especially accommodation.
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Aug 19, 2011 23:31
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unixbeard posted:Sydney people about what do you budget per week for food/bills/transport (i.e. not rent or tax)? As someone who has lived in Melbourne, currently lives in Sydney and is heading back to Melbourne, although I can't give you figures, Melbourne is a lot cheaper. Transport is waaaaay cheaper for public transport, a metcard/myki gives you travel on buses/trams/trains to anywhere in Melbourne for about $6.80 a day (There is a zone 2, but that is way out in the outer suburbs). In Sydney, I'd need to pay for the multi-pass at $24 or whatever for the same amount of freedom. I understand it's cheaper for a multipass if you're buying monthly/yearly etc, but Melbourne's monthly/yearly still works out way cheaper. Food is a tricky one as food prices have risen a lot while I've been in Sydney. I used to go down and get my fruit and veg from Queen Victoria Market and it cost me around $15. In Sydney, from a Woolworths, it costs me $30-35. Not apples to apples, but once again, I'd predict it'd still be cheaper. Electricity is cheaper in Victoria, the rates are far cheaper. I can't remember the reason why, but I remember freaking the gently caress out and assuming there was something wrong with my bill in Sydney when I first got it as it was nearly double what I had paid in Melbourne 3 months previous. Not quite what you were after - but as a guide, i'd say Melbourne is safely cheaper.
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Aug 20, 2011 00:26
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imnotinsane posted:Melbourne is basically the city for international students looking for a way to migrate here. It's pretty expensive in the short term
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Aug 20, 2011 03:33
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