@IHeartAnimals The Blue Mountains are spectacular scenery and have many things to do. This link explains it all Blue Mountains - Things to do, accommodation & more | Visit NSW
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Yes I agree that many of the profiles were lacking info and photos compared to THS. One of the pet parents did reply asking for time to go through the many applications that came in.
-I did get a question āhow confident are you that you can get an approved visa?ā Hmm good point, so a few nights ago, I applied for the visa and got approved within minutes of applying so that obstacle would be out of the way.
-I uploaded screenshots of THS reviews in my photo gallery and copied all of our THS reviews and put them in a PDF and sent those in with the original applications. If you have that many 5*reviews, you could try putting them in a PDF so that they can see it right away. I thought I saw a statement somewhere that you couldnāt put a link in AHS
-Between THS and AussieHS I think I put in about 12 or 13 applications and got this confirmation in Sydney, and 1 in Melbourne. 2 Pet parents from Brisbane who stated they were interested but moved just a tad too slow to wrap things up.
I was planning to go to Brisbane but the Sydney lady was prompt at answering the millions of questions I had, offered to bring two cars to pick us up at the airport since weāre a big family, and when I asked for a video tour, she offered to do it right then. Her quick response time, detailed responses, and decisiveness felt refreshing so I told the family weāre going to Sydney instead of Brisbane. My family was really excited, not because of Sydney vs Brisbane, but because it was 12 min drive to Costco lol and next to a public park with exercise equipment.
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I would choose Sydney any time over Brisbaneā¦ so in that respect I think you made the right choice, even if by accident 
!
Thanks for sharing your process. Visa no issue - already got it. Put indeed all THS reviews in a PDF, shared both the THS link to my reviews with HOs (if they create a free account, which is literally just email & password, they can see all reviews for themselves) and also uploaded the PDF to my AHS profile - I learned thatās possible. And of course been saying in my applications that Iād happily share the PDF directly with them as well.
I did actually secure a Sydney sit last week via this site (THS). Far from easy with the time difference (Europe) & the 5 appl limit, but in this case the HO had accidentally listed the wrong location - small place countryside NSW - so anyone with a Sydney alert wasnāt notified of that sit. And hence I managed to sneak inā¦
Nonetheless, I started with AussieHouseSitters to secure a Syd or Melb sit over the Xmas holidays and so far thatās gone nowhere. Applied for a few listings from mid Jan as well as I have more time in Aus that Iād like to fill - although so far thereās very very few of them, and one already let me know that she was swamped with applications and was preferring repeat sitters.
There was also 1 sit with literally a half line as description, and when I inquired (because I do need a bit more info than that to properly apply), they actually did get back to me although only to say that theyād already found someone!
Hence the āsitter madnessā seems to be similar to THS, with an oversupply of sitters willing to do the sits available - even in the absence of any descriptionā¦
On that note, I havenāt found an easy way to PDF all my THS reviews. Itās a lot of manual workā¦
If youāve been to Sydney and never did the Bridge Walk, you need to do it. It is amazing!
@avidtraveler weāve never been to Australia before. We are researching everything now. Thank you for the tip
Youāll love Australia. Nicest people anywhere! Such a beautiful city to fly into. Lots to do. Youāll have the time of your life.
Good for you!! One of our very first housesits when we joined was in a city called Ballina on the Gold Coast. Weād never been to Australia before so I put together an itinerary. We flew to Cairns - loved it there and would love to go back. From there we did three excursions - the Great Barrier Reef, The Kuranda rail trip (highly recommend) and an outback excursion. We spent two nights in Brisbane and bussed it to our house sit location where we spent two weeks. Loved it there - within walking distance of one of the best beaches weāve ever been. The homeowners included their car which was a huge bonus. We ended our trip spending a week in Sydney. It was a wonderful sit in Ballina combined with our own personal vacation in Australia. Youāll have a great time! Everyone was so friendly!
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@Globetrotter wow you really are a Globetrotter. That sounds like a wonderful trip you had. Iām hoping to add on a couple more sits to see the other areas.
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I would pull up your profile, zoom out so that the review section shows then take a screenshot of each page of the section. Crop the reviews out, put them into a google doc, then download it as a PDF. should take less than 10 mins, depending on number of reviews. you could also send them a link in your application.
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@IHeartAnimals you will have a great time. Summer in Sydney. Itās a beautiful city, not only the inner city, but most suburbs too. When we arrived there 10 years ago, I was amazed at all there was to explore. You donāt have to pay for everything, you can just wander around for hours, exploring different areas. Just walking (once you get to your preferred area by public transport). We havenāt been in the South, so my tips would all be based around the North. Although I do see the Auburn botanical gardens are a stones throw from you and they have a beautiful Japanese section.
@botvot weāre very excited and grateful that it didnāt take too long to secure a sit. Now my husband and oldest son are throwing out new Zealand like Iām some sort of travel genie or something
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Depending on when you are sitting in Melbourne, we may be able to catch up @IHeartAnimals.
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Well, if youāre going half-way around the world, might as well go three-quarters!
Itās just a quick 3 hour flightā¦enjoy! My mom, sister and myself visited in May 2018 for 2 weeks. It was already pretty chilly by then, and we enjoyed the landscapes and steaming thermal baths tremendously, will always remember that holiday fondly.
But extremely expensive for one let alone a family, if you mean the bridge climb that is. Nice just walking across the bridge though.
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I agree. The first time I flew into Australia was into Sydney and I was very emotional upon seeing the bridge and Opera House - such iconic sights.
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If you get the opportunity to visit New Zealand, donāt miss it. Iām an Aussie but I do think New Zealand is close to being one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Very small and you can almost drive from one end of the north island to the other in a day or so. But the south island is where the true beauty is - stunning 
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@Globetrotter sorry to disappoint you but Ballina is no where near Gold Coast. The northern NSW towns love to claim they are part of Gold Coast as itās an iconic destination but Ballina is too much of a stretch at 85kms away! 
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@temba if I end up going to Melbourne āMelbinā as I just learned a couple days ago (Iāve been saying it incorrectly), Iāll definitely reach out to you. Thx
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@ziggy my son who has never logged into the THS website before logged in today to look at New Zealand sits. Nothing but Xmas sits but heās hopeful something will pop up before we head back to the US. Thx
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