27 Signs You’ve Done A Working Holiday in Australia…
1. The beach eventually lost its novelty.
The novelty of the Aussie beach bum lifestyle starts to lose it’s appeal a month in… Yeah I want to get my tan on but ain’t nobody got time for the families packed onto Manly beach.
2. Goon.
Do I even need to explain this one? We all drank it. You most likely also used the empty bag as a pillow. It was a necessary cliche at the time.
3. Passion Pop instead meant a sophisticated evening.
Sure it’s practically Lambrini with a prettier label, but it comes from a bottle instead of a bag darling.
4. You fell for the myth of the Drop Bears…
Vicious koala-like creatures that prey on their victims by dropping from above… sound familiar? Locals can’t help but wind up foreigners with this mythical beast. At least I didn’t put vegemite behind my ears to ward them off…
5. You discovered that Timtams are like crack.
So chocolate bars akin to penguins, except they come in a multi-pack so it’s totally acceptable to eat more than one? Or eat 10? Sweet, I’m in.
6. You talked about farm work opportunities with everyone you met.
Even if you arrived in Australia knowing you would only stay a year, and with no desire to get your second year visa, talking about available farmwork is the norm in the backpacker world of Oz. We all know you don’t go pick bananas because of the big spiders and we all know it’s entirely possible to bribe a farmer. Except you never meet anyone who actually has.
7. You’ve lived on ramen noodles and Coles’ Dollar Dazzlers.
At one point in the year you were subjected to poverty of the worst kind – backpacker poverty. This involves living on ramen noodles of the cheapest variety and topping up with whatever’s on offer in Coles. If you’re really strapped for cash you’ll end up in the ‘free food’ shelf of the YHA. (Yes I’ve done this and I’ve come up with surprisingly good dinners. Don’t judge.).
8. You’ve had to deal with changing hostel rooms on a work day.
The general idea of doing a WHV tends to be that you’ll get some kind of apartment whist you’re working, but there are always stints you have to live in hostels. And that means changing rooms a lot. This means having to pack your worldly belongings up the morning before work, leaving it all in the storage room at Reception, going to work, coming home and moving your stuff into a new dorm. It really sucks.
9. Sydney’s backpacker bars were your bitch.
You thought the city of Sydney would be your playground but it turns out it’s just those same 3 backpacker bars – Three Monkeys, Side Bar, World’s End… (With the occasional visit to Scruffy Murphy’s.)
10. You own clothes from Cotton On.
Sure you want to be wearing clothes from Sportsgirl or General Pants Co, but Cotton On is as good as it gets on your budget. Throw in a couple tops from Jay Jays and you’re good to go.
11. At some point you’ve played a game of flip cup with a group of rowdy Canadians.
The stereotype is correct – Canadians love Flip Cup and will always be friendly enough to invite you to play.
12. You’ve been cornered by a huntsman.
Apparently it’s totally normal to be stuck in the showers because there’s a huntsman spider on the door handle… What is this place.
13. You freaked the first time you saw an actual real life KANGAROO!
Massively cliche but so bloody cute.
14. Max Brenner’s blew your mind.
I’m sorry, there’s a restaurant where everything has chocolate in it? And you can buy a ‘shot’ of melted chocolate with popping candy and gummy bear accompaniments? I can die happy.
15. Australian slang has made it’s way into your vocabulary in some form.
How ’bout a Macca’s this arvo’ mate? Too easy, let me grab my singlet and thongs. (The words ‘Capsicum’ and ‘Zucchini’ still come out of my mouth on occasion)
16. You’ve come face to face with at least 5 animals that could kill you.
After you’ve seen a crocodile feeding at Malcolm Douglas, there’s no going back. New fear discovered.
17. Christmas in July.
It’s a thing. There’s Christmas trees. There’s Irish Jigs. There’s Goon.
18. You missed British humour.
It’s hard when people don’t understand your sarcastic, self-deprecating, pessimistic sense of humour. I’m not suicidal Aussies, I’m just a Brit.
19. You’ve seen Bondi Rescue in action.
You’ve also likely been terrified by the shark-watch helicopters flying over the beach…
20. You’ve done some bad-ass adventure sports.
I’m not as mental as most Bungee-Jumping backpackers, but Sandboarding and Quadbiking is still cool right?
21. You’ve done some really random jobs.
Smoothie anyone?
22. You felt like a student again with the amount of fancy dress that went down
Although it’s pretty hard to find an outfit on a budget in Australia, am I right?
23. You’ve literally thrown a shrimp on the barby…
Or was it just me that wanted to achieve every Australian cliche humanly possible?
24. These things freaked you the fuck out.
I’m sorry, but is that a pterodactyl on the pavement?
25. You’ve been to some pretty sick parties…
NYE in Sydney is a bucketlist item checked off.
26. You met people from all walks of life.
We were all there for the Australia dream yeah?
27. You got to live in a pretty damn cool country for a year.
Shit, Australia’s pretty rad. Who knew?
PIN FOR LATER, PAL:
Hoping to do an internship in Australia so I can stay there for a while. Never been but it looks incredible 🙂
Amazing, you’ll have a great time! ????
A few things: 1)CottonOn is pretty much my life, we don’t have an equivalent at home and I miss it – I often still find myself wearing all CotttonOn errrythang event though I own other clothes.
2) I didn’t realise flip cup was a Canadian stereotype but it is a brilliant game, I fulfill that stereotype.
3) Ibises are the devil spawn of satan birds (only topped by magpies)
Loved this post 🙂
Haha the Canadian stereotype is one I’ve discovered on my own but I’m yet to meet a Canadian that doesn’t actively promote flip cup! And yes, Ibises are terrifying!!
eggplant, capsicum, zucchini…
Worst thing is I have started saying them.
https://theeighthours.wordpress.com/
Yep it’ll get ya. Zucchini in particular is a hard one to go back from. Courgette just sounds weird now…
Totally agree with the Goon. Think I had to give it up once I got to about Mission beach area….it was too much! Cotton on…haha so true!
Also, I will never be bored of the beach…bring on more beach time.
I was in Oz for a year loved it late 2004
Ohhh Max Brenner is the best!!! So glad I discovered it, most backpackers I’d met had never heard of it. Also lol’d at the ibis pterodactyl comment, I thought the same thing!!
Can’t wait to back to Max Brenner this month!! 🙂