Your Complete Australia Gap Year

Spend up to 12 months on an amazing gap year in Australia. This programme provides all the structure you need including lots of included activities, detailed orientation meetings and help when you need it. There are also lots of opportunities for you to do your own thing. You choose when you go, where you work and what sort of activities you experience.

Programme Age Limit
Minimum 18 years, maximum decided on potential participants health.

Your Australian Programme
You will fly from London Heathrow airport to Sydney, Australia. For the first 7 nights you will be staying in Sydney, meeting other young travellers, attending orientation meetings and having job consultations. We find you jobs – fast. You can then go on to travel Australia’s East Coast, learn to surf, become a cowboy/girl and volunteer at one of 10 locations across Oz.

Your 12 Month Work Package
Before you leave the UK we will process your working holiday visa for you. The visa is available to anyone age 18 – 30 and is valid for up to 12 months. Typical jobs available are in the hospitality trade, temping work in offices and fruit picking or farm work and you can work for any one employer for up to six months. If you want to stay for longer than 12 months it is now possible to extend your visa whilst out in Australia for up to 24 months - speak to one of our sales advisors for more info.

We do not recommend getting a working holiday for Australia if you plan to spend any less than 3 months in the country – the visa can only be granted once in a lifetime and so it’s best to make the most of it!

Tourist visas are available for Australia and are valid for 3 months but do not allow you to get paid work.

What is included?

On Arrival
Our Aussie team will personally meet you at Sydney Airport and transfer you to our hostel in Sydney city centre. After a long flight it’s great not having to worry about how you are going to get to the hostel.

Accommodation in Sydney
We include 7 nights’ accommodation in Sydney, conveniently located downtown near our office and where all the action is. The accommodation is in shared dormitory style rooms and breakfast is included every morning.

Orientation
A group orientation will be held on the first business day after you arrive into Sydney. It lasts around 3 hours. The session is packed with loads of useful information including info about jobs, tax refunds, travelling around Oz and for some the most important advice – where the best bars and clubs are in Sydney! There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions.

The orientation will end by everyone chilling out and enjoying some beer and food. This is a great opportunity to get to know the Aussie staff and your fellow travellers.

Job Finding Services
Upon arrival, our priority is to find you a job. All you need to do is let our team of job consultants know when you want to work and the rest will be done for you! You will then be safe in the knowledge that you have up to 12 months of job offers, all with reputable employers, a nice feeling considering that over 110,000 people enter Oz on a working holiday visa each year.

Our job service is far more comprehensive and efficient than many other companies offering job packages. We actually have a “job hunting team” that spends all day calling potential employers to obtain jobs for our customers. This job team was set up 6 years ago and they have gained a huge number of contacts with employers who want you to work for them.

We have lots of job in Sydney. However we can also find you work in other parts of Australia.

Types of jobs
We match you to a job which suits your skills. Employment opportunities in hospitality, call centres, office temping, accounting, childcare, teaching, retail, IT and fruit picking are among the many types of jobs on offer. As a general rule, the casual work we get ranges from $13-$18 per hour. Skilled temping positions pay more – around $20-30 per hour.

Bank Account
An Australian bank account will be opened for you. You will receive all the details and your bank card within the first days of arrival.

SIM card, $10 credit and phone number
A Vodafone SIM card and $10 credit is included. You can either bring your current mobile with you (check with your provider that it is compatible) or you can easily buy a cheap mobile in Oz. Our staff can advise you on your best options.

YHA Membership
The YHA membership enables our travellers to get discounts on hostel nights, car hire and travel products. With this card you will receive discounts at hundreds of hostels around the world, including 140 in Australia.

Free Internet
Email as much as you like with unlimited free Internet at the Sydney office. This is a great way to stay in touch with family and friends back home.

Mail Forwarding and Holding service
We will set up a mailbox for you before you arrive. The mailroom is located in our Sydney office. The mail service will forward standard letters to any post office at any location within Australia. So no matter where you are, your mail can reach you.

Loads of other stuff
Our Aussie team organises parties at various different venues. This is a great way to meet other travellers as well as have fun times. In addition they regularly organise social and cultural activities such as wineries trips, bush walking, sporting events, and festivals.

When you decide to travel around Oz, you get 1 month’s free luggage storage for you at the Sydney office. Each month you will receive a newsletter with the entire latest goings on, events and offers.

You will receive a beach bag, some flip flops and a water bottle, plus a booklet of discount vouchers - amazing discounts off exciting activities such as Jet Boating, Museums, Zoos and tours, also loads of discounts on useful stuff like travel, accommodation and perhaps most importantly – beer!

4 weeks Conservation Volunteer Australia
There are opportunities to volunteer all over Australia in every state – choose from 10 locations in both busy cities and outback towns.

The Australian environment is a precious resource and needs looking after. Most Australians live in or near cities, so we need volunteers to join in and help. It is likely that there will be Australians on your project but you will also be mixing people from all over the world.

Most of the projects exist in areas that are “off the beaten track”, so you will get to live and spend quality time in areas of Australia that other travellers and tourists don’t get to see.

Also, most of the work you are involved in helps to keep these areas pristine, preserving them for future generations, so it’s productive too.

All your accommodation and meals are included each day. You live with the other volunteers in accommodation specifically built for you and you get plenty of free time in the evenings to enjoy a few drinks and a famous Aussie BBQ. Most of the volunteers are travellers like yourself, so you get to meet many new great people and make lots of friends.

The most popular destinations are in Queensland, due to its year-round climate, which book up well in advance. If you choose to do your project there, we would need notification as soon as possible. However, as the Complete Australia package means you have up to 12 months there, you have the luxury of being able to do it at a convenient time for you and have enough time to get the destination you want.

Note: if you book to work on more than one 4-week project, transport between projects is not included.

5-day surf school adventure
On this trip you get to live the surfer’s dream of freedom, travel, good waves and good times. You spend 5 days travelling between Sydney and Byron Bay, stopping along the way at some of Australia’s most pristine beaches. Your transport is the luxury surf party bus, which will take you to your destinations in style, many of which will be off the “conventional” backpacker route.

The full surfing tuition covers all abilities from beginners to advanced, and the full accredited instructors will make sure that you will be standing and riding those waves. On top of this, they will pass on the skills of paddling, wave selection and ocean knowledge, as well as many other hints too.

All equipment, transport, accommodation and meals are included. The trip is an absolute dream, as you ride the waves by day and party by night.

5-day Jackaroo / Jillaroo (cowboy/cowgirl) School
With this experience you spend 5 days learning the skills of reallife Jackaroos and Jillaroos (Aussie cowboys and girls). Staying at the Leconsfield Estate in Tamworth NSW, you are taught the day-today skills that are necessary to become a Jackaroo, including working with the horses or other animals, to using ropes and lasso, and other necessary outback skills… loads of fun in the outdoors.

This is an ideal opportunity if you have an interest in horses and if you want to witness how life exists in the genuine Aussie outback.

Experiencing the true outback is a rare opportunity, especially with all the tourist developments commercialising “the bush.”

The outback ranches, however, will always retain the true Aussie nature and the spirit on the Jackaroo.

What's Included:

During your time at the ranch you will be taught:

In the evenings you can enjoy beer and wine whilst sat around a campfire with friends from all over the world. Prepare for the “back to basic”, we will have you making real Aussie tucker!

OZ Experience Bus Pass
You will receive the “Strewth” pass allowing you to travel between Byron Bay and Cairns, letting you see the main sights of the amazing East coast, such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays, Airlie Beach and Fraser island. Not only that, the “Oz Experience” buses like to take you on out-of-the-way trips en route, showing you areas of natural splendour and adding local stories and legend, to teach you more about what makes Australia a fantastic place.

Your Thailand Stop Over: Bangkok Stop Over

You can choose to have your stop over either on your outbound or your return flight. Upon arrival at Bangkok airport, you will be met by a guide who will take you to the hotel by air-conditioned bus for a 2-night stop over. Once there you can relax and explore this amazing and vibrant capital.

2-night stop over includes:

Flights
Once you have booked, we will talk through the best flight options. The airlines will depend on your departure dates. The inclusive price covers the airline ticket and the tax. The flight sectors are:

Initially we will book your flight sectors with dates. However you have the flexibility to change these dates for a small fee once you have left the UK.

Insurance
Our Gap Year comprehensive insurance policy is with Endsleigh. You will receive a policy document in your final pack, which outlines exactly what you are covered for. Full details of coverage are also available on our website www.realgap.co.uk/Insurance

Programme Support
Throughout your programmes you will have the support and guidance of the programme coordinator and team.

You will be provided with competent assistance and help with any questions or advice you may need during your stay.

You will be assigned a personal travel advisor who will coordinate your programme with you. Feel free to contact them at any time before you go, or when you are on your travels. In addition, you will have access to a 24 hour emergency contact number so you can contact one of our UK staff at any time should you need to.

If you are interested in the Complete Australia package then please feel free to contact Lisa, our Complete Gap Programme Manager at lisa.fiddimore@realgap.co.uk or call the team on 01892 516164. We can also tailor make a similar itinerary just for you to fit in with your budget, time scale and ideals to make this your trip of a lifetime!