After you spend all that time getting to Oz and making sure you have enough money, the next most important thing is a place to lay your weary head. Somewhere you can call home away from home.

The type of accommodation will of course depend on how long you're in Australia. Most of the time the best type to start with are Hostels. They're the best place to meet new people and make new friends, also to find out all that good travellers advice.

If you find yourself staying a bit longer in a place than you had planned and the cost of the hostel is getting a bit too much for the pocket to handle, it's a very good idea to have a look round for shared accommodation. A lot of the time if you ask in the hostel you'll get a few people that might come along with you, making it that much cheaper. But be warned a lot of places for rent will want a reference from where you work to make sure you're not going to run out on them. They will also want you to rent for a few months. Unless they are backpackers themselves, who are just looking for a roommate to share with.

It's really up to yourself, the hostels give you the freedom to be able to pack up and leave at a day's notice. Sharing a house or apartment gives you that little more home comforts and security, but might mean a lot of the time if you want to leave you have to get a replacement for your spot.

Hopefully some of the links on this page will help you. And, after a while. I hope to get an accommodation message board going too