First Post!

As I'm going to Australia for a year in April I've decided to make a blog to post about my adventures. I mainly want to do this to update family and friends with what I'm up to, without having to write out individual emails! Another reason I wanted to create this blog was so that other travellers can read it and it might help them with their planning, as I've read a lot of travel blogs while planning my trip and they were a massive help :)

Since going to Australia for 3 weeks as part of a round the world trip in Summer 2009, I've been desperate to go back and spend more time there!

I've got a few things booked now including:

FLIGHTS! I fly from Manchester to Heathrow on 20th April with British Airways, then board a Qantas A380 plane to Sydney with a short stopover in Singapore. I arrive in Sydney in the evening on 21st April! Despite the recent problems with the engine on the A380, I still booked with Qantas as most of my previous RTW flights in 2009 had been with them, and I was impressed so booked with them again. I'm pretty sure that because of what happened with the A380 last year, they will be extra careful so should be safer than before! That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

OZINTRO! This is a company who organise your first week in Sydney. They sort out accommodation, bank account, tax file number, Aussie sim card, medicare and all the other things I'd have had to sort out separately. They also help with finding a job. The main reason I've booked with them is because I'll be travelling alone, and they put you in a group who you do activities with for the whole week, including surfing, a trip to the Blue Mountains, jet boating, BBQs and various nights out! It's a relief to feel that I won't be on my own once I'm there, and if I have any problems during my year there then OzIntro can help me. 

VISA! I've got a working holiday visa which is valid for a year, and means I can work to fund my travels once I'm there. I'm hoping to be able to save enough money so I can travel round for a month or two without having to get a job!


I still need to book my first couple of nights accommodation as the OzIntro week doesn't start til 25th so I'll have a couple of nights in the centre of Sydney to try and get over the jet lag! 

So, in exactly 100 days (sounds like ages...) I'll be saying my goodbyes and preparing for a 26 hour journey to Australia!