Working Holiday Visa - the lowdown

I've had a lot of people back in the UK ask me about the Australian working holiday visa, what it is, what kind of work you can do out here, and whether it's worthwhile doing it. The great thing about a working holiday visa is that you can pretty much make your experience in Australia whatever you want it to be and everybody's experience differs slightly depending on where they have lived, worked and travelled during their time in the country.

A working holiday visa allows you to legally live and work in Australia for one year. The main purpose of this visa is to allow you to save and fund your travels further, which is pretty awesome. You can work for any one company for up to 6 months, and once the 6 months is up you have to find work at a different company. Australia is a brilliant country to save in as it has one of the highest minimum wages in the world at $17.70 p/h, but I've never worked a job that paid me less than $20.

The visa is pretty straightforward to obtain so long as you've been well behaved in life and have no criminal convictions that will hinder your application. You can do it yourself from the Australian government website, or if you're like me and leave it until completely the last minute you can pay an additional fee and get a company to do it for you. I bought mine from STA travel, it took 2 weeks to be accepted and cost me less than £250.

Now lets talk jobs. I've done so many jobs since I've been here. I started with temp casual work working a stall selling kids modelling clay at events and festivals, I worked three weeks at a cafe before I quit, I've done bar work, and I've office temped. Although I enjoyed all of my roles for different reasons, office temping has been by far the best. It's decent hours, decent pay, and I've had nothing but positive experiences with every temp assignment I've worked. The people have been helpful and welcoming, it's been great exposure to different office environments across various industries, and I've learnt loads of new skills. I fully recommend it to anybody with any office or administration experience.

Before I came to Australia I met a few people in Asia who had managed to secure roles in the industries that they worked in back home. When I first arrived I was very keen to remain working in media and slogged pretty hard on applications and made a good few phone calls to various places. Whilst I did have some very positive conversations, none of them were willing to take me on whilst I was on a working holiday visa. You have to understand that big companies have to play by the rules, and it doesn't benefit them to take on a new recruit, train them, and only get a good 4 months from them before having to let them go. Now, if you know somebody in Australia that can set you up with a sweet deal, have a lot of contacts and connections, or are willing to accept a sponsorship visa early on into your working holiday visa, then that's great, but the chances are you're not going to be able to work within the same industry that you did at home and you have to be okay with that. I knew I was only going to be here temporarily and so took this opportunity to work casual jobs and enjoy the variety of work I was offered from my agency all whilst keeping in mind my main goal of save save save so that I can get out and explore this big beautiful country.

5 minutes down the road from my place in Melbourne

The two big players for settling down and finding work in are Melbourne and Sydney. When you get here, you'll meet a lot of people that love Sydney but hate Melbourne, or love Melbourne and hate Sydney. I've yet to meet somebody who loves both. They are both amazing cities for different reasons. Melbourne is full of street art, amazing cafes, culture, bars and live music venues tucked in alleyways. The weather is erratic and it can get a lot cooler here. When I arrived in September it was freezing, I had to buy a coat and honestly I felt that I'd made a terrible mistake. Read about my first experiences of Melbourne here. The summer gets hot, hot, hot. It reached 38 degrees on Christmas day. Sydney is full of iconic landmarks (Hello Sydney Opera House and Darling Harbour!), beautiful beaches, amazing swimming pools integrated into the landscape that overlook the ocean, surfers, free barbecues by the beach and overall the weather is much better. Both of them have an abundance of work. You'd have to weigh up the pros and cons after visiting both, and if I could offer one piece of advice it would be to see as much of Australia as possible before settling down in one place, or at least seeing both of these cities before deciding on one. If you're coming straight to Australia then I would really advise coming with a decent amount of funds behind you so that you can take time to decide what you like. I came to Melbourne straight from backpacking South East Asia for 3 and a half months so my funds were low, but if I could go back and change one thing it would be to see both places before deciding on one.

One of the many stunning views from the Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach walk in Sydney 

Now, this post is getting pretty long so I'm going to wrap it up with a short answer. If you want to come and travel, and you want to work somewhere that allows you to extend your travel, or stay in Australia for an extended period of time so that you can see as much of it as possible, then get a working holiday visa. For me, on the whole, it's been an incredible experience. It's been tough at times, it's been challenging, it's been interesting, it's been amazing and wonderful and definitely something that I'll remember for the rest of my life. 

Turbulence

How long do you stick something out for before you give up or decide that you need to try something new? When do you decide that enough is enough? Where do you draw the line? How much are you willing to put up with? These were all the questions that ran through my head and went unanswered for weeks and weeks when I arrived in Australia. Melbourne muddied my fresh expectations of a laid-back, sunny life down under with a cold and windy spring that locals assured me was the longest spell of cold weather they had experienced in years. Not what you want to hear when you've arrived from South East Asia with not much in your backpack but bikinis, denim shorts, crop tops and sandals. My first purchase in Australia was a coat.

It wasn't just the weather. I massively underestimated how difficult it is to land yourself in the midst of a new, foreign environment, completely unprepared, and start a brand new life from scratch. I knew nobody in Melbourne, I had no job interviews or flat viewings lined up, I came straight off a flight from Bangkok after 3 and a half months of trekking through jungles, exploring caves and balmy beaches, meditating, and eating all three meals for less than £5 a day. Financially, Australia is a shock that nobody can quite prepare you for. A $16 salad was a painful reminder that I needed to find a job as soon as possible.

We lived in a hostel for over a month. We moved 4 times in less than 2 months. I had to buy a whole new wardrobe from scratch, only to have $400 worth of clothes stolen. When I wasn't job-hunting, I was flat-hunting, and when I wasn't hunting I was getting deeper into a state of worry and anxiety that made me feel utterly lost. I never expected to feel that way when I was living my dream and pursuing what I had worked and saved for for years. I want to travel. I want to see as much of the world as I possibly can. I didn't want want to give all of that up, so I kept going, I kept trying.

When I read travel blogs and look at travel pages and instagrams, they only focus on the positive aspects, the freeing adventure. Whilst it's true that travel is amazing for the most part, I really feel that it's important for me to share the difficulties because it's such an important part of my story. I can only do it now that I am much happier and more settled so that I can write about my experience with some decent perspective, and not in one angry rant (which is pretty much all I did for a good couple of minutes every time somebody asked me how I was enjoying Australia. Sorry to those that were on the receiving end.) It also shows that dreams don't always turn out the way that you expected or like the picture that you had in your head. Once that shatters, what are you going to do? I came to Australia with all these expectations of what I thought it should be like and of what I wanted it to be like. The reality was completely different. Once I accepted that, I could mould the situation and make it work for me.

Things got better. Everything seemed to come at the same time, I got decent work, we found a nice place and moved in immediately. Summer (finally) came, bringing a 38 degree day over Christmas. I've started saving again, and the gnawing anxiety has subsided. I keep having to remind myself that I won't be here forever, that this is just a temporary situation. It took us so long to settle I'm even more determined to make the most of the remainder of my time in Melbourne, and enjoy everything that this city has to offer <3

Travelling space

Ever since we arrived in Australia I've been craving my own space. Three and a half months of hostel hopping had worn me out and although we will travel Australia later on in the year, our first port of call is to find work, settle and save as much as we can. As soon as the idea of work embedded my thoughts my mind shifted. Hostels didn't seem so appealing. I couldn't wait to find work, find a house share and create my own space to live a new life in. Unfortunately it didn't dawn on me that building a completely new life pretty much from scratch takes time. Searching for all of these things at once alongside the personal admin that comes with them (phone number, bank account, generally becoming a person again) is a lengthy process. In the meantime I had to live in a hostel.

Unlike hostels in South East Asia, the majority of people are here on a working holiday visa and this brings a mix of people who are working and living long-term at the hostel or looking for work and getting settled alongside those who are travelling. This made living at the hostel great fun and a huge pain in equal measures. There were a lot of pros; you make a huge amount of friends, are welcomed into a community of like minded people which gives you a good base network in a new city, you pick up a lot of tips and helpful information from your new friends and also have a lot of fun, cheap nights out. Then there are the cons; sharing a small kitchen and cooking a meal with around 15 other people simultaneously, all of whom are cooking a completely different meal (and there's never any forks), sharing a bedroom with 6 other people all with different routines, when you have to get up at 6am for work the next day (especially on a weekend), not having any room to empty out your bag and just generally not having any space.

When I was backpacking South East Asia, none of these things bothered me. Travelling is about a sense of freedom, being wild and spontaneous, not living by routine but on whim, choosing to do whatever you want whenever you want to. Hostels cultivate the perfect environment for this. However, as soon as you have to work, you want to create a routine that sits alongside it. I wanted stability and comfort. I wanted to empty my bag and hang all of my clothes up. I wanted a space to write and blog with nobody else around. When your time is more limited, you seize it, direct it and make the most of it.

After three weeks we found a short-term lease in an apartment in the C.B.D. As soon as I moved in it was a huge breath of fresh air. I felt so much more relaxed. One of the greatest things about travelling (and about anything really) is that everything is always temporary. You can change anything that you want to, and if something isn't working out I need to remember that in time and with a little work and in time it will change. In another three weeks we need to move again! House-hunting is next on the list!

Grace xo  

Hey Melbourne!

Well, here I am, I made it! All the way over to the other side of the world in one 9 hour overnight flight from Bangkok. We boarded the plane in the humid sticky Bangkok heat and arrived in Melbourne early Wednesday morning, greeted with sunshine and much cooler temperatures, which gradually became colder as the day went on. I had to go out and buy a coat! I'm literally starting from scratch coming from South East Asia with nothing in my bag but flip flops, bikinis, crop tops and vibrant patterned pants. Not an ideal wardrobe for a city in the beginnings of Spring.

The first few days were very full on sorting out Australian phone numbers, bank accounts and tax file numbers. You can't do anything without an Australian phone number, not even open an bank account, so this should be the first thing on your list when you arrive. Since then I've been applying for jobs constantly. At the moment I'm staying in a hostel but I really need to get a flat soon as it works out to be pretty much the same price per week to rent a room in a flat anyway (madness!) It's a little overwhelming thinking of this on top of searching for a job and trying to re-organise all of my stuff right now. One step at a time, I'll get there. I just need to keep telling myself that and not expect everything to come at once. 

Life admin aside, Melbourne is such a cool place. The first day here was such a breath of fresh air, everybody is so friendly and wants to have a chat with you. Obviously there's no language barrier here which helps, of course, but even strangers will want to have a chat and give you tips on where to go. The first evening here we walked around the central business district and I felt so excited and ready, it's a feeling I get when something big is about to happen. The city seemed so alive and welcoming and it is an amazing feeling knowing I have so many new places to explore and more time to do so. On Saturday we checked out Hosier Lane which is full of graffiti, tags and street art. As soon as you turn into it BAM! it's like entering a whole new vibrant world. It's also an instagram lovers dream for good shots! The art changes constantly which I love, there will always be something new to see like a real outdoor public gallery. Art is for everybody to enjoy. Then we ate at a place called Movida Next Door which did very tasty reasonably priced Spanish tapas. The oysters were great and I also tried a dish called Pulpo which is grilled octopus. Melbourne is a foodies dream with so many great places to eat. 

I know it will take a good few weeks to get everything sort sorted and get myself fully settled but I can't wait to make a home here. Melbourne has been voted the most livable city in the world for a past few years and so many aspects of it remind me of my home town Manchester ❤ All I need now is for the weather to warm up. Bring on Summer! 

Bikes, buses and the Hai Van Pass

In South East Asia no space is left unfilled. The streets are lined with markets selling food by day and souveniers by night. The roads are a hive of activity of scooters weaving in and out of coaches and taxis. Fold-out seats in minivans and additional plastic stools in restaurants are commonplace. Hanoi fascinated me, it was an enchanting maze of multiple storey townhouses where fairylights and lanterns lead the way to hidden cafes. Every nook and cranny is utilised into a shop, a booking office, a street food stall.

Public transport is a less romantic scene. Night buses are a cheap and popular way to travel around Vietnam; two floors of fold out seats with a slot to cram your feet into and a blanket to comfort you through the night as the bus thunders down the roads. I've heard stories of locals cramming into the aisles and sleeping on the floor although I haven't experienced this yet. Even though the buses are cheap and easy, for real freedom and independence most backpackers choose to travel Vietnam by bike. 

Bikes are everywhere. They are cheap to buy, easy to obtain and efficient to drive on the busy roads. When we arrived in Hanoi I didn't feel confident enough to tackle the chaotic traffic on a scooter alone. However, the lure of the popular Hai Van pass motivated me to build up the courage to learn so after a few shaky lessons and around Hue I rented my own scooter ready for the ride to Hoi An. 

Vietnam is such a beautiful country and you miss all of the scenery on night buses, but by bike you are surrounded by it and can stop at any point to take it all in. I pulled over so many times to take photos and I would have stopped more but I forced myself to drive on and enjoy the moment. 

If you really want to do Hai Van pass by scooter but don't feel confident enough to drive yourself then there are plenty of options available. Easy rider is the most popular, you can jump on the back of a scooter with a rider who works for the company and they strap your bags to the back. Family rider is also another option and you can make a full day out of it stopping at the various sights and tourist attractions along the way, like Elephant falls and Marble Mountain. As soon as you arrive in Hue you'll be pretty much inundated with offers, but like anywhere in the world where there's a high demand there are also elaborate scams so stay safe, do your research and don't feel pressurised to give anybody any money on the spot. 

If you still want to ride Hai Van pass on your own scooter and you're not that experienced at riding, I would rent out a scooter the day/a few days before and go for some practise drives. I'm am a VERY nervous driver at home and I never would have thought I would be able to drive a scooter with ease. Hue was a good place to practise and we found some quiet roads for me to get the grips with the basics. The roads on Hai Van pass are smooth and there are no ridiculous hills, although there are a few sharp turns but nothing too difficult. Most companies send your bags down to the hostel/hotel you are staying in as well so you don't have to worry about the additional weight. 

If you're still undecided then take this one last thing into consideration. The drive from Hue to Hoi An on total took around 4 hours but took us 6 as we stopped off a few times. I would say only roughly 40 minutes of this is the actual Hai Van pass. Once you get into De Nang (a coastal town before Hoi An) you're in the midst of some extremely busy Vietnamese traffic. It's not on the same level as Hanoi and the roads are fine, and I can get pretty nervous and found it manageable, so if you want to drive it yourself then I would say do it, be bold, be brave, be safe of course, wear a helmet and whatever you choose just enjoy the ride! 

Exploring North Vietnam

After a long and languorous week in Luang Prabang my senses were awoken with a start when we arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam. The capital is loud, hot and hectic with the craziest traffic I have ever seen! There's a consistent flow of scooters from every corner and the streets are packed with cafes, restaurants and markets. It has actually been really refreshing to be back in an exciting city with so much going on and I have rapidly fallen in love with Hanoi and all of it's hidden gems. However, a few days in any major city can be pretty intense and I was longing to stretch my legs somewhere, so we booked a trek among the rice padis in Sapa.

Sapa is quite far north of Hanoi so we had to get a night bus for the majority of the journey. I've been on sleeper trains before so expected a similar experience but it was much more cramped and there was a huge thunder storm all through the night. Lashing rain and flashes of lightning made it difficult to sleep so when we did arrive at Sapa town I was too tired to be enthusiastic about any trekking. However, once we arrived at the rice padis and the hills and misty mountains I was in awe. Thailand has beautiful beaches and the Laos landscapes were stunning but this was so peaceful. The first day of trekking was overcast which was perfect for me as I love landscapes shrouded in mist and cloud, the scenes were so otherworldly.

The first day of the trek was tough going climbig heady heights to gain better views of the rice padis and waterfalls. We trekked all morning for hours ending up in a village where local H'mong tribes live. As well as a tour guide leading the way we also had a group of women from the village helping us along the trek as some of the paths were slippy from the rain. Once we stopped at the village we were guided to sit down outside a school which was closed due to the holidays. The women then unloaded the contents of their bags to reveal the usual tourist "souveniers", embroidered bags, cushion covers and metal bracelets that you can get almost anywhere in South East Asia. We all saw it coming, however I was not prepared for how much we were all pressured into buying something. Usually after a few firm "no thank you's" sellers back off, but these women used guilt and the fact that we were in a secluded area to their advantage. Unfortunately no matter how careful you are out here there will come a time that you are caught out, and you just can't beat yourself up about it or let it ruin the experience.

After two days of trekking Sapa we had a one day break before heading out to Ha Long bay, one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Castaways is one really popular excursion for most backpackers and I've heard that it can get pretty wild. We chose to do a cruise through our hostel Hanoi Rocks. Both offer a really fun way to see the bay and it's a great way to meet other backpackers, as well as staying on a private island overnight. Despite traveling during low season we still passed beaches overcrowded with tourists and locals on holiday, so the fact that we had a private beach alone made doing to tour worthwhile.  

The majority of backpackers that I meet light up when they speak about Vietnam and after spending only one week here its easy to see why. Hanoi doesn't have the same suffocating feel about it as other major cities and the landscape so far has been fantastic, filmic. Our next stop will be a Phong Nha national park, but not until we've spent another few days exploring Hanoi for my 26th birthday!

Grace xo

Pai

Pai is a small town a few hours drive away from Chaing Mai. We got a bus which we arranged with our hostel in Chaing Mai, which cost 250 Thai Baht. Some people do hire scooters and tackle the drive that way. The drive is a good 4 hours and the road is a myriad of twists and turns so I'd take this into consideration beforehand. 

As soon as you arrive in Pai you immediatly get a sense of how chill and relaxed it is. It's surrounded by beautiful lush green hills and the streets are lively and active but not crazy busy like Bangkok. The main streets are full of cafes, taxi ranks and tour guide stands and at night they comes alive with restaurants and bars. There are a lot of live music sets in most of the bars which I loved (Yellow Sun and Boom seem to be the most popular). There are also lots of stalls selling jewellery, clothes, art work and street food.

WHERE WE STAYED 

We stayed at a hostel for one night called Circus (or The Circus Hostel Pai) which we heard a lot of mixed reviews about. They do free yoga most days and they also offer circus lessons. The idea is you go and take the opportunity to practise Circus tricks and there are people around to teach you, but when we got there there was a lot of equipment like hula hoops and juggling batons as well as a tight rope strap but there were no scheduled lessons, it was basically pick what you want to try and give it a good go.

Most people are just hanging out with each other or alone reading, chilling and doing thier own thing. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. There is also an amazing infinity pool with beautiful views of the hills. 

We had a great time in the day just hanging out and trying new things, but night time was where I struggled. The dorms are all basic huts, which is fine, but you have to walk to the bathroom and showers which are in separate huts and the amount of insects that are around made this unbearable for me. They were everywhere!! On the floor, in the toilet, in the sink! Argh!

I would describe my stay at Circus as an experience. It's ideal if you want to try something new and different. (And if you can put up with the amount of insects that are around. And toads. I saw two toads.)

For our final two nights we stayed in a hostel called Common Grounds, which was brilliant! A few people we met in Chaing Mai were staying there but we found everybody so friendly including the staff. They also have different activities on every night like quizzes, pool and beer pong and they made everybody feel involved and welcome. I was really sad to leave! 

WHAT WE DID 

Like most places in Thailand one the of best ways of getting around is by scooter. We rented one for just a day and visited two waterfalls and the big white Buddha. The drives were beautiful and it's one of the best ways of seeing Pai. Most places are easy to find. If you don't feel confident on a scooter, you can ask the place you hire from for a quick lesson, but these can be very hit and miss so it would be better to try and find somebody you meet in a hostel to teach you (if they can drive well!)

We also did an organised day tour which covers Lod cave, a popular Pai viewpoint, some natural hot springs and a place called Canyon which also gives amazing views. It was a full day so if you only have one or two days in Pai then I'd give this a miss and rent a scooter instead to explore at your own will but if you have a bit longer then definitely do this tour. The Cave was amazing, full of natural wonders and going inside was both eerie and exciting. Canyon gives brilliant views of Pai so ending the day there was perfect but you have to be prepared to navigate some narrow paths and do a little bit of clamoring and climbing. It's well worth it. 

WHAT WE ATE 

Pai is pretty much one of the only places in Thailand where it's acceptable to get Western food because they do it so well. There's plenty of burger places but the best one by far is called Burger Queen. They do a good few vegetarian options and you can also order it as takeout, which we did at our hostel Common Grounds.

There was a bit of hype around Lasagne from one of the street stalls. The best is called something like "The best world famous Pai lasagne", I never got around to trying it but if you love Italian food then hunt this stall down. 

They also do amazing crepes in big banana leaves ❤

If you are travelling Thailand and find yourself in Chaing Mai or even just in the North try to set aside a few days to visit Pai. It's been my favourite place so far, I loved everything about it, especially the beautiful surroundings and relaxed atmosphere. Travelling can get pretty hectic so if you want a few days of chill downtime then Pai is the place to go. 

Grace xo