# a few questions from a couple canadians



## 2c-cats (Sep 25, 2009)

hey so my friend and i are both planning on traveling to Australia. we just got our passports in order and now we are planning on applying for holiday working visas. we are just wondering about a few things

- whats the best way to apply for a visa.

- will we need any shots before going

- information on health insurance

- haha generally what all do we need. this is our first time traveling so we aren't really sure


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Welcome to the forum Canuk Cats looking like you'll light up Australia and all you'll need to do when you've done some more planning on when to go is apply online - all info on eligibility, second visas, some insurance info and application guide on Working Holiday Visa (Subclass 417)

We have a healthy enough climate/lifestyles here for you not to need any shots though some things like tetanus are given to children as they grow and probably much the same in Canada I'd expect.

If you have a look at the health insurance link under the eligibility section of the immi site, you'll see a list of insureres and you can get some basic private covers for about $30/mth., the Australian Unity and NIB ones for instance and so you can compare the likes of those with travel insurance.

It'll be something of an adventure for you to embark on no doubt and there's lots of things that can make or break a long time away from home, family and friends and so good that there's a couple of you from that aspect.

One thing is the money side and so you need to plan what kind of approach you take for there's probably thousands of younger people who set off and find that their finances are rapidly eroded, especially as Sydney seems to be something of a magnet for partying and it is our most expensive city.

I gave Adam from the UK a whole heap of info re finding work, minimising taxation etc. and so have linked that thread rather than repeat all:
http://www.australiaforum.com/trave...ndly-asking-some-help-advice-few-answers.html

He is in a similar position to yourselves as you might see by his questions.

There is no rush in needing to put in for a visa as the WHVs do get granted in a matter of days usually and you have 12 months from time of granting to enter Australia and then the 12 months visa duration only commences on entry.

So take your time reading about the visa info itself, the ability to qualify for a second one and sort out your ideas on how you want to tackle it all, it making for a much easier time to plan on getting around most of Australia if you decide you could last a couple of years and take advantage of minimising taxation as mentioned in Adams thread.

Just as an example for instance, you could say
. arrive September/October to miss a winter at home and weather would be warming here.
. if you did want to settle somewhere for working six months initially for the taxation advantage, that's probably as good as time as any to see about a job in one of the major cities or somewhere like the Gold Coast in Queensland and with two of you it would make financial sense to see about sharing a flat or unit somewhere ASAP rather than sticking with hostel costs.
. after six months it would be a good time to head north towards tropical regions and do some specific work or WWOOF Australia if you wanted to qualify for the second WHV, or just to continue travelling around Australia and so miss our winter in the south.
. if you did do some specific work to qualify, you would still have time to see parts further north before it got too tropically hot and also to dodge it by heading back south as winter passed, spend summer again in southern parts perhaps working/staying somewhere again for six months and tax break before then heading north again.

Anyway, put your thinking caps on and come back with whatever other questions you have.

You'll find a lot of useful info links in quite a few of the other travel threads too.

Half yer luck as we would say.


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## 2c-cats (Sep 25, 2009)

do you know of the cheapest airline flying from alberta canada to sydney. also we are playing on coming in November, will the costs be higher due to that


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

You could have a look at US&CA Home as they fly between Vancouver and Shanghai and on to Sydney.

Booking with them is known to be a bit difficult but should be OK through the US/Canadian site.

Another possibly cheaper option would be to do an internal Chinese flight down to Hongkong and use the ferry across to Macau and then Welcome to Viva Macau! Simply Different Macau to Sydney or have a look at what Cheap flights - Jetstar Airways has beyween Hongkong to Sydney.

Either way you get a taste of the orient and might even want to stage the flights to turn what can be a long drag into a trip itself.

If you have trouble with the bookings, go to Australian Travel Agent : Best Flights Online Travel Agency Australia for they are a reputable [have used them myself] online agent [not a home office mickey mouse show either] that have in recent years acknowledged that there are some safe and relaible budget airlines in business and do bookings for them.

A lot of agents stick with the major airlines and thus costs can be higher.

And yes, November is getting towards high season as it gets colder upu your way and warmer down here, so if it's this coming November you're looking at, get your running shoes on re booking.

And if you are planning on a Sydney Xmas -NYE party time, you had better get organised real quick re accommodation if you haven't already for it may even be near impossible to get something reasonable at a reasonable price.


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## 2c-cats (Sep 25, 2009)

well we are arriving in the middle of November!!!! Very excited and getting everything in order!! we are needing hostel advice. the cheaper the better. haha


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

If it's the party type hostel like Wake-up or Base you're after you'll pay a bit more, Wake-up 2 about $35-40 I think just for a dorm bed.

Have a look at BUG - the Backpackers' Ultimate guide to budget travel in Australia [92 hostels in greater Sydney area] but beware this time of year, heading towards Xmas and NY there'll be a lot of flea bitten dives that could spring up just for the peak party time.

A reasonable area where a lot of hostels are centred is up around the Central Railway Station, and on the fist page of BUG Hostel Reviews for City/SurreyHills is The Big Hostel that is not supposed to be too bad, still lively but cheaper and over the back of the Railway Station is Alfred Park, one of the cheapest and not a party place but good value.

Some old pubs like the Mount Batten Hotel, P2.[well located] have hostel accommodation and if you want cheap beds, check out a few for they have 8-12 bed dorms.

If you're thinking Sydney for the NYE fireworks, you had just better take whatever is available if there is anything.


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## eford33 (Sep 28, 2009)

Have you booked your flights yet? I am from Canada as well and i fly with Air New Zealand. There a great airline. Im looking into booking flights right now and ANZ has some greats deal on right now. Check it out if you havent booked. Another good option is fly WJ to Hawaii and from there fly with Jet Star ( aussie airline) I flew that way comeing home and it was really cheap. The only issuse is they only allow you to have one checked bag.

Good Luck and Have fun!!


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## 2c-cats (Sep 25, 2009)

hey so i was just curious if i need to open a bank account in australia or if i can just cash my cheques. if i do need a bank account which one should i chose.


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## bmk (Oct 29, 2009)

hey there 
and consult the austrillian embassy they will tell you in the correct way

i hope if you have make a program to go visit Australia you will be having alo9ts of fun and lots of memorable events that will ends long time have a joy 


cheers


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

You'll not get much joy from the Australian embassy re banking.

We have four major national banks,
ANZ, Commonwealth, National, and Westpac, all much of a muchness re services and fees.
ANZ - Travel and foreign exchange - Foreign Currency Rates & Currency Converter have a facility for opening an account before you leave Canada and I'm not sure but think you'd be able to deposit money into the account before you leave and then on arrival here you head into a branch [nominate main branch in Sydney] flash your passport for ID and you should be able to pick up your card and be right for doing transactions.
If you need to nominate an address, just use whatever hostel you're going to select for initial nights.
You can also open an account on arrival if you want to do it that way and choose any of the four.

By cashing cheques, I assume you're referring to travellers cheques are you?
If you open an account and transfer your money in, you'd not need to use TCs and the exchange rate you'll get by transferring money in will be better than with TCs, so if you haven't got them yet, think about forgetting them.

They ae still useable in that major stores should not have a problem in cashing them but some people may be a little non-plussed and may have not ever seen one for they are a thing of the past.

Have a chat with your home bank too and ask if they have an affiliation with any of the Australian banks for there can be some sweet deals.
But the other thing you can consider is if you have a credit card with a Canadian Bank and another way of managing your money can be to have some money left in that and then you can use your credit card for purchases and a debit card of your home bank for cash withdrawals here, exchange rate and fees likely to be about the same, 2-3%.

But check how they structure fees for the 2-3% will usually apply to a nominal withdrawal of say $500 but because they may calculate it like $5 + 1-2%, if you take out just $100 you'll pay $6-7 or 6-7%
If you do that five times, it'll be $30-35 for $500 instead of $10-15 for a once off.
That's $20 less in your pocket!

But yep, seeing as you'll hopefully be working on a WHV, still get an Aussie bank account to have wages paid into.


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