“OMG I FINALLY LOOKED AT A MAP AND THIS COUNTRY IS HUGE, WHERE DO I START??” Honestly, it’s impossible for me to tell you, it’s all down to personal preference. I will tell you our take on the major cities though to help you decide where to start your Working Holiday Visa in Australia.
Melbourne
We started in this city, everyone told us we would LOVE the art, culture, and scenery etc etc. We spent a week here and were done with it. If you want to do cool hikes, get into the national parks, or do the Great Ocean Road you either need to pay a lot of money for a tour or you NEED a car. We just didn’t have the money when we landed for these multi-day activities. The weather was rainy and cold and too similar to what we had just left in Canada. We decided to take a 12 hour train ride up to Sydney and didn’t look back.
Sydney
The second we got to Sydney the weather was awesome, the beaches and trails were great, and their public transport system (although you will hear locals complain,) CAN TAKE YOU ALMOST ANYWHERE. Yeah it might take 3 hours to get to the Royal National Park or the Blue Mountains, but you CAN. And it won’t cost you more than $15. TIP: On Sundays, all transportation is only $2.50 for the entire day! If you’re not a big city person like us, don’t sweat it. Sydney has A LOT of suburbs, we rarely went into the actual city itself, there’s still a lot to explore. We enjoyed all the hiking and snorkeling Sydney had to offer.
Perth
Whale Shark Season: March-August
The west coast is THEBOMB.COM. DON’T MISS IT. No one talks about it, most people don’t go, AND THAT IS THEIR BIGGEST MISTAKE. It was easily our favourite part of Australia. If you love the outdoors, snorkeling/diving, surfing, and going places that still feel untouched and not crowded the way the east coast is, THEN GO HERE. Perth is the biggest city on the west coast, you can figure out where you want to go from there. The Southwest is beautiful and we definitely recommend it. It’s full of vineyards, old forests, surf and snorkeling. North of Perth also has some exceptional and remote places, including the amazing Ningaloo Reef that you can access RIGHT off the beach. A car is ESSENTIAL for the west coast, everything is spread out. You can easily buy one, but if you’re only planning on sticking around for a couple weeks, renting a car/campervan or booking a tour will do.
Cairns
Tropical Cyclone Season: January-March
The veeeeery north of the east coast. It’s actually a pretty small town but a HUGE tourist hub because of the Great Barrier Reef offshore. A lot of people start their journey in Melbourne or Sydney and make their way up to Cairns as their final stop. For exploring, a car is needed, or booking a tour. Renting a car for the day doesn’t cost much though if you’re splitting it, and you can hit up a lot of sights as it isn’t too spread out. Keep in mind, if you want to see the reef, you’re going to have to pay around $200 to get out there. It’s not right offshore like it is on the west coast. There’s also no swimming off any of the beaches due to saltwater crocs and stingers.
Brisbane/Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast
Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to travel around here. Honestly, we heard Brisbane was nothing special, and that the Gold Coast is busy with more of a focus on nightlife and shopping. (If partying is your thing though, just head over to Surfer’s Paradise, tons of backpackers there). We were told that the Sunshine Coast is pretty awesome, less developed and more untouched natural beauty than the the Gold Coast.
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