Travelling In Australia?

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Zucchinisinratatouille

Hi Ashley,

Can't tell from your name if you're male or female, not that it really matters. It's a good thing you've got a year to look around, as Australia is such a BIG country with so much to see and enjoy!

Everyone swears by snorkelling on the Barrier Reef (Qld), so that should be on your "must see" list; also on the opposite side of Aus, swimming with dolphins at Monkey Mia (WA); whale-watching off Victoria's south-west coast and other places; tasting wines (and possibly picking grapes!) in all states except NT [yes, yes, I know it's a Territory, not a State! ]; visiting Uluru, Kata Tjuta National Park, Kakadu, all in NT; Wilpena Pound in SA; the list goes on and on....!

This type of question is frequently asked on this site, and many good replies have been given. Just do a search of Yahoo Answers specifying "Australia travel". Here's an example:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ajq9tb8lgv1YN3aWFIX1zgkjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=20070502072924AAMj0w5

Also trawl around this category (Travel - Australia) and you will pick up lots of info about the topic.

It's a good thing you're willing to do "grotty jobs"! There is seasonal fruit-picking work in most states, especially Victoria, also restaurant work. Try to avoid getting ripped off by shonky employers - under "Work Choices" they have even more freedom to hire and fire, and there have many reports of young people on "probation" not getting paid at all. I would advise you not to work on building sites at all: one Australian every week dies on a building site.

It would be ideal if you could find a nice, safe, clean job before you came by visiting websites such as:
http://www.mycareer.com.au
http://www.seek.com.au

A large section of the workforce is casual or on short-term contracts, so you are not limited to "travellers' jobs".

If you're hardy and adventurous you could work as a jillaroo or jackaroo on cattle or sheep stations in the outback.

You will have a fabulous time and make many friends!

vbrauner

OK how old are you and what kind of a budget are you talking?

Do you have a general idea of how large Ausrtalia is? Your airfare should be starting at Cairns and leaving from Sydney.

Are you a fit fellow and like bicycling? Or have enough money to rent the cheap "wicked" van. It has a bed in the back and can be a 4wd.

More information is required to be of some assistance!

Cheers

Rach21

well, it depends where u r flying from? uk us? We flew in from Singapore and began in Perth. In perth, there is a free cat bus that takes u on different routes around the city for free. Admittedly when i was there, i found there wasnt much to do. But gotta feelin u may need to be 21 to get a rental car?
Fremantle is worth a check..bout 30min train ride south of Perth. Then, in WA, you also have Margaret River a quaint town which is a famous wine region. Albany is amazing as Torndirrup national park is there..lotsa natural formations etc.

Other places obviously worth visiting:

Sydney, for good reasons..do a opera house tour..learnt some amazing facts. Also, depending on if u r there in June, catch a whale watching trip with Bass and Flinders..we saw humpback whales do everything imaginable. They are on the way to Queensland, but in Nov they return south with clves in tow. omg so many things..Victoria, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast. Emerald Beach, Byron Byas beautiful. So best of doin West coast first...(not much there lol) then heading across, maybe stopping off at Alice Springs? East coast is where its at..jus dont go in the sea...........white tips...argh!

stvp

A few cities are all we've got ... less than 2 dozen nationwide that look like cities the world over. The 7 state/territory capitals are 1000km+ (600miles+) apart.
You may get a choice of entry city to Australia : Sydney is huge, brash, fabulous and not cheap; Melbourne is big, easy-going and friendly, if the weather is chilly and gloomy at times; Brisbane is on its way to copying Sydney in a few decades. Perth and Adelaide are even smaller.
Fremantle, Hobart, Cairns and Darwin are fun little places.

You may end up spending more time than you planned on the road between destinations, which is not such a bad thing if you can find work to fund your travels. The northern Australia outback, especially nw Aust is in the grip of a global mining boom, so menial jobs are more readily available in Perth etc.
Many travellers use the east coast to travel overseas to New Zealand and the small islands, eg Tahiti, PNG, Fiji in the SW Pacific.

Break up your travel into legs and then make up your list according to your own priority of time / cost / appeal. These are pretty much the beaten tracks.
(1) Byron Bay (nthn NSW) to Cairns (nth Qld) via Gold Coast - Brisbane - Sunshine Coast. Might want to hop over to NT's capital Darwin in NT for this leg.
(2) Sydney - Blue Mtns - Canberra - snow fields (July/Aug) - Melbourne - Tasmania.
(3) Perth - Fremantle - Ayers Rock / Uluru - Adelaide.
(4) Then, you've got all the huges spaces in between, eg NT's Kakadu National Park, various national parks surrounding Brisbane / Sydney / Melbourne, farming regions near Adelaide and Melbourne, the true original "outback" in central NSW / western Qld / much of WA.

embellishment3

Australia is a beautiful place.If you head up North,Cairns Daintree rain forest ,Port Douglas,Great barrier reef .There is so much work up there in the tourists season.Hotel work,virtually anything.Very warm and humid temperatures.Have alook at Australia on the net and it should give you many ideas.Hope you enjoy our country.All the best.

But Why??

Lucky bugger. Can I come???
I take it your a teenager,well if your responsible I would buy a cheap camper van and do it that way. If you are coming in from overseas just start in Melbourne, Brisbane or Sydney and slowly make your way around the coastline and see the rest of the place like Adelaide, Perth and Darwin, Tasmania (take the car ferry), venture inland and see the desert areas like Alice Springs etc. I mean there are a million possibilities, you could spend years here doing that and not see it all. I would definately buy a surfboard, fishing rod, tent and maybe a few lite camping things. If you are not working, then you will have heaps of time on your hands money permitting just to venture to and fro if you can afford to do so. There are plenty of great small towns and communities around Australia with lots of great people in them, so you will make many friends that will last your lifetime. Have a great time.

Kinzi

I went to Australia when I was twelve. I don't remember too much but it was definately fun. Just be spontanious, that will be much more exciting. Also most of western Australia is just desert and nothing else, so stay to the east.
Good luck and have fun!

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