Lauren Bartlett, Author at Welcome to Travel

Working Holiday Visa: Australia vs. New Zealand

Lauren Bartlett — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 01:47:56 +0000

So you've decided to head off on a Working Holiday Visa

You want somewhere far away, somewhere to really get out and explore a land different to your own, right?! Now for most of the world, nowhere is further away than Australia and New Zealand. Lucky for you, they are both amazing choices for a Working Holiday Visa with so many perks and reasons to visit.

First up, the landscapes in each are simply outstanding, not to mention incredibly varied. Although both are English speaking countries and therefore may not seem as exotic as say travelling South East Asia, the vibe is incredibly different from other English speaking countries.

So the question is: is coming here for a whole year the right choice for you? (You’ll find that the answer is yes 99% of the time). And what does getting a Working Holiday Visa actually mean and how does it work?

What is a Working Holiday Visa?

The official meaning of a Working Holiday is to visit a country with the sole purpose of travelling, while also having the ability to work to fund your travel.

I feel this is super important to remember. Although it is an unreal experience to work in another part of the world, it is also so important to make sure you travel and experience as much of the country you are in as possible.

There will be landscapes you won’t experience anywhere else in the world. Food unique to the different areas. Tours and activities that can’t be done at home! All of this is what will make your year truly memorable.

The rules of the Working Holiday Visa vary depending on which country you end up choosing. So does the amount of time you can stay or the different ways in which you are able to extend your visa. So what are these differences and which one is right for you to head to first (yes, first)…

Overview: Australia Vs. New Zealand

There are a few factors to take into account when deciding whether Australia or NZ is right for you, but let’s start with a major logistic:

Length of stay:

Australia = 1 year + additional year if you complete 88 days of rural work within your first year + another additional year if you complete 6 more months of rural work within your 2nd year.

New Zealand = 1 year for most countries or 23 months for citizens of the UK or Canada.

Now you know how long you can stay, let’s get to the good stuff. These are some of my very general highlights for each country and might help you decide.

Australia

Outstanding beaches, including one that is voted top 5 in the world (Whitehaven Beach).

Vast outback spaces with scenery that you can’t find anywhere else in the world.

Unique, quirky cities with epic music scenes (that’s Melbourne by the way).

It’s MASSIVE, therefore your whole two years could be spent travelling and you might not actually see it all!

Brilliant hospitality no matter where you go, including fantastic food, hugely varied nightlife and the BEST coffee.

New Zealand

Literally gobsmacking views.

Tropics, volcanos, surf towns, vineyards, jaw dropping mountains, barely inhabited mountainous islands. I could go on and on.

A laid back vibe that even Australia can’t muster, as in practically horizontal.

The nicest people you’ll ever meet (slightly biased).

Small towns so full of life that some cities around the world would struggle to keep up (just google Queenstown for one second and you’ll see what I mean).

Yep, I’m not making that decision easy aye? Well, another important thing is how you will fare when you get there and how far your hard earned savings will get you…

Costs Of Living

The New Zealand Dollar and the Australian Dollar are slightly different, and when I write costs below, each will be in the respective currencies. Here are some conversions for context.

Australian Dollar (AUD)
1 USD = $1.40
1 EUR = $1.64
1 GBP = $1.80
1 CAD = $1.05

New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
1 USD = $1.50
1 EUR = $1.76
1 GBP = $1.93
1 CAD = $1.12

The difference between AUD and NZD may not be much but if you are transferring over large amounts, that’s when you’ll really notice that difference.

Generally speaking, for day to day things during travels, costs are quite similar between Australia and New Zealand. For example, it would be around $80 for an overnight bus journey, $1-$3 for a loaf of bread and around $10 for a beer.

Once you decide it’s time to work and you settle down in a certain town that’s where the costs start to vary. It will also depend on which town you are looking to work in/around.

For instance in NZ, if you decide to live in Auckland or Queenstown you’d be looking at an average of $200-$250 per week for your own room, usually excluding bills.

In most other areas of NZ, even cities like Wellington or Christchurch the average weekly rent cost would be slightly cheaper at $175- $200.

For Australia, if you were to live in Melbourne or Sydney (with Sydney always on the higher side of the average) you’d be looking at around $200- $250 for your own room in an inner suburb. In the CBD, it would be more around $300-$350 a room).

In areas like Bondi in Sydney you could also be looking around $300 a week for a room excluding bills.

However, most other areas along the coast, whether city or small town would be around $150-$200 a week, sometimes including bills and internet.

If you are completing your rural work and are staying in a regional area, weekly costs can be as low as $100 a week, so you can see how much it varies.

Working On Your Visa

In each country there are a few rules first which you must follow whilst on your visa, which are:

Australia

You can work for 6x months at a time with one employer in a certain location. During your 2nd year you could do another 6 months with the same employer again. The exception to this is certain rural work where you can stay longer.

New Zealand

You can work for the same employer throughout your entire one year visa. If on a 23 month visa you are meant to only work for 12x months of your visa.

Generally though you will be able to work in any industry, especially if you’ve done it before. Hospitality and tourism are big business for backpackers on Working Holiday Visas as are various trades like construction.
If you have a skill or trade from back home it is well worth looking at these DOCS to see if you need to transfer or translate anything before you come over to be able to work in that industry here.

So there are all the regular jobs you can get into, but there are also some very different experiences, like your farm work, to try, plus the weirder side like camel herder and the super fun side like a ride attendant at a theme park.

Everyone talks about how travel changes you and a big part of that will be the work you do and how you deal with any issues that arise or any bumps in the road.

You’ll find that once everything settles and you are back home that you’ll have gained serious skills for your future, even if all you did here was work in a roadhouse in the middle of the outback.

The Ideal Place For You

So which is the best one for you?! Hopefully this all gives you a bit more insight to the ins and outs of each Working Holiday Visa and some inspiration about which country may be the best place to get started for you. In all honesty though, I could write and write, and you can research and research and I know you’ll love your choice, whichever it is. Australia and New Zealand are both such incredibly special places to visit and both of them have this mad ability to render each and every backpacker who visits the inability to leave.

The post Working Holiday Visa: Australia vs. New Zealand appeared first on Welcome to Travel.

How To Make The Most Of Your Working Holiday

Lauren Bartlett — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 06:06:42 +0000

The best choice I've ever made in my life was deciding to do a Working Holiday in Australia

And I have now been away for 12 years and helped 1000s of backpackers with every travel, life advice and employment question under the sun. So, I thought I’d pass on some of that experience to the next load of backpackers (you) heading for their life-changing first year in Australia.

Funnily enough, one of the main reasons I chose Australia originally was after googling “Where is it always hot?” Yep, I know. That was mainly because I wasn’t sure if Australia also had ‘off’ seasons like other destinations might have due to monsoons or cold weather. But as I continued my research, I knew I wanted to be there whether it was hot, cold, rain or hail.

Which leads me to the first question that I get asked a lot.

What time of year should you go to Australia?

Luckily the answer to this one is simple. It’s never a bad time to come to Australia. And nope, that’s not because it’s always hot.

It is actually because it’s such a massive country. This means that there are so many different regions to head to and explore, depending on the time of year it is. On top of that, some of our cities are so epic that even in the winter they are the best location to start your travels in.

Therefore even though it may be colder in the southern states at certain times of the year (around May – September), cities like Melbourne and Sydney are still top destinations for people to start their Working Holiday Visa off in, and for good reason. With cheaper flights, more ease getting around and being home to various ‘intro weeks’, cities like these are much better to get your bearings in first, before heading off to use your hard earned money exploring other regions of this big, big country. Which in turn leads me to the next question…

How much money should I arrive with?

Ah the age old question, how much to save for your big trip!

The thing with a Working Holiday Visa, as opposed to a Visitor Visa, is that you need to take into account not just the travel side of things but also ensure you have enough money left over to set yourself up when it is time to work. For example, bond money for a room sublet, public transport to get around etc.

Saying that, you don’t want to come all this way just to dive straight into work! Especially as you don’t know where your favourite places will be when you first land. So you need to head out and explore some of the epic options first.

So let's say a perfect plan

would be taking a week to get settled in, then doing a trip up the East Coast (a MUST-DO destination that has all of Australia’s bucket list items) and then settling in and finding work afterwards. Taking this all into consideration, I’d recommend a good amount to arrive with would be around $7500AUD. That is around: 4200 GBP/4600 EUR/5250 USD

Don’t panic if this wasn’t quite what you were aiming for. This would just ensure you are in a very comfortable position to be able to travel a bit first and have a safe amount left afterwards for job hunting. Everyone is different but it is always good to have a number to aim for. It’s easier to pick a budget if you have an idea of how you want your year to be laid out, as the best part about travelling is seeing where it takes you! So…

How do I make the most out of my Working Holiday?

There are obviously 1000’s of ways to structure your year in Australia. But I firmly believe that you shouldn’t decide 100% where you will live/work or what you will do straight away.

One easy reason for this is that you haven’t lived here yet. You could read every article/blog/newspaper clipping and still not know if you’ll actually love a place as much as you expect to.

With that in mind, and after helping A LOT of people plan their time in Australia, I think this is an ideal example of how to structure your Working Holiday here:

Months 1+2: TRAVEL!
Months 3-5: Work (regional or other)
Month 6: Travel
Months 7-12: Work and live in your favourite location

Why is the first TRAVEL in capital letters, you ask?

Because I think this bit is really important.

You need to get out, explore this fantastic country and figure out where your personal favourite places are. Step outside of your comfort zone, meet other awesome backpackers, feel the pain of waking up for an early morning bus after a big night (a backpacker rite of passage), jump out of a plane, snorkel the reef, do all of the incredible things that you are currently spending all of your time researching from wherever you are right now.

By the end of a couple months on the road traversing our beautiful land, you’ll have a much better idea of where you want to settle and spend some time, get work or head back to later on in your year. Next up it’ll be time to work and this is a great opportunity to get your regional work done for your 2nd year visa, if you are wanting one of course…

Do I really need a second year?

Yes, trust me yes. To start, you don’t actually need to use your 2nd year visa directly after your first one. This means that you can complete your first year (having done your regional work) then head home and finish university or whatever the plan was and come back to Australia later on in a couple of years time when you’re ready for part 2 of your Australian adventure.
Trust me, 29yr old you having a quarter life crisis will thank you for it.

Is farm work fun to begin with? No. Is it easy? Also no. Will it be a unique experience and will you meet amazing friends for life? Yes. The last one is mainly because when you’ve been through something a little different, out of the ordinary, something a bit tough with other people, the bond is definitely stronger.

Still unsure? Well if you haven’t already decided by the end of your 2 months travelling at the start of your year that you never want to leave the glorious land down under, then I can guarantee by the time you’ve stopped and worked somewhere later on and lived a life here you won’t want to, and by then it could be too late! Check out our guide to your 88 regional days HERE for all the information on getting this done.

What's the best way to start my Working Holiday Visa?

So now you know how much to bring, when to come over, when to do what and I’ve convinced you to head into the middle of nowhere and pick avocados for 88 days. Now how to spend those first few days in Australia…

Arriving for a year on the other side of the world means there are some (admin) things you need to get out of the way (not enjoyable, but necessary). Sim card, tax number to use when you will work, bank accounts (can’t use that overseas card forever) plus just generally finding your feet and getting your head around all that weird Aussie slang. That’s where those Intro weeks come into play that I mentioned earlier. These usually include your first week accommodation, various meals (usually at great places you’d never find yourself that quickly), major activities in the city you’ve arrived in and its surroundings, plus the best part: meeting likeminded people to spend time with. The tour companies also do all of that boring admin stuff for you and give you heaps of job help and advice on top.

Alternatively,

There is definitely the option to arrive and just wing it, but you’ve got the whole year to make spontaneous decisions and if I could have arrived and had someone arrange my Tax File number for me before I’d even made it to my dorm room, I definitely would have (not so many of these packages available 12 years ago).

Not to mention being picked up from the airport and delivered directly to my bed with my brand new sim card all ready to tell everyone I’d made it. Trust me you can’t put a price on those kinds of moments after a 24hr flight.

Melbourne is a great place to start yourself off with a cheeky intro week. It also means that when you head off up the East Coast you are starting from the bottom of the country and working your way all the way to the top… Not having to backtrack down this way later on because you’ve missed out on the greatest city in the world (for 7 years anyway and permanently in my opinion), unless of course you’ve decided to come back down to work here and take advantage of our huge hospitality scene.

I'm ready, now what?!

Once the decision is made to go travelling I feel the rest is easy (ish).
Start with your finances and work out when it would be feasible to head here with a decent amount saved so you don’t have to jump directly into work.
Next up, start looking at those flights, put on alerts for dates you are looking at and when you’re ready, just go for it! While you wait for that final flight date decision, it is time for the visa. Follow this link for Working Holiday Visa information.
Finally (or firstly!) get a look at those Intro companies. They will likely assist you with all of the above before you’ve even booked their tour.
The guys at Welcome to Travel will even give you a call to run over everything over a video call from their office in Melbourne. They also offer deposit options so you can choose a tentative date and alter it later if needed for only $99!

It’s time to start the rest of your life and I can honestly say, I’ve never regretted a second.

The post How To Make The Most Of Your Working Holiday appeared first on Welcome to Travel.