Once I decided to go, the preparations started. Do I have enough money, where do I find the cheapest ticket, what kind of visa do I need etc?
Money
Opinions on how much money you need really vary. For the working holiday visa I wanted, a copy of a bank statement with at least EUR 3,200 on it was needed. My goal is to have about EUR 6,000 with me and earn the rest down under.
Visa
The WHV costs EUR 105 and you get it from the Australian Embassy in your country. In Holland, this is done online
Important: you can enter Oz until a year after picking up your WHV. The visa is than valid one year from entering the country. However, if you leave the country in between, the visa is only valid until one year after you picked it up. This is not clear from the immi website, but I checked with the embassy and got written confirmation.
Ticket
The cheapest ticket I could find was with Wereldcontact, a Dutch agency. I have used them several times over the past year and have always had great service. Australian Backpackers also has good deals. You may need to book well in advance, tickets can get a lot more expensive otherwise. In my case, the one year ticket with Qantas via Paris and Singapore was about 1100 euro (incl taxes and stuff).
Insurance
Normal travel insurance is valid for 180 days max. If you travel for a longer period, this one is not sufficient. Elvia has a Globetrotter Insurance package that also covers for health insurance for the first two months after your return (Tunafish gives a 10% discount on this one!).
Information
Loads of information can be found on the messageboards of Lonely Planet (Thorntree) and australie.pagina.nl (prikbord, in Dutch).
Bank
You can open a bank account with ANZ bank or another local bank in Australia. You need this in case you want to work (unless cash in hand). It's also cheaper than drawing money from most foreign accounts, although Dutch Rabobank made it free for its customers to use ATMs abroad. ANZ charges $0,50 per transaction. The first 5 each month are free. Getting cash out of a non-ANZ ATM costs $ 1.50.
Stay in touch
Staying in touch with the people back home is easier than ever. If you decide to set up a website, Virtual Tourist and Geocities are easy to use (VT doesn't give you a actual website but is good for photos and stories). In internet cafes you can scan your photos, or just get them on CD rom and put them on the internet (your own site, MSN, Webshots or others).
Last minute things
At the time of writing this final part, it is less than four weeks before I leave. Apart from saying goodbye to many people and enjoying the Amsterdam canals before having to miss them for a year, there are so many things to take care of. Arranging for my mail to be forwarded (check), cancelling magazine subscriptions (check), planning a farewell party, finding someone to sublease my room for a year (check), and many more things that pop up while doing my day to day things.
In any case: the excitement is great and I am sooo much looking forward to finally going down under and experience Australian live for a while!
Tax file number
For a TFN, go to the Tax office. In Sydney, it's in the rotating AMP-tower, right in the city. Do this as soon as you get here. It takes about two weeks for the number to be sent to you. In the meantime, you can start working. On the tax papers, tick the box that says you're waiting for your TFN and you'll be taxed 29% instead of the higher one for people without a tfn.
Some more links I have found very useful:
