My Year In Australia: The Plan (So Far!)
If you haven’t already heard, Lewis and I are moving to Australia!
We’re headed Down Under on a year-long working holiday visa.
I leave for Oz on September 14th from Boston Logan Airport at the same time Lewis will leave from London Heathrow and (if all goes according to plan) our planes will reach Dubai airport early morning on the 15th.
Why Dubai? No particular reason other than when else are we going to have the chance to visit Dubai?! But also, neither of us wanted to fly all the way to Sydney alone and Dubai was a good half-way spot for both of us to meet. We’re flying with Emirates and I’ve heard a lot of good things about them so I am excited to see how it is.
We have nearly 2 full days in Dubai. We’ll arrive pretty early in the morning, get through customs and find out hotel. We’re treating ourselves and staying at the TAJ Dubai. While in Dubai we want to visit the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building), the Dubai Mall, the Dubai Fountains as well as see something a bit more cultural based–like a temple or a desert tour. (If anyone reading this has any other suggestions of must-see things to do in Dubai please please let us know!!).
After our one night stay at the Taj our flight the next day isn’t until 2:00AM on the 17th. So we have a full, full day in Dubai and quite a bit of time to spend at the airport. I’m kind of hoping that I get so exhausted waiting for the flight that I’ll be able to sleep some of the 15 hour journey to Sydney. We then fly, together this time, to Sydney!!
We’ll arrive in Sydney late night on the 17th and will take a cab to the Airbnb we rented in Maroubra, NSW. It looks really cool and I will definitely be filming a Youtube video of it and the surrounding area (so stay tuned!). The next day I am sure we will be completely exhausted but will be eager to explore bits of Sydney and Australian coastline. We’re at the Airbnb for two nights so we’ll spend that time getting our bearings and exploring around.
Then, on the 19th, we’re off to begin an orientation program called Ultimate Oz which was recommended to me by a friend of a friend. It’s a weeklong program aimed at young people who are beginning their gap years in Australia. It helps with a ton of the practical bits of moving to a new country: opening bank accounts, getting tax I.D. numbers, job support, training courses, polishing off your CV (resume), etc, etc but also budgets in time for some really fun things that are a bit more on the touristy side: a city & beach tour, Sydney Harbour cruise, sand boarding, bush walk, dolphin cruise, pub crawl, dinners and a camping trip. We’re hoping it’ll be a great way to meet friends abroad and maybe even some potential roommates.
After that?
Who knows 🙂 Follow along with this blog and with my Youtube channel to stay updated on our whereabouts for the next year, it’s sure to be an adventure!!
If anyone has any recommendations or tips of things to do in Dubai or Sydney or anything at all, please drop them below or email me at katie.lofblad@gmail.com !
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