Author Topic: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice  (Read 20445 times)

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Offline Halcyon

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #25 on: August 03, 2017, 07:23:16 am »
If you just type "Sydney" into Google maps, you'll see just how large an area the Sydney basin is. It extends over 70 kilometers west past Springwood in the Blue Mountains, 58km north-west to Richmond, as far north as Palm Beach and south-west to Camden/Campbelltown.

I've lost count of the number of people who say they are stopping over in Sydney for a day and want to drop by the lab and meet me. Err, not really practical!

People don't realise how big "Sydney" really is. Line of sight from the Sydney CBD to your office is almost 30km. That's almost 40km (~45 minutes) by car or 1 hour or more by bus/train and that's if you're already in the city. If you're at the airport, add 20-25 minutes to that.

If you want to drive from the Sydney CBD to outer west of Sydney, it'll take about 1hr 20mins without traffic and expect in excess of 2 hours in peak hour.
 
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Offline ^_^Topic starter

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #26 on: August 03, 2017, 09:33:49 am »
Why go to Sydney?

I guess you're really asking why go to Australia not US :)
The most truthful answer would be intuition.

It's also connected to the opportunity I had for this special graduate visa to AU (one should look out for such signs in life ;D).
As for US we were also given a talk about Ph.D. programme there, but it did not sound well financially (plus it was a big time-commitment).
What I've also heard through friends is that you work a lot there and you don't really have the time to spend the money you make.

Nevertheless, US is next on the list if it doesn't work out! (but I hope it will  :))

Everything there is either vicious or poisonous

The visa-guy said only one guy of all the people they sent there was bitten by widow spider and he was allright ;)

Best wishes for your move.

Thank you!

Steer DEAR CLEAR of the USA. I'm headed to Germany as soon as I can.

In Germany you really need to speak their language to socialize and live here.

My only suggestion for moving to Australia is have money, and lots of it. I've heard stuff gets real expensive there.

That's why job-looking priority :)

Find a direct engineering contact, don't go through Human Resources.

Yeah, I know. I once applied to Texas Instruments in Germany and had a HR-nightmare-through-Skype-talk.
They would ask stuff like how do I feel about other religions or give me stories and ask "what would you do?".
I guess they needed sheep, not a specialist ;)

I won't lie and say it's going to be easy. Full time jobs will almost always have preference toward permanent residents.
Your best bet is to look for a contract or fixed term role.

I was also told that if I liked it there and wanted to stay, I'd need to find a sponsor employer.
Basically a company that would involve itself in visa process.

Where in Sydney are you going to be living? Transport to and from places is probably something you want to think about.
[...]
If you intend on using public transport (Train, Bus or Tram)

The visa-guy said about 15min by train to the center. I don't know how true is that.
He said I should just get the monthly public transport ticket and it'll be allright.

If you plan on driving, you can use your international driving licence for up to 3 months.

Getting my own car is out of option (I'm donating the one I have now to dad ;D).
Car rental you mentioned sounds better, though, but I'd wait until I settle a bit.
Left-side driving sounds stessful atm!

A bank account is probably something you want to sort out sooner rather than later.

Actually, that'd gonna be one of the first things I do.
I was advised to bring money in cash and first working day go to the bank and load it all up on the account.

Above all else, enjoy Sydney, it's expensive, but it's one of the best cities in the world.

Thanks, I will!

It's a HUGE country with a lifetime worth of things to see, do and places to visit (add Tasmania to your bucket list, it's absolutely beautiful).

One of the reasons I wanted to live there!
It just sounds super exciting (lots and lots of land and only "few" cities where people are gathered).
One of my TODO things is see the night's sky in the outback.
Tasmania added!  ^-^

good for you for taking a big risk in trying a new life!  I hope you find all you are looking for!

Thank you!
I believe that stepping out hard of your comfort zone and trying the unknown is one of the greatest ways to grow.
After doing something huge like this, one will just be unstoppable.
 

Online mikeselectricstuff

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #27 on: August 03, 2017, 09:49:07 am »
I'm allowed to take 30kg and myself (74kg) only.
Why not ship other stuff ?
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Offline Halcyon

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #28 on: August 03, 2017, 09:59:20 am »
Where in Sydney are you going to be living? Transport to and from places is probably something you want to think about.
[...]
If you intend on using public transport (Train, Bus or Tram)

The visa-guy said about 15min by train to the center. I don't know how true is that.
He said I should just get the monthly public transport ticket and it'll be allright.

They don't exist any more, everything is via Opal card. However if you complete 8 trips in a week, the rest of that week is half-price. (In other words to/from work Monday-Thursday, any trips made Friday-Sunday are discounted by 50%).

A bank account is probably something you want to sort out sooner rather than later.

Actually, that'd gonna be one of the first things I do.
I was advised to bring money in cash and first working day go to the bank and load it all up on the account.

You might not be able to access it right away so you may need to take that into consideration. Ask the bank how long it will take to receive your debit card (they are all printed and prepared at a secure central printing facility).

good for you for taking a big risk in trying a new life!  I hope you find all you are looking for!

Thank you!
I believe that stepping out hard of your comfort zone and trying the unknown is one of the greatest ways to grow.
After doing something huge like this, one will just be unstoppable.

Good attitude  :-+

"Comfort zone" gets boring after a while.
 
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Online mikeselectricstuff

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #29 on: August 03, 2017, 10:05:34 am »


The visa-guy said about 15min by train to the center. I don't know how true is that.


So you're moving to the other side of the world and can't be bothered to do some research on Google maps and the local public transport website ?  :palm:
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Online mikeselectricstuff

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #30 on: August 03, 2017, 10:21:15 am »
Car rental you mentioned sounds better, though, but I'd wait until I settle a bit.
Many years ago in Sydney there was a place called "rent a bomb" that did long-term rentals of older cars - no idea if they're still around, but suspect at least they may have changed their name...
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Online vk6zgo

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #31 on: August 03, 2017, 11:14:07 am »


The visa-guy said about 15min by train to the center. I don't know how true is that.


So you're moving to the other side of the world and can't be bothered to do some research on Google maps and the local public transport website ?  :palm:
The OP has plenty of company, then.
Back in the days of the "Ten Pound Poms", locals marvelled about how people would fail to do the most basic research, & then whinge that things weren't like "Back Home".
 
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Offline ^_^Topic starter

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #32 on: August 03, 2017, 11:41:24 am »
Why not ship other stuff ?

Shipping lab-stuff just doesn't make sense.
As for the rest, sure!
Though, I'm not even sure what would that be. More clothes?  ;D

So you're moving to the other side of the world and can't be bothered to do some research on Google maps and the local public transport website ?  :palm:

I don't think transport is going to be such a problem.
Besides, this kinds of things are easily solved by talking to local people :)

I'm researching what I feel is most important, though!

locals marvelled about how people would fail to do the most basic research, & then whinge that things weren't like "Back Home".

Haha!
Well, if you are moving to change your life isn't the new place home?
If you drop the idea of "past home", then there is no problem ;)
 

Offline Ampera

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #33 on: August 03, 2017, 12:00:00 pm »
Steer DEAR CLEAR of the USA. I'm headed to Germany as soon as I can.

In Germany you really need to speak their language to socialize and live here.



Of course I do. I have some basics down that I've known since I was little. At this point it's more a matter of getting more advanced grammar down and mostly vocabulary.
I forget who I am sometimes, but then I remember that it's probably not worth remembering.
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Offline ^_^Topic starter

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #34 on: August 03, 2017, 12:03:14 pm »
They don't exist any more, everything is via Opal card. However if you complete 8 trips in a week, the rest of that week is half-price. (In other words to/from work Monday-Thursday, any trips made Friday-Sunday are discounted by 50%).

Ah, I think I might have used wrong term then ("montly") ;)
I see the price of Opal card is capped per day/week etc, so it overlaps with what I was told. I think the guy is up-to-date.
I'd still call it a train ticket, though!
 

Offline VK3DRB

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #35 on: August 03, 2017, 12:03:25 pm »
Australia is great place and Melbourne is the world's most liveable city. That is why it is full of immigrants. Everyone wants to live here. But it is expensive.

Three tips:

1. If you smoke, better quit before getting on the plane. A pack of smokes will set you back around $35. Even amongst young people, smokers are considered losers. In Victoria, it is illegal to smoke in restaurants, and as of late you are not allowed to smoke outside restaurants either. Even smoking in public is frowned upon.

2. Learn the vernacular here. If your don't know what "fair dinkum" means, look it up. We have a lot of slang here. http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html

3. Don't watch Wolf Creek or Wolf Creek 2. It is fantasy - sort of. However I loved the opening scene in Wolf Creek 2 with the bloke gets pulled over by the cops for speeding. Watched that scene about 20 times. Great Aussie drama. ;D
 
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Offline Halcyon

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #36 on: August 03, 2017, 12:14:51 pm »
If you smoke, better quit before getting on the plane. A pack of smokes will set you back around $35. Even amongst young people, smokers are considered losers. In Victoria, it is illegal to smoke in restaurants, and as of late you are not allowed to smoke outside restaurants either. Even smoking in public is frowned upon.

Ah good point! I don't smoke so it wasn't even a consideration.

Same sort of laws apply in NSW, smoking inside any building is almost always prohibited (except if it is a designated smoking area). Smoking within 4 metres of an entry or exit to a "hospitality venue" is illegal and might result in a $300 fine. All dining areas (whether indoors or outdoors) are smoke-free.

For those who like stats, the current (as of 2016) adult smoking rates in the state of NSW is about 15% of the population.





Learn the vernacular here. If your don't know what "fair dinkum" means, look it up. We have a lot of slang here.

This 'series' should help  :-DD


« Last Edit: August 03, 2017, 12:18:06 pm by Halcyon »
 
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Offline ^_^Topic starter

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #37 on: August 03, 2017, 12:28:37 pm »
Even amongst young people, smokers are considered losers.

And that's how I feel!
 
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Offline cdev

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #38 on: August 06, 2017, 03:33:16 am »
In the US, including the Bay Area there is a "Rent a heap, cheap" chain/franchise. 

A motor scooter is a great way to get around in an urban area where parking is scarce and expensive.


Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on 2017-08-03, 04:21:15>Quote from: ^_^ on 2017-08-03, 03:33:49
Car rental you mentioned sounds better, though, but I'd wait until I settle a bit.
Many years ago in Sydney there was a place called "rent a bomb" that did long-term rentals of older cars - no idea if they're still around, but suspect at least they may have changed their name...
"What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."
 
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Offline cdev

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #39 on: August 06, 2017, 04:07:33 am »






This lingo reminds me a great deal of Boont Ling, a local language spoken in the Anderson Valley of Northern California..
"What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."
 

Offline TerraHertz

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #40 on: August 06, 2017, 06:45:46 am »
"Lambington" Oh God.

I just want to state, for anyone wondering, that those Indian skits are totally bullshit. Funny but.

Hey, person whose name is a face, you mentioned wanting to see the night sky from the outback. (Which is indeed wonderful.) Does this mean you like wilderness, or are an amateur astronomer?

Anyway, another good thing about Sydney is the wide variety of beautiful landscapes within easy traveling distance from the city. To the East there's the coast, with fine beaches both in Sydney and up and down the coast. Royal National Park to the Sth is quick to get to and has some great day walks. To the West over the mountains there's the Kanangra-Boyd wilderness, and further South the Budawang National Park, then the Snowy Mountains - Kosciuszko National Park. Lots of other great parks around too.
Even if you don't have a car, you can join a bushwalking club and go on trips they organize.

I do a few trips out each year. Once you are here and settled in, if you want to see some sights out of Sydney let me know.
Or, some links:
http://www.subw.org.au/          Sydney University Bushwalking Club
http://www.bushwalking.org.au/   The Confederation of Bushwalking Clubs NSW
http://www.gerkinpress.com/Bushwalking
http://bushwalk.com/forum/
http://www.david-noble.net/
http://www.bankstownbushwalkingclub.org.au/   Bankstown Bushwalkers
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Offline dave_k

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #41 on: August 06, 2017, 06:55:14 am »
If you just type "Sydney" into Google maps, you'll see just how large an area the Sydney basin is. It extends over 70 kilometers west past Springwood in the Blue Mountains, 58km north-west to Richmond, as far north as Palm Beach and south-west to Camden/Campbelltown.

I've lost count of the number of people who say they are stopping over in Sydney for a day and want to drop by the lab and meet me. Err, not really practical!

.. and it's at least a $14 round-trip in tolls  :-DD
 

Offline Brumby

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #42 on: August 06, 2017, 07:04:34 am »
If you just type "Sydney" into Google maps, you'll see just how large an area the Sydney basin is. It extends over 70 kilometers west past Springwood in the Blue Mountains, 58km north-west to Richmond, as far north as Palm Beach and south-west to Camden/Campbelltown.

I've lost count of the number of people who say they are stopping over in Sydney for a day and want to drop by the lab and meet me. Err, not really practical!

Just to give you an idea of scale.  Outline is the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area:
 
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Offline GK

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #43 on: August 06, 2017, 07:33:04 am »
I've rubbed shoulders with yokels and have eaten in more remote outback pubs than most, and I can assure you that all this ocker Aussie lingo guff is mostly fantasy and just plain bullshit, though we do like to romanticise otherwise for some strange reason. If you walked into a pub dressed like Crocodile Dundee you'd be the biggest tool ever. You'd blend in far less conspicuously over here talking the Queen's English.

Bzzzzt. No longer care, over this forum shit.........ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 
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Online tszaboo

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #44 on: August 06, 2017, 07:59:00 am »
Expat here. Dont take books, seriously, use the weight for something useful. Have a laptop all the time. Lab stuff can stay home, it is cheap to replace it. Expect to spend a LOT of money in the first months. When moving here, I was spending more money in the first 3 months, than now in a year. Well, not exactly, but close.
Also, it will get lonely and hard sometimes. You need a thick skin, and keep pushing, no matter what.  I had a lot easier task, than you had. Though I was moving alone, I had a job here waiting for me.
 
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Offline ^_^Topic starter

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #45 on: August 11, 2017, 07:07:14 pm »
[...] you mentioned wanting to see the night sky from the outback. (Which is indeed wonderful.) Does this mean you like wilderness, or are an amateur astronomer?

Wilderness is TBE (to be experienced) ;D
GoPro amateur only ATM.
Wish I had a tele-scope. I could only afford half of it so far (a scope...).

Anyway, another good thing about Sydney is the wide variety of beautiful landscapes within easy [...]

That's super-cool.

I do a few trips out each year. Once you are here and settled in, if you want to see some sights out of Sydney let me know.

Sure, I'm down.
Will write later in this topic about my progress as well.

Hey, person whose name is a face

Cheers,
Face

Quote from: Halcyon, cdev
I'm watching the series, it's really funny and practical as well!
Now I know how to save $$$ on food!

Quote from: Brumby
I hope the map took Earth's curvature into the account :)
Impressive nevertheless.

[...] If you walked into a pub dressed like Crocodile Dundee you'd be the biggest tool ever. [...]

That could potentially work; it's called peacocking ;)

[...] Expect to spend a LOT of money in the first months. When moving here, I was spending more money in the first 3 months, than now in a year. Well, not exactly, but close. [...]

Why was that?
I can only imagine spending extra money on stuff like moving (taxi/uber), house accessories (if they're not provided!), going far for job inverview/hunt etc.
Everything else should be periodic. That's my experience at least when I've moved (car distance though).

Dont take books, seriously, use the weight for something useful.

Good thing about Kindle; it weights the same no matter how much you put in ;)

But really, hmm, I've got just 3 only-electronics books I was considering.
I will take your advice into the account and place them at the end of packing-queue.

[...] I had a job here waiting for me.

Lucky!

Also, it will get lonely and hard sometimes. You need a thick skin, and keep pushing, no matter what.

Got it!
Thank you.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2017, 07:22:06 pm by ^_^ »
 

Online tszaboo

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #46 on: August 11, 2017, 08:10:08 pm »
Lot of money: Well, I lived in a (cheap and rubbish, but still expensive) hotel for 1.5 months until I could find an appropriate housing. After, I had to place down 4 months of rent,  3 for the insurance, 1 as the first month. I had to buy a bunch of furniture. Only the student housings come with it. You also dont have kitchen stuff, you have to go out eating.

It also felt a lot, because the cost of living here is about twice as much as I was living before.

After moving with a plane, everything you have is in your bags. Suprising amount of money can be spent on simple items like duvet cover, kitchen knife, lamps, candy and beer, laundromat. Also, if you need something, you will need it fast. Usually you have the time and means to search for a good deal. For example, after a misunderstanding, I had to go out and buy a 140x200 mattress, otherwise I would have slept on the ground that night. I had about 1-2 hour to do it, and no car. I had to go to the local furniture shop, where they told me that they can deliver in two days, or I can go ahead and take it. All this for 350 EUR, the bottom shelf foam mattress. If I could go to IKEA, I would have gotten a much nicer one for half the price. And I had to "drag" the thing a kilometer with the help of a friend. You get the first phone subscription you can get, the bank account, which has an open office the closest, the car rental, which accepts your weird foreign debit card. mod:

That reminds me, if you can, get a credit card still at home, not to use the actual credit limit, but it has a better acceptance than debit cards. And look up, what is used there. Nothing is worse, than trying to pay with a Mastercard, while most of the shops only accepting Maestro, or Visa or something else. Get the right one while home.

There are just no time to look for a good deal, or walk away from a bad one, because you need the things.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2017, 08:16:30 pm by NANDBlog »
 
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Online vk6zgo

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #47 on: August 12, 2017, 03:01:39 am »

Actually, that'd gonna be one of the first things I do.
I was advised to bring money in cash and first working day go to the bank and load it all up on the account.


Be very careful with this, as there is a limit on how much money in cash can be brought into Australia.
This applies to cash in any currency.
It's all to do with trying to stop money laundering.

The limit is reasonably generous, but find out what it is, & abide strictly to the rules, otherwise it may be confiscated, & you might also be fined.
Australia doesn't have many of the plant & stock diseases which occur in other countries, so you should also read up on quarantine, re foodstuffs, rawhide leather, etc.

The little card they give you on the plane is not for fun, it's a legal document.


 
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Offline Rerouter

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #48 on: August 12, 2017, 03:45:29 am »
So far across aus, anywhere that takes a credit card will take a debit card for general purchases, however if your suss on a store, use the RFID option as it acts as a credit purchase (with surcharge to the store) which gives you protection against fraud.

There are a few outliers, e.g. around popular areas you may find coffee stores that only accept cash,

If your withdrawing money from an ATM, and its not branded with your bank, there will be an extra charge, this is where having a local account can make things easier.

For almost all of center, west and south Sydney, If your budget is small, get a cheap mountain bike with a item rack on the back. you can get them for under $200, and it will let you get yourself established much easier if you cannot afford a car straight up (expect about $900 a year for registration, insurance, etc, on a car) There are bicycle tracks all over the place, it may take you longer to get from A-B, but you can haul 30-50 kg on the item rack, which allows for things like groceries and small items of furniture

Buy anything you can at a supermarket rather than eating out if you dont yet have a job, the war between supermarkets means you can feed yourself for less than $10 a day with some variety, but it involves buying in bulk some items. which means surrendering some room for it.

For white goods like fridges, a washing machine, etc, look on gumtree, in some cases you can get them for under $10 a piece second hand, just leaving you to sort out the logistics of getting it back to your place. If you plan to get most of your furniture this way, and can find it in under 5km radius (without a car), go to a hardware store like bunnings and buy a tilt trolley, in my youth i moved a surprising amount of furniture between houses 7km away on one of them. in the end it meant i could furninsh an entire apartment for under $1200. just having to buy new mattress protectors, pillows. and things you dont want to reuse. (If you add up how much washing clothes in a laundramat costs you over 6 months vs what some detergent and a gumtree washer costs, you can save some moeny that way)

When you first arrive, you will be likley having to search online for a lot of things, many stores around sydney will have free wifi, avoid the fast food chains as they speed cap them to almost unuable levels, instead look for non chain coffee stores and the like, where it will be fast, unfiltered and generally have no usage caps.

Australia has free to use public bathrooms, after traveling to other parts of the world i felt i should point it out. applications like "Open Street Maps" will even point  them out to you, at the same time most fast food chains will have a toilet. the culture here frowns slightly on using them without buying something in store, but its not openly opposed if you find yourself in need.

If you enjoy alcohol, its not cheap here. your best bet would be looking at the liquor stores, and finding a price your willing to bear. I personally don't drink due to how much it would cost me per year. If your going out with people to drink, plan ahead, the furthur you are from city center, the cheaper they get.

Our train network is quite reliable, buses not so much, if your going to be using public transport, get an opal card at a newsagent, for trains, plan a 3 minute lead (sometimes a little early), for buses, the margin gets a lot wider towards the high traffice times of the day (7:30 - 8:40 am - 4:20 - 6pm)
 
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Offline Brumby

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Re: Moving to Sydney soon! & asking for advice
« Reply #49 on: August 12, 2017, 07:21:01 am »

Actually, that'd gonna be one of the first things I do.
I was advised to bring money in cash and first working day go to the bank and load it all up on the account.


Be very careful with this, as there is a limit on how much money in cash can be brought into Australia.

NO THERE IS NOT!!

You can bring as much as you like - but if the total value is $10,000 Australian Dollars or more,  YOU MUST DECLARE IT!  Expect the Customs officials to ask you about it - and, I would suggest, to have the means to explain and demonstrate you are NOT engaged in money laundering.

This is the big mistake that people make - is that they think there is a limit and DON'T declare anything.

Bad move.


Same with food, plant material and anything else on the passenger card - JUST BE HONEST and you won't get into trouble.  You might have some things confiscated if they are not allowed in, but just make sure you aren't seen to be trying to sneak something past them.

Edit: Cash limit is $AUD10,000 or more, not in excess of $10,000
« Last Edit: August 12, 2017, 07:24:58 am by Brumby »
 
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