Arriving in Canberra
By Abbey Harber, Australian National University, Australia
After months of stressing over my visa, travel insurance, and accommodation, I finally arrived in Canberra in July.
Visa
I was quite stressed about the process of obtaining my visa and travel insurance, but everything worked out in the end. My advice is to apply for your visa as soon as you receive your course enrolment confirmation letter. I waited a bit before applying, which only added to my stress. The process can take a while, so it’s best to get a head start. Additionally, you’ll need to get Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) as it’s a requirement for a student visa in Australia. The timeline for receiving your visa can vary widely; for example, mine took about a month to be approved, while someone else I know got theirs back on the same day they applied. This is another reason why you should apply for your visa immediately – it allows you to book your flight to Canberra as far in advance as possible. I only managed to book my flight two weeks ahead of time, which probably made it more expensive than it needed to be.
Travel to Canberra
My total travel time was around 27 hours. I departed from Manchester with layovers in Doha and Adelaide before finally arriving in Canberra (with my 32kg gigantic suitcase that lots of people had to watch me struggle to pull along). The flight from Doha to Adelaide was 13 hours which felt like a lifetime, so you can imagine how grateful I was when I finally landed. It was surreal hearing so many Australian accents! I landed around 9pm local time and went straight to a hotel for the night and I moved into my accommodation the next day. Arriving late at night worked well for me because I was so exhausted from the flights (I struggled to sleep on the planes!). I fell asleep immediately and I feel like my body quickly adjusted to the time difference in Australia.
Accommodation
I arrived at my accommodation, Fenner Hall, the day after arriving in Canberra. I was expecting that lots of people would be there already, but since I arrived during the first week of Semester 2 many students were still moving in. I spent the day exploring the accommodation so I knew where to go and also bought a few essentials that I would need such as bedding, towels etc from ‘Big W’ in the city centre so I would be prepared. I was really happy with my room because it’s quite spacious and I face the Black Mountains and seeing the sunset from my window on my first night made me so happy. One thing I was hesitant about at first was the shared bathrooms, but you get used to this quickly!
Atmosphere
I hope to do more posts about specific events and trips in the future, but for now I will say that I really love the atmosphere ANU has. Compared to Manchester I feel like the accommodation halls hold more events and it is easy to meet new people. There are a few events held at the beginning of Semester 2, for example I attended a ‘barn night’ where we dressed up and went to a bar with another accommodation hall. Last month I attended the Fenner Mid-Semester Ball which was a nice experience because I have never attended a ball or formal before. It is also nice because there are a lot of exchange students at ANU so you will meet people from around the world. Maybe it’s just the people at ANU but I also find that Australian people are really nice and friendly – they will start conversations with you in the lift which is not something I find happens often in the UK! In your halls there are numerous activities you can join, for example I have played mixed netball for Fenner Hall and there are other sports such as soccer and AFL, and there are also other societies such as film and baking.
I’ve been in Canberra for two months now, and it feels both like I’ve been here forever and like I just arrived yesterday. I’m excited about the upcoming year at ANU and can’t wait to share all the experiences and adventures ahead!
