We both got Working Holiday Visas while we are here in Australia. The catch is that with a work holiday visa you are eligible to work while with a tourist visa you can’t and the price comparison is not much different. We didn’t know how long we would end up being in Oz so we opted for the work holiday visa. However, we knew we wouldn’t be here for longer than 3 months so we decided not to go through all of the medical paperwork through the Australian Medical Council. It wasn’t worth it because most locum job offers want you for at least a 6 month commitment, and to get all the paperwork set up (even if you were able to find work for 3 months or less) costs $2000 ! So our priority was to actually see some of Australia and the rest of the world, not sit in Oz the whole time working. Therefore, we went down the middle by going with this working visa but it meant we couldn’t do anything with healthcare. The initial goal was just to get a quick job (hospitality or likewise) for a few weeks just to cover living/eating/travelling in Australia. We learned after a bit of work searching that December/January the job market is saturated with travelers and its actually hard to find work in the big cities. This got us a bit disheartened…..In retrospect, the money is not that important, but it would give us more piece of mind financially….
A call I received Jan 2nd re-emphasized just how random/spontaneous/exciting/interesting this trip has been so far. I missed the call and I listened to the voicemail after. It was a lady mentioning an application I had put into a hotel/resort. I could not comprehend the name of the hotel or its location, I just did not have a clue where she was calling from (it was a weird area code!). I decided to ask my aunt and cousin if they recognized the location on our way to my great aunts for a new years visit. They weren’t sure either, but assumed it was somewhere outside of Perth. Anyhow, I did not remember sending a CV anywhere like that……but knowing me I did exactly that !
I decided to wait it out and maybe trying to google some info when I got home. Unfortunately, the number called again while I was at my great aunts so I decided I should probably pick it up.
‘Hello?’
Hi Magda, this is Jill, I am calling from Yun(@*#&$IWEIF??? Hotel. How are you?
Good, how are you?
Great. You put in an application to work for us, yes?
Ummmmm….yes…..??#R”EKF???
Magda, do you know where we are located?
Ummmmm…..perhaps outside of Perth?
No Magda, we are actually in South Central Australia. (Awesome way to start a phone interview!) :P
Magda, we are actually one of the most remote places on earth. We are part of the Outback Loop, a tourist destination that is part of the Burks and Wills famous trail from South to North Australia (Adelaide to Darwin). We are a hotel on one of the stopping points of the famous loop. Do you know where that is roughly?
Uhhhhhhhhh….Alice Springs? Uluru?
No Magda, we are 1000miles southeast of Alice Springs. There is literally nothing here, we are officially in the middle of nowhere. We pay well and mostly employ backpackers such as yourself. We are the true outback experience. Let me tell you more about working for us…..
@(#*&@#*FUIHEW*UYEWR(*SCS??!?!?!?!?!?!?
The conversation went on for about 20 mins. She told me all the odds and ends of the job. I told her that Tom was with me, and I fibbed that we would definitely be in Australia for 3 months. She said Tom can come too, our room+board+ food+ flight+ transport was covered, and we made decent money/hour. If we hated it we could leave after a week and we would still come out on the + side. If we liked it, we could make good money, experience the REAL Australian outback, and have free room+board.
Hmmmmmmmmm…..let me talk to Tom……
Hmmmmm….What do you think??? LET’S DO IT!!! Let’s live in one of the most remote places on the planet…..HOLY CRAP WE SAID YES!
We decided on a start date of Jan.16th, flying out of Brisbane…..oh boy!
We had another long discussion about it and decided….why not? We can leave if we hate it and its an adventure of a lifetime!! And at least we get paid for this one, unlike Kilimanjaro!! :P
So the plan now is based on this outback job. So far we have come up with this itinerary (flexible depending on how long we can actually survive out there!):
We hang out in Sydney til roughly the 10th of January. Up to then I hope to spend more time with my aunt, visit some family North of Sydney in the Central Coast, and check out some more sites of Sydney. We fly to Gold Coast from there to visit Jill, who is no longer homeless or jobless (fantastic!). We fly out of Brisbane to Ballera (small airport outpost near the hotel). They pick us up from there and the plan is to spend a month there (IF we can do it!). When we finish we fly Moomba to Adelaide, and then to Wellington, New Zealand from there (there are flight deals). We spend about 2.5 weeks in New Zealand—In Wellington, with Tom’s friends/In an ecovillage on the south Island for about a week/and more south island adventures---hiking, skydiving??? Then we fly back to Melbourne for a few days of exploring (another flight deal) and from Melbourne>Kuala Lumpur>Chennai, India….?
Lets see how this goes…..
