Travel question about Australia & New Zealand?

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samfan121

I did BUNAC to Canada for a year because the work visa was only available through them, I wasn't able to arrange it myself. Check google for the australia and NZ immigration services and see if you can sort it out yourself as this may affect your decision.

It is pretty pricey but it takes the hassle out because someone else does the paperwork. Plus you have a support office you can go to anytime while you're in your destination country.

You will still need to do the job searches yourself etc so if you want to save money and can sort the visa yourself and don't mind going it alone then I wouldn't bother with BUNAC. But, if you like the security of some extra options then here's what I found most useful about them:

- Being able to book onto a flight with other BUNACers and all staying in the same hostel for the first couple of nights. It was good to share people's experiences of job and house hunting etc and to have people to go for dinner with in the evening at first until you make local friends.
- Having someone else set up your social insurance numbers etc. I believe they are also able to fast track it for you.
- Help in opening bank account etc. You need an address to open an account and BUNAC let you use their office until you are set up with a place to live or if you will be moving around. They will also hold mail for you.
- Use of their office for free internet access and local phone calls and for house and job hunting, job vacancy boards and general advice from a local persepctive.

It depends what you think you will be doing over there. For example I found a job and a housesharewith some local girls within 2 weeks and stayed in the same place for the whole year so once I was set up I didn't need BUNAC support. I asked my local friends or work colleagues for advice on anything I needed to know.
Whatever you decide I'm sure you'll have a great time.

Luke L

Hey there. You will have a blast living down here in Australia and New Zealand, but you must realise they are two totally different countries. Australia is a very large country and is very sparsely populated in some parts. It has large cities where most of its populations live. Australia is very dry and desert-like and most country areas are quite flat and featureless. It has a very beach lifestyle on the east coast especially around Brisbane and the two biggest cities, Melbourne and Sydney can be abit of a rat race. There are options of staying on farms but because of droughts it is not a very active place in terms of farms etc. In general the scenery of Australia is nothing amazing but the city life can be fun and there are lots of things to see and do in the cities like clubbing, dining and historic tours. New Zealand is a far more diverse place. It has lots of tiny towns and villages along with big cities as well. New Zealand has very impressive scenery formed by glacial and volcanic activities. There are alot of farmstays in NZ as farming is a significant part of NZ foreign trade etc.Although some prices of things like food can be expensive, it probably delivers more to the tourist in terms of accessibility to all tastes, as there is alot of things to do and see both naturally and man-made with every conrer of the country being unique in every way.

Grant M

I would check with the embassies - young people from many countries can get working visas fairly easily. It would be a little more work to do so but bank accounts, tax numbers and even finding work are not very hard to do once you arrrive. The price quoted seems a bit high for the service - I would do it myself.

There is a fair bit of seasonal work in both countries, mainly fruit picking but also tourism related jobs. These can be quite sociable.

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