So it’s time to take a trip! Is Australia on your bucket list? It certainly should be! If you’re looking for a plethora of outdoor activities, international cities, fun animals and a way to make money, check out these six reasons why Australia is the perfect country for a working holiday.
1. Varied geography
Australia is a huge country! While the interior is arid desert, the coastlines are some of the most beautiful in the world. Australia offers endless outdoor adventures, including scuba diving or snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef, climbing in the Outback, surfing at Byron Bay, hiking the Blue Mountains, bungee jumping, skydiving and more.
Image courtesy of Work and Travel Company
2. Culture
Cities are spread far across the continent, thus, offering a variety of cultures. Sydney is the business hub, a little more posh. Melbourne is artsy and hip. Cairns is warm and on the Reef. Brisbane is where you’ll find the koalas and kangaroos. Are you into outdoor sports? The East Coast will be great for you. A fan of professional sports? Melbourne has public holidays for a few of their major championships! Like performance art? Sydney and Melbourne are packed with venues and theaters to see dance, music, plays and (of course) opera. Just outside of Melbourne is the Yarra Valley, where you can go on vineyard tours and enjoy the peace outside of the city.
3. Wildlife
Speaking of koalas and kangaroos, Australia is filled with animals and plants that you can’t find anywhere else. Just to name a few more you may have heard of: dingo, echidna, platypus, wallaby and wombat. 80-90% of native Australian animals are found nowhere else in the world, so get them while you can! Brisbane is a popular place for wildlife sanctuaries, many of which will let you hang out with kangaroos and hold a koala 🙂
Image courtesy of Work and Travel Company
4. Making friends from throughout the world
Australia is one of the most popular working holiday destinations, so it makes sense that you’re guaranteed to run into fellow travelers, quite often from other countries. You may find yourself in a shared apartment with an Argentinian, Brit and Japanese person, and that’s a great opportunity to learn. Soaking up Australian culture is part and parcel of a working holiday, but it’s so much fun to learn about other cultures through friends, as well.
5. High minimum wage
Australia has a very high minimum wage of AUD $17.70 (about USD $13.14) and most jobs will pay slightly higher than that. Thousands of young people from around the world do their working holiday in Australia and there are tons of jobs to go around.
Image courtesy of Work and Travel Company
6. English speaking
Obviously! Getting around, grocery shopping, interviewing for jobs, taking public transportation – all things you can do in Australia without having to worry about something getting lost in translation. Another great part of the fun of Australia is learning the “language.” Just to get you started, brekky = breakfast; avo = avocado; arvo = afternoon; Macca’s = McDonald’s; heaps = a lot. Some of the lingo is quite humorous and you’ll be speaking like a local before you even realize it.
There are many more reasons than this to work and travel in Australia. Sign up for an InterExchange program today to get started on your adventure! We are happy to provide more information, so don’t hesitate to reach out to us anytime! Here’s to a wonderful year 🙂
by Melissa Horine
