Newcastle, Coastal Walk, Graffiti

I hope all of you enjoyed the beautiful weather just as I did. On Friday I took the train to Newcastle. I had a look at the university and the city, and of course I got lost in Newcastle. Starting at Bondi Junction it is about a 3 hour train ride to Newcastle. It is a quiet and charming place to visit. While I was lost in Newcastle I ended up wandering through neighborhoods without seeing anybody. What a difference to Sydney. The city has beautiful surf beaches and a lovely mall.

City mall in Newcastle

University in Newcastle

On Saturday I decided to take a walk on Sydney's famous coastal walk. I started on Bondi Beach and walked to Waverly Cemetery.  The walk has amazing scenery making it perfect to take pictures. It took me about 1 hour to walk from Bondi Beach to the cemetery. If you pack some meals and drinks and don't have to rush to be somewhere else you can even spend a whole day walking the path. You could even go to Maroubra Beach, have a picnic there and walk back in the late afternoon enjoying the sunset on the coast.

Coastal Walk Sydney

Coastal Walk Sydney

Coastal Walk Sydney

Cemetery on Coastal Walk in Sydney

My recommodation for those of you who don't have a lot of time for sightseeing are the new grafitties on bondi beach:

 Following are my favourites. What are yours?

Check out our event calendar for the latest trips. They will also be posted on here in the coming weeks.

Tips for Finding Work

I know how shocking it is to see the grocery prices for the first time. I actually was thinking: 'Yeah, I am going to lose some weight here by not eating' (Didn’t work out though ;-))


I have put together a little bit about my experience working in Australia, starting 2.5 month ago on Australia's West Coast. Arriving in Perth I wanted to get a job as soon as possible.

The first things I needed :
An Australian bank account
A Tax File number: apply online and it will be posted to you.
An Australian mobile simcard


In Australia workers from abroad pay 29% taxes from their wages. The financial year is from July to June. In July, August you can reclaim your taxes and if you get lucky you get back mostly all the tax you paid.


Tip: you can work right after you applied for your tax file number. Just tell your employee you applied for one already and hand it in afterwards.


Next thing I created my CV/resume. This is the second most important thing you need when looking for a job (after a smile). Make it short and clear. It's not important where you went to elementary school or the names of your family members.


Your CV should include the following content:
Work experiences
Languages you can speak
Nationality
Australian contact details
Days you are available to work
A picture isn't necessarily but it doesn't hurt if it's a nice one


After I finished writing my CV, I started to go to restaurants, hotels and coffee shops to ask if they are hiring. You need your CV and you should dress respectably. Don't create a cover letter etc.


Tip:Even if they say they are not looking for anybody at the moment, give them your CV anyway. Things can change quickly in a business.


After handing out MANY CV's, I got lucky and had a trial for waitressing at a restaurant that night.


Tip: Take your opportunities. If they want you that night, then make yourself available.


The next day another restaurant called. They wanted me to be a kitchen hand. It is the worst job I have ever done.
Nevertheless I took what I got and that’s why I had two jobs after only my second day in Australia. They were not the best jobs I have done but the pay was really good. I received $20 per hour during the week and $25 on weekends. Generally the standard salary for working holiday makers is between $17 and $22. My work as kitchen hand was pretty simple, hard though. It was all about washing dishes, carrying hundred of plates from one place to the other and scrubbing pans till my hands were bleeding.


Tip: If you are going to do pot washing, wear gloves!!


Looking back I can laugh about that shity job and my complaining every time I had to go there. Although I would do it again.






Especially in a cafe, there is a lot to remember. Make sure you take time to learn all the different coffees, wines, foods, etc. You will also need to learn how to carry at least three plates.


After 1.5 month of working in Perth it was time to leave and start my internship in Sydney. It was pretty easy to quit my job.


Tip: Out of respect for your employer, you should give 2 weeks notice in advance when you plan to leave.


Here in Sydney I started my internship and needed to find a job to help pay my living expenses.
Once again, I followed the above steps and also looked online for positions.


There are several pages which can help you find a good job. Most popular is probably gumtree.com.au and seek.com.au They offer a lot of jobs for working holiday makers.


If you want to work anywhere that sells alcohol you will need a Certificate called RSA.
I attended a class on a Saturday. It cost me $120 and I sat there for 7 hours listening to a guy talk about responsible service of alcohol. You can apply online at https://www.rsatrainingsydney.com.au/. Be careful as every state has different RSA certificates.


I went to have a look at the restaurants close to my hostel. I handed out 15 CVs in the one day and finally the 16th restaurant gave me a shot and invited me for a trial.


Trials are always exciting. You want to do everything perfectly. The most important thing is to ask questions if you don't understand anything, stay calm and listen to everything someone tells you. Keep going, it doesn't matter if you do something wrong. Everybody makes mistakes.


Tip: Don't make the same mistakes twice.


Even if your trial wasn't successful, it was an experience which might be helpful for your next trial.
Please remember, all trials MUST be paid.


I got lucky at my trial. They wanted me to come back. That is why I worked the whole weekend and I hope they keep me working for them for a little while. 

I hope you could read that even without any experience there is a way to get a job in Australia. Don't worry about your English skills. You can speak better English than most of the other backpackers looking for work.
It is nice working somewhere when you want to spend a long time in one place. You meet a lot of locals and it is surely a different experience than just travelling around and doing the normal tourist stuff. I definitely felt settled in Australia once I started working here.


To summarise:


1.          Get a TFN (Tax file number) ASAP. You pay 29% taxes, 
             but you get most of it back.
2.          Get a bank account and Australian phone number
3.          Wherever you stay, start handing out your resume near to 
             your apartment
4.          Go to every trial you can get--it is an experience
5.          Always tell them whatever they want to hear. Even if you 
             are not able to do it now
            (Like carrying three plates), learn it at home or Google how 
             to do it.
6.          Look for jobs online at gumtree, seek
7.          Never give up looking and trying
8.          Smile and have a sense of humor!!

Bondi Beach, Ted, Opera House

My time with Sydney Internships has just started. I am happy to inform you about news and adventures and keep you up to date about my time in Sydney.
First of all I would like to thank Anne for being so patient and polite explaining everything to me. I wish her all the best for her travels and a good time in Australia.
My first week has been very relaxed. Luckily I am staying at Bondi Beach and have been able to avoid the hectic city so far. Of course I visited the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge as these are a 'MUST'. We also had the opportunity to take in a beautiful view from one of the city towers right next to Sydney Harbour Bridge. The best thing is it was for free!! I am going to write more about that on my next newsletter.

My first glimpse of the Opera House

Most of the time I stayed on Bondi Beach which is an awesome place to live. Everybody who hasn't been there yet should definitely get on a bus RIGHT NOW and go there. Take a towel and a good book and soak in the Winter sun at the beach .You will see time flies by doing nothing. Otherwise if you are one of the adventurous types go rent a surfboard and try out another MUST DO activity, surfing. Waves are good and if you get a wetsuit it won't be cold at all. I tried rollerblading last week. I used to be a pro as a child, but don't think those skills have carried through. I didn't fall but people were laughing at me as I slid down the hill on my butt instead of on the roller blades... I think my skating skills as a child have past. Nevertheless the sun was shining and we had a beautiful view as you can see.

Bondi Beach in Winter

Another special event was going to the movies. Awesome movie, highly recommend seeing - TED!! So funny, all of you should see it. I went to a cinema at Bondi Junction, and no kidding I have never sat in such comfy huge seats before. On Tuesday it is 'cheap cheap' (well of course cheap for Australia). Some viewings are just $10 but you better reserve seats beforehand. It is very crowded.

So let's see what next week has to offer. If you are bored in the big city of Sydney, don't hesitate to contact me. I would love to meet new people.

Cockatoo Island, Balmain and Glebe Markets in the end

Last weekend some friends and I visited Cockatoo Island. It is easy to get there by ferry from Circular Quay. As the weather was very nice and sunny on Friday we had a good time. The island was used for housing convicts in the past and later it was the site of Australia's biggest shipyard. There are still lots of industrial buildings and remains from the prison.

From Cockatoo we took the ferry to Balmain to have lunch. It is a very nice suburb with many small restaurants and cafes.

Unfortunatly we didn't have time to do as much as we wanted to because we needed to get ready for a farewell party that night.

On Saturday we went to the Glebe Markets. There is a bus departing from Central that stops in front of the entrance to the market. There are many stalls with selfmade jewellery, second hand vintage clothes and other nice things. Even if you don't want to buy anything it is nice to watch all the interesting people.

Unfortunately today is my last day with Sydney Internships. I had a great time in Sydney especially with all the amazing interns I got to know. Now it is time for the next adventure and as I am staying a couple more months in Austrlia I don't say "good bye" but "hope to see you soon".

Special thanks to Robbie and Linda who taught me a lot and made my internship a valuable experience.

Next week Andrea will take over from me and I hope she has a lot of fun :)


Cheers, Anne