My medical elective in Melbourne,Australia: Northern Health (6th July-31st July 2015): Part 2 (How to survive in overseas???)

Hey mates now it is time for some survival guide :)

Are you planning to do your elective with bunch of friends? or you will be going alone like what I did?? ( Lol !!! #foreveralone) 

I will be sharing some survival tips over here, so hopefully it will be useful for you guys:)

Northern Health Hospital 

Unfortunately, if you got accepted into Northern Health they do not provide any accommodation. I believe most of them don't, so finding a shell for a month is not a picnic. Northern Health hospital is located in Cooper street, Epping, Victoria. It's is a suburbs in North Melbourne which means it is around 30-40 mins train ride away from CBD.

Accommodation:

I was able to find a cosy room in Epping, which required a 20 mins bus ride to Northern Health from AirBnb. The room cost around 35 AUD/night and I had a very pleasure stay with my landlady Karen who's constantly taking care of my needs. If you are interested, you can hop into AirBnb and look out for it the address is Pin Oak Mews, Epping. *just found out recently, she is not the host anymore:(

Pin Oak Mews

The Bedroom

Besides, if you don't have plan for renting a car, Karen's place is just opposite the bus stop and there are nearby grocery store and restaurants too :) Another perk of staying in Karen's place is the lovely cat Jolly ( bonus point for cat lover~). If you like to take a little stroll like I do, there is a nice park just beside Karen's place, do drop by anytime if the weather is lovely! 

The park nearby

The neighbourhood 

Transportation 

I have totally master the skill of public transport while I was in Melbourne, yay!!!

If you don't have any budget, I will suggest to rent a car which is way much more convenient. I will share the link for budget car rental here: http://www.rentabomb.com.au/

If you choose to stick with public transport get yourself a myki card, it will definitely makes your life easier and I think you can get it in 7-eleven or train station :) Next step, take out your smartphone and download the app (Public Transport Victoria) you will have a list of bus and train schedule. Gentle reminder, the buses are not always on time :(

Myki card 

Of course you can utilise Uber and Taxi service too. However the taxi fee is way too expensive unless you are in rush or the weather sucks. link for taxi: www.silvertop.com.au/.

The weather 

Beware of the weather Australia is different from other part of the world, the winter normally start from mid June till around September. If you like cold weather like I do, you wouldn't mind visit during this period but sometimes it's just too cold. So prepare yourself some comfy jumper, jacket, coat and whatever that keeps you warm. The average temperature throughout my stay was around 5-15 degree Celsius. Oops and it rains a lot too, bring your umbrella along ya.

Look at the frost!!! Literally woke up with 0 degree Celsius at one morning 

Overall Expenses: 

The overall expenses I spent in Melbourne for a month was around 1500AUD. I'm not spendthrift but I'm a foodie so most of the money went to the food.  I brought around 2000 AUD cash with me but most of the time I'm using credit card. So, if you are not really into shopping like me, 1500 AUD should be sufficient for a month.

Food: around 400 AUD

Transport: 300 AUD ( buses, train and some Taxi ride when I overslept)

Phone bill: 50 AUD  (I was using Vondafone service, speed and connection were excellent)

Groceries: 150 AUD

Souvenirs and entertainment: 600 AUD ( I went for a trip to Great Ocean Road and  this include a few night stays in CBD)

Room rental: 1050 AUD for a month

Air tickets: around 470 AUD ( through and forth, Air Asia airline)

Elective fee pay to Northen Health for 4 weeks: 400 AUD ( 100 AUD/week)

Overall: 3420 AUD for the trip :)

Don't be scare if you are going for the trip alone, generally I met a lot of kind people around everyday and Epping is a safe neighbourhood. That's why I'm still missing Epping a lot even though it's been almost 4 months since I came back to Malaysia. So, don't worry just enjoy !

* I will be sharing more about what I learned and done during my one month placement in Northern health, general med department on my next post. Cheers.