Hello All.
I would LOVE to visit Australia! But, I know nothing about the different areas.
Please recommend different areas or types of sits that would be beginner friendly. Time of year suggestions work well, too.
I would be applying for sits post-COVID, just FYI (avoiding flight cancellations or delays).
I currently live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, US (High Desert area at 7000 ft. altitude). I am in my late 50s with no physical limitations. During my decades of marriage, I have lived in these US areas: 3 times in Connecticut, 2 times in Virginia, 2 times in Florida, 2 times in Idaho, 1 time in California and 1 time in South Carolina. So some varied climates in the US.
Also, since I would be flying in, is it possible to do a house sit somewhere where I won’t need a car?
I am typically a quiet person who does not enjoy lots of nights out. I cook when I do house sits. I enjoy hanging out with the pets (I usually reduce my outings to have more time with the pets). I am a quilt pattern designer and teacher (A great home-body hobby).
I’m impartial to the Western Australia/South Aus/NT regions as people ignore them . We lived in Perth for many yrs .
Perth’s awesome & many of the TH sits there are on the train lines. However, should you want to venture down to and around Albany, Denmark or Esperance you’ll need a vehicle.
The beaches are 10000% better in WA than east coast ones in my world.
I’m not a fan of the East Coast but yes i’ve driven from Perth to Bris a few times. Have done heaps of other driving adventures through Aus
We could be here all day discussing meandering through Aus but it’s all down to you doing heaps of searching all the wonderful bits of info the web throws our way as you’ll find a gem somewhere cool!
Hi @CR38. Any of the great capital cities in Australia would suit you as there’s plenty of public transport and usually quite a few sits advertised, especially in Sydney and Melbourne. If you visited in winter but don’t like the cold then Queensland would be the state to look for sits, especially along the coast or around Brisbane. During summer Queensland gets very humid and it’s the wet season, just like it is in Northern Territory, so you might prefer to be further south. Western Australia has a lot going for it. The only downfall is the distance between there and the east coast where much of the Australian population is. As @TheMapleKiwi says, you need to do lots of research and learn about what the various states offer. Many overseas visitors don’t realise the distances between our capital cities and the cost to travel from one side of the country to the other.
I would suggest that you browse the sits that have been/are being advertised and you’ll get a feel for where to go. When I first visited Oz, many years ago, I flew into Sydney, travelled up the East coast to Port Douglas and flew back. The West coast is very different and stunning. There will be sits in Perth no doubt (a city I found a bit dull but I was younger then) but probably not too many up the coast. I love Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide as cities. Just remember the distances are huge.
Our first Australian house sit was in Brisbane in 2018/2019 for 7 weeks! We have since done sits in Melbourne, Perth, the Barossa Valley and Adelaide. They were all so different and so wonderful. We were finishing another one month sit in Brisbane in February 2020 when COVID struck. We thought we would head to New Zealand until this COVID thing “blew over”. Arrived on 1 March, 2020 and still here.
Our travels throughout Australia were pre-COVID and it was very easy to get cheap flights from city to city. Public transport was widely available in all of the cities we visited. We were generally provided with a car at most of these sits and we rarely used it. Happy travels!
. We lived in Perth for many yrs 
