Originally Posted by
Rowan
Some things off the top of my head:
1. How old are you? Have you looked into visa arrangements? A tourist visa for a 30+ year-old lasts for three months. If you are under 30, you can come in on a working holiday visa, but at the end of the renewal intervals you have to prove you have been working and can continue to work. Renewing visas is not easy out in the middle of nowhere. One former poster here was banned from entering Australia again for seven years when he remained in the country after his visa expired.
What I did in 2001 was get a long-stay tourist visa for 12 months. It looks like Australia still has them as an E676 (
http://www.visabureau.com/australia/travel-visa.aspx) and probably easier than trying to renew a short-stay visa. It did require me so send passport and paperwork off to get the visa.