Tag: Australia

A week in Sydney, a weekend in Melbourne

So, about 15 years ago I was in Australia for the first time. This time around? I am an adult. In New Zealand, I was in Auckland without a plan. I caught a bus from Auckland to Wellington and began my life as a hobbit. My first week in Australia was meant as a mix between vacation and getting things set up for my visa.

Two big things (besides a mullet)

The main goal with spending the week in Sydney was to get a bank account and a tax ID number. This I achieved within two days. That left the rest of the week for vacation!

Hostels are the way to go

My first experience with hostels was back in 2016, when I lived in Mosbach, Germany. I laid in bed for most of the day as I contemplated my life choices. They had a buffet breakfast where I tried some German ham as well as bread and I was sold. Now, nearly a decade later, I’ve stayed at plenty of hostels. Some have been amazing, others dingy. When looking for hostels in Australia, I was surprised how many 8 star and above hostels there were. I settled on one a short walk to the city and not too far from the airport. This hostel had activities, a rooftop, and a free breakfast; the free breakfast I utilized almost every day. To save money, I bought pasta and bread so I’d have food for lunch and dinner. My room had a balcony where I was lucky enough to watch the Sydney marathon!

My room was modest and the only issue I really had was finding an outlet. The pillow was a little bit on the lighter side but nothing folding it in half couldn’t solve. Showers were my least favorite part of the hostel. They didn’t have a spot where I could put my clothes easily. But for seven days, it was a great stay!

The Sydney Opera House

15 years ago I was struck by the beauty of the Sydney Opera House. 15 years ago I didn’t go inside the opera house. This trip, I did my research. If you’re under 35, you can sign up with Opera Australia and get a 15% discount on tickets. That said, it can still be pretty expensive! Luckily, I found a show that was around $90 (AUD, I think). An hour and a half of intro to opera and I was sold. There’s a nice little bar on the harbor, so stop by there if you’re early for the show!

During intermission, you can walk around the cathedral, grab food and a drink, and simply enjoy yourself. After 15 years of waiting, I finally got to see the interior and it did not disappoint. The architecture is like nothing I’ve seen before and it was a true joy to see it firsthand.

Mullet Mike

As you can see in my Sydney Opera House photo, my hair had gotten pretty long! New Zealand had me sporting long hair, mustache, and no ponytail. When I got back home, I sported the ponytail when I started attending professional events. Years before, I did a skin fade when I was in Germany. For better or worse, hair is starting to define my travel. So with that, I knew Australia might be the only chance in my life to rock a mullet. So, here it is, in it’s full glory:

A modern mullet for a modern man

Botanical Garden and State Library

Each state in Australia has its own library and garden. While originally heading for the garden, I saw a beautiful building that I quickly detoured through. Unfortunately, my photos for the Sydney state library and botanical garden are all on Instagram! Fear not, for I saved a few photos from the Melbourne state library.

A few people playing chess on the upper floor
The library in Legos

Absolutely amazing architecture and of the two state libraries I visited, Melbourne came out on top. These are places I feel like I can spend days getting lost in. Check out books, do research, read. On one of the floors, there were chess tables and people just playing; my kind of place!

A Little Rooftop here, a little rooftop there

In Sydney, I had a nice rooftop hostel. In Melbourne, an even nicer rooftop. And I have to say, the Melbourne skyline is absolutely stunning.

The trip was fairly low-key. I spent my time between wandering the city and hitting the live music scene at a few bars. The evenings were spent clubbing and drinking with friends at one of the many rooftop bars. Clubbing was a miss, where I was bored for the first time in a club. I was told later that there are clubs for 25 to 35 year old’s, which is where I should have been! Mornings were for brunches, and one of my favorites was a Korean infused croissant.

A Melbourne coffee

Getting to Adelaide

The simplest way is to fly. I however, went for the train! Sydney to Melbourne has a fairly cheap commuter train and to get to Adelaide, you can take a bus. If you want to see Australia, this is a great way to do it!

The train had a food car, so I had fun eating throughout the trip and enjoying the sights. The journey overall took about 20 hours, so if you’re going to Adelaide from Sydney, make sure you take time to rest in-between by visiting Melbourne!

And that’s it! There will be more to come in the coming months. I’m currently living and enjoying life in my quiet home in the suburbs of Adelaide. My goal is to have a lived in experience in Australia. As always, thanks for reading!

The fork in the road: Australia

I’ve heard that anything done once can be a fluke, but if you do it twice it becomes a pattern. New Zealand was supposed to be one last hurrah. It was a way to say my dreams were worth pursuing, however grand they may have seemed at the time. And now? I am currently living in Australia, in this fever dream I’m calling life.

After New Zealand

When I had left for New Zealand, I was a mess. I had a job that I sought since college, a partner, and student loans freshly paid off. But something was missing. So I left, on the chance I might find myself. And I did. I came away from the trip more confident than I ever had been. My confidence to move mountains was restored.

The Task to move mountains

Holiday working visas are no easy feat to pull off. You have the application fee, the plane ticket, and the initial months without work. Not to mention miscellaneous, unforeseen expenses. For example, if you’re tired and want to grab food after your flight. Or if your bank randomly adds foreign transaction fees to your card. If you’re doing back to back holiday working visas it can be extremely difficult.

My timeline is as follows: Pandemic -> quit job -> find work -> Pay of Student Loans -> get cavities -> New Zealand… New Zealand -> find work slowly -> start making good money -> travel last month of visa and accrue debt. Then I come back home and have 9 months to make money, which created a completely new timeline… Hop off plane -> say hi to family -> go to alumni event -> become soccer coach -> new job saving a Gala -> Finish Job -> Mini Vacation -> Job Market collapses -> become cashier -> Hop on plane. So as you can see, very little room for error. All this to be unemployed in a foreign country (at least for a couple weeks).

So as you can see, even if you are focused and know what you’re doing, you will have a period where you use the money you saved. This is especially true if you want to have a mini vacation, like I did my first week.

My Mini Vacation

New Zealand was messy. I spent two weeks in Auckland where I befriended a British person right away. This friendship pretty much sealed my fate of drinking every day (for the first couple weeks). For this trip, A week in Sydney, a weekend in Melbourne, and then a house in Adelaide. Sydney was bank account and tax I.D. (as well as a mullet) where I ate free breakfast at the hostel, made cheese sandwiches, and had pasta. My splurge was on a rooftop bar during happy hour. Melbourne? Pure vacation filled with live music, brunches, and clubbing. Did I take the train? Of course! And then a 12 hour bus ride to Adelaide. If I didn’t have the weekend, I would’ve lost my mind. And Adelaide? Settling in and getting to know my roommates.

The coming weeks

I just set up transfers with my US bank. Pro tip: do not pay international wires as they will have high fees and not the best conversation rates! Instead, get a Wise account. You could also try Revolut, although I haven’t used them. Set them up as an external transfer, similar to what you’d use for banks back home. That way, you can transfer money to Wise. Once you set up your account, you can transfer it to whatever country bank account you’re using!

My next task is to find work, which means updating my resume and getting a few licenses specific to handling alcohol and if I want to go the extra mile, a food handlers card. It involves reaching out to local recruiters for the industry I’m applying for and as an extra measure, joining local business professional networks.

Once that’s done, I can start looking into things such as run clubs and perhaps even board game cafes!

Is it worth it?

Obviously, yes. The amount of growth I will achieve on this trip is immeasurable. It’s tough to start but gets a lot easier as the visa goes on. I have my own room, with a desk, so I’m already doing a thousand times better than when I started in New Zealand! Cheers to the future and I’ll be trying to post when I get the chance!

As always, thanks for reading! If you have questions about travel, feel free to reach out! I love sharing my experiences! I’ve also expanded to medium, so I’m expecting a lot more traffic in the coming year!