​Our promise to help you help yo’self!

First a little explanation for this post. I’m an older sister to a younger brother Pest and the youngest, little sister Beanie. The thing is I’m also the shortest therefore I’m the little (lil) big sister.

Last year Beanie decided that she’d had enough of the UK and wants to travel! Her first big trip and she’s coming over to Australia! I’m so excited for her! And judging by our last conversation she’s super excited.

I said I’d help her out with planning so I came up with Lil Big Sister Travel Company! 

It’s just a gimmick I came up with as she was looking at companies to help facilitate her working holiday in Australia. These companies are expensive and some are even scams!

Don’t fall for it. Let me see what I can do instead…

Lil Big Sister Travel Co. 

We’re not going to do it all for you, but neither would a company. Even if they claim they will. 

We’re here to give you all the advice, guidance and help you need to get to Australia. We can tell you everything you need to know before you go and more!

Get ready for sun, sand, spiders and making some serious mulah.

Why choose Lil Big Sister Travel Co.?

We can offer you everything the big companies can and more! 

Visa advise? Yep. 

Airport transfer? You got it. 

Everything else?  We got it covered.  

Mummy will feel better her little one is with someone she knows.. And one of the best things about us? It’s free. 

Do you qualify?

That all depends on you. Nobody and I mean nobody can grant you a visa except the Australian government.  All they ask of you is that you’re not a criminal, don’t have any diseases and can afford to stay there for 3 months without a job aka £2,500 to £3,000.

What could you do?

Again this is completely up to you.  Working with animals, bar work, surf instructing, retail, farm work. Why not use your dancing or singing skills? There’s lots of opportunities here and the minimum wage is equivalent of £11 an hour. Just don’t blow it all!
First things first!

What do you really need to qualify to get a visa?

• Aged 18–30 when applying.  You’re 19 so we’re good on this one.
• Citizen of eligible country.  UK. Cool beans.
• No criminal convictions. Let’s hope this is a no.
• Sometimes you have to pass a medical exam.
• No serious driving offences. Yeah cool.
• Valid passport. Make sure you have enough pages and that it won’t expire in a couple if years. Just in case.
• Evidence of sufficient funds. Now this is the ballbuster. You need £2,500 to £3,000 in your bank account to enter the country. 

What’s Included?

So you’ve seen some companies and this is what they usually offer. 

We’ve dissected, explained and found out the real cost of these things for you. 

• First job opportunity within the first five days.
• Unlimited job opportunities.
• Transfer from Brisbane airport to hostel.
• 5 nights accommodation in a hostel in Surfer’s Paradise.
• Choice of sightseeing or party tour.
• Australian mobile phone.

The reason for this is that it can cost that much to set yourself up in Oz. Food, travel, luxuries, everything is expensive. For example we spent £1,000 in the first month. And that didn’t involve buying a car and we walked from the airport to our hostel with all our bags. It’s not easy, but anything worth it never is. Get saving! 

Plus;

• A dedicated Trip Coordinator for entire journey.
• “Welcome to Australia” orientation session.
• Working holiday visa advice.
• Bank account and Tax File No. advice.
• Mail holding & luggage storage.
• Ongoing support from our Australian office.
• Advice on finding accommodation.
• Access to resource centre (wifi, printing, etc.).
• Discounted activities & tours.
• Australian tax return assistance.

Okay so let’s break it down.

A job opportunity could just be an interview. You won’t be able to pick the job you want.  It could be a commission based sales job or piece rate picking. Sometimes the company will offer to pay for your accommodation if you don’t get a ‘job opportunity’ but it won’t state what kind of accommodation or for how long.  3 nights in a rusty shed anyone? 

It won’t ever come down to this as you will always at least get an interview.  Trust me you can get that on your own.  All you need is a CV. Getting a job in Oz is the same in the UK. They have recruitment agencies here for free and you can easily give your CV into places and just ask if they are looking for anyone. Australia also has community boards and you can choose which one you apply for. Not to mention Facebook groups with job ads.

Actual cost £0.

Unlimited job opportunities. Same as above. You just have to speak to an agency or business owners and other human beings. You’ll be fine.

 Again actual cost £0.

Transfer from airport to hostel. Depends when you fly in to. But a lot of the time you can either walk, get the bus or a taxi for around £20. Unless we’re in the area in which case it’s free because we’ll pick you up.  

£0-20.

5 nights in wherever, maybe Surfer’s Paradise. Can’t choose where you stay if you go with a company. Hostelbookers.com or hostelworld.com or yha.com.au is really easy to use. 5 nights accommodation and remember this doesn’t include food, depends on which one you choose…£75. 

Choice of sightseeing tour or party tour. We can drive you around for free if you wanna sightsee. Hostels offer discounts on party and sightseeing tours anyway. So again depends what you want to do. Example koala tour £30.

Australian mobile. They may give you a crappy phone with a naff sim. If you have a phone that is unlocked you can put any Australian sim in it.  You choose how many minutes and how much data you need.  Like a woolworths sim is £15 a month for unlimited minutes and texts and 1gb data. So phone unlocking £10 sim £15.

Trip Coordinator. You can do that.  Because you can read. I’ll help you out. But all you need to do is ask yourself where do you want to go and what do you want to do? Use TripAdvisor to find out what’s around. £??

Australian orientation. I can talk your ear off about Oz for as long as you’ll let me. £0.

Visa advice. When you’ve started your savings  plan we’ll apply for this.  A visa costs £215. Advise costs £0.

Bank account. When you get your visa granted you can apply for a bank account online from the UK and is free.  £0.

TFN. Tax File number.  You fill in the form online, takes 10 minutes and get it sent to a post office in Oz who will save it for 30 days for free.  Unless we have an address in which case you can send it to ours. Again all free. £0.

Mail forwarding.  This is another thing nobody ever tells you and took us 2 days online researching to find out. Like the TFN you can get anything like all your post sent and saved for free at the good old post office.  Or ours. £0.

Luggage service.  No one needs this. No one. Ever. At all. Full stop. Not worth considering. 

Ongoing support from the Australian office.  So the trip coordinator then. Yep covered that. Instead of 24-7 support from a stranger how about 24-7 support from a sister. £0. Freeeeee.

Advice on finding accommodation.  I can help you look through adverts in newspapers and go to estate agents to ask what they’ve got but I won’t insult your intelligence.  You can do that yourself too. It’s just like if you were looking to rent a place in the UK except is easier.  £0.

Access to a resource centre with wifi, printing and stuff. This is a library. There’s one in every town and they’re still free.  £0.

Discounted activities and tours. Like I’ve said we can help you with that. And if you go to a tourist information office they give students and under 25s discounts.  And hostels give you discounts too. £0.

Australian tax return.  Don’t even worry about that until you plan on leaving.  We’ll figure that nonsense out together.  £0.

What extra does Lil Big Sister Travel Co. do?

• Advice on medical issues like what vaccinations to get.

• Advice on what to bring and what not to bring to Oz.

• Personal saving plan. 

• Timeline of what to get ready and when. 

• A link to the most comprehensive, best and cheapest travel insurance.

• Links to travellers forums so you can chat to people, maybe meet people your age who are going in the same direction as you so you can have your own amazing adventure!

• We’ll keep an eye on cheap flights and deals for you on Sky scanner.  

Also I give you;
• 1 token for free breakfast at The Coffee Club
• 1 token for a free Maccy Dees.
• Accommodation if we can provide it and you are stuck.
• Possibly a lift from the airport.

Anything else you can think of that we haven’t included, just contact our office on Facebook and our manager (your big sister) will be able to come to an agreement. 

P.s 

Fine print.

Lil Big Sister Travel Co. Is not held responsible for the little sisters actions or inability to act upon any advice given by our company including and not limited by; not following the savings plan, refusing vaccinations, missed flights etc.

P.p.s

This is just for my little sister, if I do decide to ever turn Lil Big Sister Travel Co. into a real thing available for everyone I’ll let you all know.  And it probably won’t be free. 😉