3 month trip en route to a new life in Australia.

[jaffa1949]

A simple surf reply is on the whole Western Australia, but south of Perth is more likely to have more powerful surf. Sydney has lots of different influences on its surf and has alarge swell window with headlands and beach catering for every swell and wind combination somewhere, any wind except the dreaded easterly. Living in Sydney is a major expense one of the dearest cities in the world all up.
West of Adelaide and East of Perth you have great deserts and the Great Australian bight very powerful surf and home to the other great Australian Bite there is serious surf here but you need to be seriously capable.
The rest is much as dtc says the east coast north of Sydney is a surfers' mecca and they are all there except me I surf 600 kilometres south of Sydney and there are not so many backpackers etc as it is a colder clime and water surf!

BTW really be clear on what visa you arrive have, as without a work visa you will limited to just visiting and expenses will hit hard , fortunately for visitors the Aussie $ is lower than it has been for quite a while!
If you are coming seriously south of Sydney PM me

[Dantastic1985]

Hi Guys,

Thanks again for the great feed back and responses.

As it stands I am now thinking that Sydney is a massive city and I'm much more of a smaller city kinda guy. Newcastle and Wollongong is where I am hoping to end up. Alternatively if you guys know of anywhere similar/smaller in size near the coast that would also be good to look up.

At present I am planning to arrive with a years working visa and aim for a 457 sponsorship, potentially doing the 3 months agricultural work to give me another 9 months and acclimatise a little. There are some Australian recruitment fairs in the UK end of Sept so I will be speaking to some of the people there about the options.

Jaffa, how far south are you?

[jaffa1949]

About 600 kilometres south of Sydney! Six hours drive!

[drowningbitbybit]

As it stands I am now thinking that Sydney is a massive city and I'm much more of a smaller city kinda guy. Newcastle and Wollongong is where I am hoping to end up

Where are you coming from? What are you comparing it with?

Sydney is a large-ish city, but still feels like it has rural town attitudes in some respects. Wollongong feels like the middle of nowhere if you're used to a 'proper' city, or even a town. It will be quite a culture shock - don't get me wrong, the beaches are great, and the surf is brilliant but the place is... let's just say it'll be a little while yet before it hits the 21st Century

As for the temporary visa/457 plan, that'll be fine, but you might find that you need to be in the capital cities for that. There isn't a huge amount of employment away from the large cities, and there's no reason to employ a foreign backpacker (no matter what you think you are, that's what they'll think you are).
Newcastle is big enough that you'd probably be okay, but being realistic you might be forced to work in the "big" city.

[dtc]

Sydney is a large-ish city, but still feels like it has rural town attitudes in some respects. Wollongong feels like the middle of nowhere if you're used to a 'proper' city, or even a town. It will be quite a culture shock - don't get me wrong, the beaches are great, and the surf is brilliant but the place is... let's just say it'll be a little while yet before it hits the 21st Century .

My wife - and in laws - are from Wollongong and I have spent quite a bit of time there. Absolutely beautiful location, great beaches. But, otherwise you arent too far wrong. It only has 300,000 people, so really it is just a large town, not a small city by any means (although it is still Australia's 9th largest). Indeed, its really just a heap of small fishing villages joined together, people still say 'I'm from Bulli' (one of the suburbs/villages) rather than 'I'm from Wollongong' - it is almost like living in a small village with all that goes with it (my fathr in law still says 'turn right at the house where the Smiths used to live, just near where Marco had his fruit stall'). Nonetheless, if I could get a job there in my field, I would be happy to live there - great lifestyle, and I'm not particularly cultured anyway.

Newcastle has about 500,000 depending on what you counts as being 'Newcastle'. I havent spent much time in the city itself, mostly around the airport and airforce base. People there seem to like it.

Sydney (or the other capitals, other than Hobart) definitely will have more jobs. Brisbane/Gold Coast is also somewhere to look for - there are lots of tourist jobs (I think they still exist!). I guess it depends on your area of work/expertise.

As jaffa said, Australia is no longer a cheap destination. Make sure you have a look at rents (eg 'domain.com.au'), while prices for cars are much higher than overseas as well as a lot of other things. On the upside, pay is reasonably good across the board; but prices are high as well.

[Dantastic1985]

Cheers Chaps. Currently live in Nottingham. Smallish city but big enough to go un noticed. Population of around 300k.

I will bear what your saying in mind. Got a few mates living in Sydney at present so will perhaps try and speak to as many people about a job as possible in all 3 locations and see what the outcome of it all is. Ill probably spend a week at least in Sydney, checking the beach, surf and lifestyle out then maybe get up to Newcastle. If I was going to be Sydney based I have looked at manly but recently been put off by the crowd issue/hassle of commute. Any body got any experience on this?

[Dantastic1985]

PS. Occupation is sadly 'Sales'. This means there are loads of jobs available but also that a lot of people can do sales. I'm pretty good at what I do and have a decent CV/breadth of experience but I'm not sure what Oz employers look for in a candidate. This is something I will be looking into much much further.

[drowningbitbybit]

Sydney (apart from the commute) feels more like Nottingham than London, for instance. Oh, okay, I'll stretch it to say Sydney is more like Birmingham
Wollongong, on the other hand, is more like... Lowestoft
(I've nothing against Lowestoft by the way...)

The crowds will be an issue in Sydney. Sometimes like you'll not believe - think august bank holiday in Cornwall on a 30C day with swell, and you're just beginning to get a fraction of it. Fairly easy to escape with a short drive though up or down.

Sales - shouldn't be too hard to get a job in the city (more or less impossible out the city I'd imagine). There are rumblings of a crackdown on the 457 visa so best to sort that out asap although if you're young and coming from Europe I can't imagine It'll affect you.

[Dantastic1985]

Superb comparisons DBB. Thank you. I think Wollongong might not be what I am looking for after understanding that.

The crowds is an issue I think. I HATE surfing in a crowd. Im not brilliant and too bloody nice and end up getting the poor waves or none at all. Considerations needed...

Ill bear that in mind. Been looking on the jobsites and there are a few jobs relevant to my experience in Newcastle, Wollongong as well as loads in Sydney. Do you think the smaller cities would be less likely to want the hassle of a 457?

[drowningbitbybit]

I HATE surfing in a crowd. Im not brilliant and too bloody nice and end up getting the poor waves or none at all.

I'm exactly the same - much too... english

As for the 457 thing - you may well find that outside of the cities, employers are reluctant to hire anyone other than a true blue australian. Wollongong, in particular, has got a fairly large unemployment rate, and you're definitely back of the list for the employer unless you're already in the location (ie in general, they wont give you a 457 to come to them), and they'll hire a local over a blow-in everytime.

I dont mean to sound negative - its pretty easy to come to Oz and get a job and get fairly well paid, but australian cities and "the rest of australia" are two completely different things.

[Aqualife]

Hey,
unfortunately very true with the hiring of non-australians in places outside of cities in oz, also my experience. A former boss on the Sunshine Coast gave me very clear competely non-PC instructions going through applications, only Aussies, no 'funny surnames', no people with accents, no one without any Australian experience (e.g. Aussies who have lived overseas too long) and preferably locals. Sad but true.
Happened with other companies too. So I'd stick with the bigger cities to get a few Australian references/employers on your CV and then venture out.

[Dantastic1985]

Sydney It is then. So....

Manly

Bondi

Maroubra

Please feel free to fill in the gaps!

[dtc]

Depends where you work... and how much money you want to spend. No point living in Manly if you are working in Bankstown. If you are working in the south, then you can also look at Cronulla.

Bondi and Manly are the most crowded beaches especially before and after work (during the day not too bad). The crowds thin out as you head north from Manly.

Like every big city, transport is an issue. If you arent working, then I would say anywhere on the Northern beaches (Manly and northwards).

[drowningbitbybit]

Manly

Bondi

Maroubra

Manly - brilliant spot for surfing at all levels... except for the insane crowds. Good nightlife and beach lifestyle, pain in the bum commute if you work in the city. Good options to surf a relatively short drive north.

Bondi - Again, lovely wave, one of the better ones for fairly novice surfers, but you'll never have it to yourself. The level of madness there in the summer is unbelievable. Nice spot to live if you like the beach lifestyle etc, although the summer backpacker crowds can get tiresome.

Maroubra - I surf maroubra all the time, but in all honesty it's not my favourite wave. It can be very dumpy and break into a foot of water at low tide, and its quite easy to snap a board there (I speak from experience). Although not nearly as bad as Bondi, the crowds can be bad, and at maroubra pretty much everyone will be able to surf better than you. Although it's got a reputation for localism, I find it to be a fairly friendly spot, although hesitate and you won't get a second chance to catch that wave. The rent will be cheaper and its a pretty easy commute into the city.

Cronulla - inconveniently far from the city from a commuting point of view, but the standout suburb for surfing in my opinion. Far more options than most of the eastern suburbs or even the northern beaches, with a variety of beach breaks, a point break and a few reefs. A good place to live too, even if it is in the shire (australia's version of essex).

[Dantastic1985]

Thanks guys. I think your info provided has been absolute gold. I really appreciate all your experience sharing and tips. I just need to decide now what to do with my life and put the plan into action!