Trip to Australia #1-- Guides before departure

20:00 Jia Ying 1 Comments

It's another achievement unlocked last year. I went to a continent, a country, a city that I never been. Australia, one of my dream country to visit.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

There are few thing you gonna do before you depart. Here I compile a check list for all the traveler who interested to visit Australia.

1. Flight
The duration of flight from Singapore to Sydney is approximately around 6-7 hours. There are quite a few budget flights can be chosen, such as Airasia, Scoot..etc. As I observe, there are promotions offered cheaper fares during the winter season in Australia.

2. Electronic Travel Authority (ETA)
All visitors except citizens of New Zealand, require a visa in advance to step into Australia.
If you are visiting Australia for holiday of less than three months, there are different type of visa for different nationality.
For Malaysian, you need Electronic Travel Authority (ETA).
An ETA is an electronically stored authority for travel to Australia, and is accessible by airlines, travel agents and Australian border agencies. It's required that you obtain an ETA if you intend to travel to Australia.
To apply ETA, you can either go to their government's official website to apply online
https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETAS3/etas

or you can go to some travel agency, which you just need to present your passport and flight tickets.
Different agency have different charge on processing your ETA. Normally the fee charge is cheaper than you applied yourself through the official website. I found out the fees charge is different for different agency. I applied through Yusza (eta.australia@yahoo.com). The charge is RM20 ( November 2015)

3. Accommodation
Depend on the area you visit, the accommodation in city will be expensive. You may choose backpacker hostel, which is a more budget option. Check throughout the hotel/hostel booking website on all the facilities they have. The review from the previous visitor is important for you to judge the hotel/hostel.
p/s: I visited Sydney and I stayed in hostel near King Cross area.

4. Money
It's more convenient to change sufficient amount of Australia Dollar before depart. As usual common travel tip, try to avoid changing money in airport, because rate is not good.

5. Packing list
-During a travel, you may walk more than usual. A pair of good shoes is important for your comfortable.
-Besides that, even during the summer, the weather is a bit unpredictable. Sometime might rain. Remember prepare a suitable cloth for the weather change.
-Do remember to bring the adapter plug.Socket in Australia look like this:

-Another thing is what you can bring in to Australia. Try to avoid bringing food. If you bring, remember to declare and write down in the immigration card. You may check this website on the thing you can bring in to Australia. Fresh food are normally not allowed.
https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Ente/Brin/Can-I-bring-it-back
- Once you arrive your accommodation, just request a free city map from them. Normally all hotel/hostel have the free map.