How to move to Sydney Australia from North America
My goal in this article to share what I’ve learned about making the transition to Australia to make your move even easier. Learn from my mistakes, save yourself time, money, and frustration!
First of all, flights.
It’s a long flight. From where I was in Canada, it was 20+ hours, so you may as well get good service.
I was lucky that relatives of mine had travelled to Australia previously, and had recommended the airline Cathay Pacific. Don’t book through a third party site. Book through Cathay Pacific directly, it’ll allow you to actually pick your seat. I made that mistake.
The reason I recommend Cathay Pacific, besides the fantastic service I received, is also that upon asking for a window seat, they upgraded me to Premium Economy. Always ask for an upgrade, there’s only an upside.
Sure I was lucky here, but the service as a whole was great, even on the second economy connecting flight. Having a glass of champagne on take off was a new experience for me. I’d recommend it.
Whatever airline you get, ensure you book through their main site instead of a third party.
Always ask for an upgrade, there’s only upside.
Transportation
Get an Opal card. They’re a small plastic card that you can buy at most convenience stores and train terminals. You put money on these cards, and they’re good for use on the busses, the trains, the light rail, and ferries. Plus, by using the card, you activate price caps which save yourself money on frequent transit. For example, $61.60 AUD is the upper limit for spending per week. Once you hit that amount, the rest of your transportation is free.
Further, get a pair of running shoes. I know you want to look good, I know you don’t want to look like a tourist. But do not subject yourself to the punishment of walking the city in dress shoes. Please, do it for me. Get a damn pair of running shoes.
Also, take a ferry to Manly. Just for fun. It’s fantastic. Play “Down Under” by Men at Work while you’re on it. Trust me on this.
Get an Opal card.
Get a damn pair of running shoes.
Also, take a ferry to Manly. Just for fun.
Phone Service
There’s a few providers available, however one company, Telstra, owns the infrastructure. As such, all other providers piggy-back off of them. From that fact and no other consideration I got a plan with them. 15 GB a month for about $50 with a $10 pack for unlimited calling to North America is what I went with, to give you a flavour for what’s available.
Short-Term Accommodation
I wanted a place I wouldn’t have to think about after the 20+ hour flight, so I booked a hotel in what they call the Central Business District (the downtown for us North Americans), commonly known as the CBD. For a night this cost almost $200, and after a couple nights it was quickly eating a hole in my budget. This was a mistake.
After getting over the jet lag, I was able to scour the other available options for short term accommodation. After touring cheaper hotels, looking through AirBnb’s, and eventually some hostels, I can wholeheartedly recommend YHA Hostels. Having spent a fair amount of time in hostels throughout North America, I was pleasantly surprised at the sheer quality at the YHA hostels.
The one in Central YHA for example has mixed rooms of 4 people for $45 a night. The rooms are large and clean, the bathrooms and showers are great, and there’s a sauna and pool on the roof. Seriously, I’m not kidding.
If I could do it over again, I would have gone directly into a YHA hostel. They’re cheap, clean, and you have the chance to meet awesome people. If you want extra privacy, you can even get a single room for not that much more money. This beats the hell out of expensive hotels and AirBnbs. Furthermore, being able to meet fellow travellers and be in that atmosphere of travel and excitement is a huge advantage over the budget hotels, which give you an isolating, small single room, with a window facing an alleyway.
If I could do it over again, I would have gone directly into a YHA hostel. They’re cheap, clean, and you have the chance to meet awesome people.
Long Term Accommodation
When searching for roommates and used goods in the States, people use Craigslist. In Canada, it’s Kijiji. In Australia, there are a few services that people tend to use.
For goods and services, it’s called Gumtree. For finding roommates, there’s two major services. Flatmates.com.au, and Flatmate Finders. Flatmate Finders is arguably the best. It’s widely used (at least in Sydney), the user interface is easy to use, AND it’s free. Whereas I found Flatmates.com.au cost money, and in general I found it difficult to use.
Personally, I wanted a place near enough to the beach where I could surf before work. As such, with Flatmate Finders, I was able to specify the neighbourhoods I was interested in, as well as several other criteria including a range of price, age group, room size, and if the place was furnished.
Additionally, you’re able to specify a profile and advocate for yourself. Upload some photos of yourself in the snow and you’ll have your pick of the places. They’ll even reach out to you!
If you’re looking for a shared place, Flatmate Finders is the way to go. Budget yourself about two weeks to find a place, and if you’re desperate, use Flatmates.com.au to scrape the bottom barrel.
If you’re looking for a shared place, Flatmate Finders is the way to go.
Odds and Ends
There’s a few other small things you need to know.
Australians are very strict about their naming. Green Pepper, for example, is called by their true species name, Capsicum. However, when ordering a burger, don’t be surprised when you see Rocket listed next to the onions. They do, of course, mean Arugula.
Woolloomooloo is not a made-up place.
For other Weird Australian Things, consider following my twitter account. https://twitter.com/strayathings
Conclusion
I hope I’ve saved you some pain and frustration with this article. Hopefully it get’s you a good ways into being settled. I for one, am writing this article from the couch of the place I just moved into today, 5 minutes walk from the beach, with work again on Monday.
Best of luck on your journey.
Cheers, Mate!
Joe
