This is my third night in Sydney - here's a quick update so far. I'm staying in a hostel in a part of the city called Kings Cross, not too far from downtown. The downtown area in Australian cities is known colloquially as the CBD, or Central Business District. Aussies have a knack for shortening words - more on that later when I get a hang of the local lingo!
Over the past two days I've done a lot of walking. A city the size of Sydney (4.5 million plus in the metro area) certainly can't be explored through and through in two days, but I sure have tried. My cross city treks have ostensibly been in the name of job hunting, but in addition I've explored a lot of the city and gotten my bearings. From the University of Sydney, to the CBD / Darling Harbor, Kings Crossing, and Bondi Beach, the city is pretty walk-able.
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North Sydney and the Harbor Bridge in the background and an old cannon from the British colonial era in
"the Rocks," a neighborhood in downtown Sydney |
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| View of the CBD (central business district) |
Some pics from the University of Sydney:
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| Most campuses have a cricket field, as do some public parks. |
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| Main university hall |
Oh and on job hunting - before coming to Australia I heard that finding work here was super easy. Now that I'm actually here it has proven to be less straightforward. First of all, you need certification for tons of jobs. To be a bartender or server you need an RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol), to work in construction or manual labour something called a White Card, a special certificate to be a barrista; even working the front desk of a fitness club requires certification! You can get most of these with a relatively inexpensive one-day course, but it still makes things more complicated.
One job that does sound pretty easy to get is farm work. Australia is diverse enough geographically so that at any given time of the year you can find work picking fruits and veggies in at least one area of the country. Even so you still need to figure out which farms are hiring. Certain hostels advertise work and help you find jobs, and lots can be found by word of mouth. But given what I've seen in Sydney so far I know why many travelers would rather find work in the city.
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The Australian government provides travels a guide to seasonal
farm work around the country free of charge. It doesn't guarantee
you a job but is a good place to start. |
Judging by my limited anecdotal observations I am quite impressed with the city of Sydney. The weather yesterday afternoon and all of today was perfect (high 70s and sunny), so maybe I am biased. But talking with several residents here it seems like most Australians have a good work-life balance. And they definitely should! Within a short commute from central Sydney you can find great beaches and hiking, and within the city there are plenty of parks and trails for running and cycling. Aussies are generally very sporty and I can see why!
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Several beaches are a short ride away from central Sydney;
the most famous has to be Bondi (pictured) |
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| View of downtown from one of the city's many parks. |
During my walk around town I've been handing out my resume to restaurants, but so far no immediate success. Lots of places have told me that they are full staffed at the moment and this time of year (coming on fall) isn't the best time to look for hospitality work. So that's why I decided to sign up for a course to get my white card tomorrow. It takes 6 or 7 hours and cost less than $90 - still significant but if it can land me a job than well worth it. I'm still optimistic, and really wouldn't have expected to get work in the first day or two, but hopefully I'll find one soon! More on that to come.
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