Moving to Australia?

Having moved to, and set foot in, Australia for the first time myself not long ago I thought it might be helpful for those of you who are considering or planning to do the same - to share some of my experiences and tips, as I remember struggling to find information on these things myself.

I have also written a separate post on how I got my Partner Visa (subclass 820) application approved.

1) VISA
First off - you need a Visa in order to get to Australia. If you're there for a holiday you will need an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) or a Tourist Visa, depending on where you're from and how long you wish to stay.

- ETA
- Tourist Visa

If you're under 30 and your country is eligible, you also have the possibility of obtaining a Working Holiday Visa, which can allow you to stay in Australia for up to two years.

- Working Holiday Visa

There is also the possibility of obtaining a Student Visa or various Skilled Migrant visas, but those involve a bit more effort to apply for. If you have an Australian partner, you also have the Prospective Marriage Visa and the Partner Visa.

2) ACCOMODATION
For those of you looking for a room or an apartment to rent in Australia, the two major websites you want to look at are:

- realestate.com.au
- domain.com.au

Now, my major problem the first time I got to Australia was that all of the real-estate agencies lease for a minimum of 6 months, and preferably 12 months at a time. So if you're looking to rent for a shorter period of time I know of a lovely lady in Brisbane - Cally Lyons. She leases fully furnished, all inclusive, rooms for students and others, requires no deposit and you can rent for anything from a week to a year, depending on your needs. The rooms aren't cheap and the standard varies, but I think she provides a very good option for those of us that don't have the possibility to sign a 6-12 months lease.

Another alternative is to find something on gumtree.com.au, but be careful as you never really know who these people are.

3) GETTING ORGANIZED IN AUSTRALIA
When you arrive in Australia there are a number of things that you want to organize, and I've made a list of the most important things:

- Tax File Number: You need this in order to set up a bank account in Australia, and if you plan on getting a job etc.
- Bank Account: You should arrange to have this set up within 6 weeks of arriving in Australia, as they accept your passport as the only ID up until that time (after that they need all sorts of stuff).
- Medicare Account: Check if your country has an arrangement for medicare. Norway does, and all you have to do is bring your passport, copy of your Visa, and preferably your European Health Insurance Card to a Medicare Office to get it sorted. If not, you might want to look into Private Health Insurance.
- Proof of Age card: This varies greatly, but none of my Norwegian ID's (except my passport) were valid in Australia, so I needed to get an Australian one quite quickly.
- Driver's Licence: Depending on how long you're planning to stay, you might need an Australian driver's licence.
- Bus card/Go Card: Most cities in Australia have a card equal to this. The Go Card in QLD let's you travel by bus, train and city cat. If you're a student make sure to get the student card.

4) SHOPPING AND PRICES
When arriving in Australia for the first time, there are a number of things you might need, ranging from furniture to groceries. I've compiled a list of some of my favourite low budget stores (and a few others), but keep in mind that I live in Brisbane, so I'm not sure about the prices in other cities.

- IKEA: If you're Scandinavian this is definitely the best place to start. It's reasonably cheap, it feels a bit like home and you can get hold of a lot of the stuff you're used to from home. They basically have everything you'll need except for groceries. Just remember to bring someone with a car! Ikea does home deliveries, but that is just for large furniture etc. and they will not take all your bags of kitchenware, pillows and sheets. I learned this the hard way, and unless you live close to the store you're in for an expensive cab ride back home. The Ikea in Brisbane is located in Logan, which is a fair bit out of the city centre.
- K-Mart: I absolutely love this store - to the surprise of most of my Australian friends. They have really cheap, but nice clothes - especially the basics. They also have most of the stuff you'll need for your home, plus a wide range of other stuff such as electronics, home office supplies, toys etc. AND you can shop online and have it delivered to your home! How perfect is that! :)
- Coles or Woolworths: These are the two major grocery stores in Australia. They're not the cheapest ones, so I would also check out local markets in your area. You can, however, shop online and have the groceries delivered for a small fee - which is great when there is a lot of stuff to stock up on. In addition, shopping online gives you the advantage of being able to compare prices very easily! So if you still prefer to go to the actual store and buy the groceries, the online store is an excellent tool to get an overview of the prices and compare the price-difference between brands. I highly recommend having a look.
- Aldi: A cheap, German grocery store. I find the range of groceries at Aldi a bit limited, but they do have a few Scandinavian items, such as Norwegian salmon! <3 The groceries are cheap compared to other stores so I would definitely consider stocking up on the basics here. A lot of people I know have said they halved their expenses for groceries after switching to Aldi.
- Markets in Brisbane: There are a lot of markets to choose from in Brisbane. My favourite for food, flowers etc. is the Davies Park Market in West End. I also love the South Bank Lifestyle Market for clothing and nick-nacks (it can be a bit expensive though). I've found some true treasures at the Vintage and Designer Market which is held the first Saturday of every month in West End. When I first arrived in Brisbane I went market crazy, and went to every one I could find. And there are a lot of smaller ones in every suburb which are worth a look. It was great fun exploring them and I highly recommend trying it! :)
- Target: Cheap clothing, shoes and jewellery + they have their own home section. Definitely worth a look, although I find that it varies a bit both in price and quality.
- Famous Footware: My ABSOLUTE favourite shoe-store in Brisbane! Finally I found a store with cheap, quality and beautiful shoes! I love all my shoes from this store. They also have an online store :)
- Kitten D'Amour: I just had to add this dress store. It's SO amazing. The dresses are expensive, but oh so beautiful! They do a modern twist on 50/60's clothing and if you're lucky you can get some real treasures on sale <3 <3 <3
- That Shop: Another amazing dress store that's based in Brisbane. Again, the dresses are expensive, but they are just too beautiful not to have a look! :)

Anything that should be added to this list? Let me know! :)