Know your Destination-Australia

Introduction

So here you have selected Australia as your next destination. You have your visa and all the necessary documents ready and you are wondering about your new destination. Australia the most isolated country on this planet offers a unique lifestyle and diverse culture combined with facilities and environment what a developed country has on offer.
Geographical Information

Australia is located in Southern hemisphere and is almost 3 times bigger than India in area. It is a huge country with approximately 90% of its area covered by desert (especially central Australia). Surrounded by water and very close to South Pole (Antarctica) the climate just suits anybody.

Things to Know before Landing
Visa—Make sure that you have the appropriate and valid visa. Australia enforces the airlines to carry a visa check before taking passengers on board. So if you are flying to Australia at your transit airport (Singapore, Hong Kong, KL, or Bangkok) you will be asked to show your passport and visa.
Eatables—Australia as a country enjoys one of the best quality of health system available in the world and to maintain the standard the Australian Customs and Quarantine is very strict in terms of what you can bring in to the country. Especially Quarantine is very strict here. All plants and dairy products are prohibited and if you don’t declare and dispose them before reaching custom then you may be fined heavy amount.
Visit www.customs.gov.au (Australian Customs Service) and www.aqis.gov.au (Australian Quarantine) for further information.
Know Your City—Its always good to know a little bit about the place your are going available at a nominal cost. These transit shuttles or Trains can take you to CBD at very low cost. From the City Search website the information about the public transports available in the city can be obtained. These shuttles run frequently 15 – 30 minutes and maintain a high standard for the travelers and are very convenient.
Getting Over the Jet Lag—Remember you are traveling ahead your time. This could result in loss of sleep as midnight in Australia is still early evening in India. You land in Australia either in evening or early morning. If you are landing here in morning then use the overnight flight to get sufficient sleep to keep you going for the rest of the day next day. If you are landing here in evening then DO NOT sleep during the flight even though you feel tired. This will help your body clock to adjust faster. Sleep only during the regular hour of your destination.
Settling in Australia
A Contact Number—The first and foremost thing you must do after reaching Australia is to get a pre-paid mobile connection. These connections are quite cheaper starting $30 and are valid Australia-wide. There is no extra cost for national roaming in Australia. So if you buy a mobile connection in Sydney or any other city, it will work anywhere and you don’t have to pay for the incoming. There are plenty of Telephone companies who give competitive rates for prepaid customers. To start with you can join either Optus, Virgin mobile or Vodaphone on prepaid card and later when you want to get a postpaid connection you can approach any other mobile provider and retain the old number.
Finding a Place to Live in—If you are new in Australia and do not have any clue where you will be staying. Especially if you are a backpacker or a seasonal traveler. The airports (especially domestic) have a section

  to. There are 5 major cities in Australia Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. There is a site which is dedicated to each city specific information. Visit www.citysearch.com.auand select your destination city and it will give sufficient information to know the city.
Find a Contact in the City—Its always good to know someone in the country you are planning to visit. Ask your friends, family, colleagues and see if they know someone who lives in the city or the country. If you are landing in Australia then its always good to know someone who can explain you about the way things work here or someone whom you can call when you have some questions or need some guidance.
Things to Do Upon Landing

Incoming Passenger Information Card— Before you land in Australia the Cabin Crew member will hand out the Incoming Passenger card to all the people on board traveling to Australia. Take time to fill them while you are flying. This will save you time during immigration and you can clear the immigration faster. Remember the wait time at immigration increases exponentially if you arrive late. Because most of the airlines fly a big jet carrying 400+ passengers on board to Australia. It’s always good to have the card and passport ready so that you can save your wait time before clearing immigration. The incoming passenger card also contains a section for customs and quarantine. If you are not sure about any question on Quarantine then tick yes and let the customs officer know why you put yes so that they can correct the same. Do not disclose wrong information as that may result in heavy penalty.
Public Transport—As a rule of thumb the Taxis are very costly in Australia. But each airport has some sort of public transport where they have brochures available for budget accommodation available within the city. They also have a free phone to call these hotels and find out the availability. Few hotels do have the free pickup and drop facility from airport.
Getting Around—Find out the public transport facility to and from your suburb. There are trains and buses in most of the major cities and they are really cheaper if you buy a weekly or monthly ticket. Don’t panic if you do not have a driving license. In Australia you can live without having a car and can rely on public transport for your daily commuting. Every city has a visitor information center located at various places in the city. The staffs are quite helpful in providing the required information. So visit one of those places and ask your doubt. They will give you few booklets to keep handy so that you can refer them for the public transport time table etc.
Part Time Job—Many students want to do part time job while studying. Pls check your visa rules and obey the same. If caught working over the limit allowed, your visa will be cancelled and you will have to return immediately. There are part time jobs available at super markets, petrol stations, restaurants etc. Have few copies of your resume ready so that you can start applying to those places. The salary is on hourly basis and normally happens once a week / fortnight.
Summary
During my stay in Australia I came across many people with lots of questions about living and settling in Australia. Over a period of time I found that it will be good if I put together a document which can provide information about traveling and living in Australia.
In a nutshell Australia is place where an individual can enjoy a relaxed lifestyle combined with diversity which every other culture in this world has to offer.

 

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