Im planning a gap year to Perth in Oz next oct with my bf. Does anyone have ideas where to stay and get jobs?

Question

hi, we have decided Perth looks like a nice place to go for 6 months or so. we also are thinking of maybe working for 4/5 months and then getting a plane to somewhere else but not sure where and travel around and enjoy ourselves more.

Does anyone have any experience of getting a working holiday visa? Is it hard to get and what do we need to do?

We were thinking of renting a car however you need to be 21 and we will be 20. Is there any need to really buy a car for that amount of time or would the free buses be efficiant enough?

we are thinking of going in oct till march/april time however i have read reviews about it being unbearable weather fo us brits! Is it worth going a bit earlier?

How much does it cost to live out there for a basic furnished accomidation near the beach and town where we can work.

Is it worth trying to get a job on the internet before we go out there or should we be able to find unskilled work when we get out there?

I have heard you need to have an oz bank account also... is this easy to sort out once you get there? there are some programmes you can go on where they sort this all out for you for quite alot of money, is this worth it or is it easy?

thank you anyone that can help us!!

Answer 1

Hello. I have travelled everywhere but WA and they say it is nice over there as my sister lives there but the hot weather is a killer. If you are looking to work and also rent something QLD is alot better. Queensland. I know in Queensland you can get a place for about $350 a week and the pay is around $1000 a week each person as i know people who are doing fruit picking that are on $1300 a week at the moment. In Queensland you have the Great Barrier Reef and that is the 6th wonder of the world. I know that is not much help about WA to where you want to go but i do not like it there only because i cannot cope with the hot weather. If i was you i would look at the work and ring up places as i am always having to give people from over sea's phone numbers for work. Depends with the bank account as alot of people in queensland just pay you cash in hand so depends where you are and what you do. If you need any help just email me anytime. Take care. [e-mail]

P.S. No matter where you go i hope you have a really nice time and good luck...

Answer 2

i live in perth. its awesome here, very pretty and a great way to taste aussie culture.

perth is in huge demand for employees at the moment. hospitality short of staff (waiter, counter staff etc). basic wage for a 20YO in perth is about $350 per week AU at minimal for full time work. It is definetly best to look into shared accomodation, because its the best way to get a fully furnished place to stay. Rent is a bit expencive at 300PW for a furnished unit minimal. put you can share a place for $100 PW and put in for the bills which isn't much. Perth is full of freindly honest people, it wont be hard to find some good people to live with.

Perth has terrible public transport unless your inner city. we are very spread out and trains and bus's dont go everywhere. if i were you i wouldn't worry about a car straight away. if you live and work near a train or bus line. Otherwise look into getting a cheap $500 car once your settled and sell it once your done. renting a car is really expencive.

if i were you i'd to to Margaret River (google it), its 400 kms south of perth. its so beautiful and lots of the towns get busy in the summer, jobs are plentiful - for the winerys and restaurants.

Or in Donneybrook 300kms south of perth has a backpackers that finds you work when you stay with them - i've stayed near there - not a bad place! I think alot of the work is farm stuff, but they have access to lots of jobs. They even drive you to work and pick you up! i think its only $80 a week to stay there too. lots of backpackers that do that sort of thing.

Sort something out when you get here, save a little money to keep you for a couple of weeks just in case.

go on the www.westernaustralia.com to help you out, write some emails to the tourism staff and they can help you best!  ([e-mail])

Answer 3

If you are looking for hotel accommodation, which is probably your best bet until you can find something more permanant, I would suggest you have a look at http://www.hotels2go.com.au/usersignup.p... You'll need to sign up to be able to see the deals that are on there... some of them give you free meals with your accommodation and almost all deals are well priced. As an added bonus, just for signing up, you get an entry to win a Bali holiday for one week!

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

perth is a wonderful place and despite all the rumours the hot weather isn't that bad over here

as for the free buses these are the CAT buses that run only in the inner city so unless your planning on living and working there they wont be much help

transperth trains and buses will be most help and you can get a smartrider which is only a 50c or 90c fare and they go to most of the important places

the coast is close to most places but accommodation near the beach can be very pricey as beaches like Hillary's cottesloe and scarborough are affluent areas

unskilled work is eassssy to find we have a shortage of workers so you can easily find a job in a cafe or any places like that

coming a little earlier is hotter as summer is december january and febuary so march and april will be cooler as the most unbearable heat is in jan and feb

budget cars are the best for rental they do deals for backpackers and anz is the best bank for setting up temporary accounts with little to no fees

good luck hope you enjoy perth

Answer 5

Perth is really beautiful!

There are a lot of pommies (hope you don't mind pom) living in perth and they cope just fine, christmas day last year was 45 degrees Celsius and was boiling for everyone. You say 'town' perth is nothing like a town, we say city. Most people live along the coast. House prices have just droped, from being the 2nd most expensive in Australia.

sorry, couldn't help you with more.

enjoy, you will love it!!

Answer 6

You'll need to get a Working Holiday Visa first.  So check out the Government website http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/index.ht... to find out the requirements.  The website give information on how to get the visa, how to find jobs etc.