Believe it or not, this was our first jaunt Down Under and we knew in this expensive country that we had to be strategic about stretching the budget. Part of that strategy took us a bit out of our comfort zone and definitely forced us to be way more flexible and last minute than we usually prefer.
Did we get to see all the major “bucket list” items in Oz?! Definitely not…but we really didn’t care. Thanks to approaching it with open minds, we got to have far more local experiences than we ever thought we would, which for us, are more enjoyable anyways!
And in the end, this strategy paid off big…both in enjoyment, the things we got to see and do, and for our budget which clocked in at $37.30/day. Another thing that helped was the exchange rate was AUD $1 to $.62 USD, which was quite beneficial for those spending green backs.
We would like to give a special shout out to our very generous hosts including Joel & Leah, Caroline & Mark and Kim & Vaughn. You all made our experience so much more rich. 🥰
In Summary…
Below is our personal list of stats, money saving tips, some fun slang, and our personal upsides and downsides for the country. If you’ve been to Australia, what would you add?
Time Spent: 55 nights
Money Spent: $2052 or $37.30/day average in USD/two people, which breaks down to:
- $1007 (Groceries)
- $768 (Transport)
- $122 (Accommodation)
- $108 (General)
- $46 (Restaurants)
Our itinerary: Melbourne (30), Moyhu (5), Camping from Cairns to Brisbane (4), Brisbane (4), Collins Creek (5), Lismore (1), Brisbane (5), Gold Coast (1)
Favorite Place: Melbourne
Least Favorite: Nundah neighborhood, Brisbane
Would we return? Undoubtedly. It’s a new favorite for many reasons we’ll list below. Next trip, we hope to focus on the south including more of Melbourne, Adelaide, Tasmania and possibly Perth.
Top Five Highlights
- Watching wallabies and pademelons outside our off-the-grid cabin in the NSW rainforest
- Exploring off-the-beaten-track parts of Northern Victoria in a Ute, while staying at our friends’ dairy farm. These included Winton Wetlands, Beechworth, and Benalla.
- Meandering along the nature trails throughout the Glen Iris neighborhood of Melbourne and checking out all the new birds
- Experiencing our first vehicle relocation road trip (Cairns to Brisbane)
- The incredible warmth and hospitality we received from our housesitting hosts and the opportunity to sit our first frenchies.
Best Takeaways for Saving Money
- Housesit. This country is loaded with opportunities. We recommend starting with a longer sit as an anchor point and filling in the gaps with shorter ones. (Here’s a link to save 25% on our favorite housesitting site. This is great for those who NEED petsitters too!)
- Vehicle Relocation through Imoova. Rental cars for AUD $1/day!! The catch is you need to be flexible for this because they often don’t become available until 1-2 weeks beforehand.
- Camp while you’re doing the relocation to save a ton on accommodation.
- Shop at Aldi. Forget Woolworths. You will save a LOT.
- Don’t eat or drink unless you’re “splurging”. This should be a no-brainer.
Our Upsides
- An abundance of parks & natural areas, most of which is free
- Affordable and easy to find camping with great value.
- Potable water is readily available
- You can get a decent bottle of wine for $4-8 USD or a box, aka goon sack for $7-10
- Copious amounts of sunshine; cheaper sunscreen options
- Roadside fruit stands
- An unbelievable breadth of wildlife
- The use of English with some bonus entertaining slang* (See below)
- Diverse terrain…it has it all
- This includes outstanding powder white beaches
- The safety and public health signage is both useful and amusing.
- Groceries were affordable and the selection was fantastic, especially Australian dairy products like cheese, milk and plain yogurt. It’s also easy to find things that are 100% local and all natural.
- Vibrant local arts scene almost everywhere
- Small town life is charming and robust.
- Readily available housesits with extremely hospitable hosts
- Imoova rental car relocations for $1/day. You just pay for gas
- Tons of free activities
- Public transportation exceeded expectations; we’ve been told it was as bad as the States. It’s not!!
- Melbourne was an absolute jewel. One of our new favorite cities.
Our Downsides
- The price of craft beer and restaurants was quite high
- The endless swarms of flies
- We’ve had better internet in many developing countries (exception: Melbourne)
- Small parking spaces
- Jetstar being the only budget airline option. From late departures, to making you arrive too early, to baggage issues, we had many unpleasant experiences.
- Not all international airports had lounges (Boo hoo…first world problems!)
- Everything you encounter seems to have potential for bodily harm
- Although we had extraordinary hospitality from friends, we noticed that people were not so friendly with casual encounters, especially in cities. (I.e. passing on the street/trail, in an elevator, waiting in line, etc.) Based on our experiences in UK and US, this was a bit surprising.
- The UV is brutal and sun is intense. You go through a lot of sunscreen.
- You also go through a lot of bug spray.
- The inability to plan ahead, which goes hand in hand with crazy accommodation pricing
- Discrepancies between cost of living and goods between the states. We found the most affordable state to be Victoria, followed by Queensland and New South Wales.
New Aussie Slang
Paddock (Farm)
Ute (Truck)
Arvo (Afternoon)
Esky (Cooler)
Goon sack (Cheap Box Wine)
Hey goin? (How you doing?)
Lay by (Layaway)
Servo (Gas/Petrol Station)
Daggy (Scruffy, Run-down)
Chubby (Getting a hard-on)
Ferret (Dig/look for something)
Stubby cooler (beer koozie)
Up the duff (pregnant)
