Working Holidays – Don't Stop Living

Working Wednesdays: The Easiest 5 Jobs to Travel The World With

Posted on July 24, 2013July 1, 2017 by Jonny Blair

Through my years of working and backpacking around the globe I’ve built up a wide and varied range of work experience. I’ve managed to find a job everywhere I’ve wanted one and this is mainly through hard work, a bit of charm and experience in the types of job that are easy to find as a traveller. So today’s Working Wednesdays I’m hoping to get you inspired. I bring you (in my opinion) the easiest 5 jobs to travel the world with! These are easy jobs to get, easy jobs to do and you earn good money. Gotta be a winner!

1. Bar Work
I’ve worked in bars in 5 different countries to date and I LOVE bar work. There are bars everywhere and as far as I can tell all you need to work in a bar is to have enthusiasm, to be sociable and outgoing and to be hard working. It’s an easy type of job to get into, and it offers you lots of interacting with staff and customers, good steady money in a job which means you don’t spend much and TIPS. Bar work is one of the best jobs you can have as a traveller.

jonny blair working in hong kong — Easy travel jobs – Working as a barman in Delaneys – Tsim Sha Tsui – Hong Kong

I could earn over $1,000 Australian Dollars a week when I worked in an Irish Pub in Parramatta, working about 6 or 7 shifts and milking the tips. The other huge advantage of working in bars is that you are working on Friday and Saturday nights, therefore you can’t be going out spending money! It’s an easy way to save money.

How to get a bar job? I normally just call into the pub and ask the manager straight up for a job. Failing that, drop them an e-mail before you arrive in the country, expressing how keen you are to work there. Some countries require an alcohol licence and certificate before you can legally work there, so be sure to check that out. In Australia I got my RSA and RCG for example. In Europe, it’s a lot less strict and you can easily get bar work in places like England, Spain and Greece. Bar work gets busier in the summer months in those places.

2. Farming
In places like Australia and New Zealand, farming work is ridiculously EASY to come by. Just get your working holiday visa sorted and head to the wilderness. I did most of my farming work in Tasmania, working with vegetable harvest mainly. However I also milked cows in Colombia on my mate’s farm.

farming jobs in australia dont stop living — Easy jobs to get as a traveller – farming work in Australia is easy to come by and very rewarding!

How to get a farming job?

Ask around and stay in the wilderness. You’ll find the job comes to you before you look for it. A good website to check out is Wwoofing – volunteer opportunities. In Tasmania I was employed by Work Direct. I’d recommend them of course!

3. Boats, Ferries and Cruise Ships
I worked for a couple of different ferry companies up until 2009 and I highly recommend it. My job was fairly straight forward, working on the restaurant on the England to France ferries. Easy work, easy money, good social life and always at sea, travelling!

Jonny Blair working in France — Cleaning the floor on cross channel ferries in St Malo – France

I loved it and managed to save a lot of money. The perks also included free food and discount on hotels and cigarettes (which I used to buy and sell on 😉 ). I also worked on ferries sailing to the Isle of Wight, Guernsey and Jersey and loved my life at sea. But life took me elsewhere after that! Cruise Ships is a really good option for you – as high profile bloggers such as Wandering Earl saved a bucketload of money doing it this way.

car ferries jonny blair in france — Working on the cross channel car ferries living the travel dream and getting paid for it.

How to get a job on ferries or cruise ships?

Look no further than Wandering Earl himself who has written a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED book on how to get a job on a cruise ship – buy it, read it and off you go!! Work on Cruise Ships.

In places like New Zealand and England, summer time are the peak periods for working on car ferries as they get busy. Check out Condor Ferries and Interislander for job options.

4. Teaching English

You’ll find that a lot of the high profile nomads and backpackers have done a stint teaching English. Nomadic Matt and Nomadic Samuel have all used teaching English to fund their travels over the years. Naturally I got into this too, teaching in Kindergartens , Primary Schools and Summer Schools in Hong Kong over the last few years. If English is your first language, then what are you waiting for? Get your online TEFL, TESOL or CELTA and get teaching. Read my guide to teaching English in Hong Kong.

jonny blair teaching english in hong kong — Teaching English is a common and easy job to fall into when you’re travelling the world.

How to get a job teaching English?

I won’t go into it as this has been covered thousands of times by myself and every blogger out there. Nomadic Matt has a good starter guide on how to teach English overseas, which has tips and resources. Make sure you get some kind of TEFL as well (although I have to admit I started teaching without one, but have since got my certificate!).

5. Flight Attendants!

Believe it or not in 2001 I did a course to become a flight attendant. Then a banking job came up and I got pre-occupied with that instead. That’s the way my fate took me and I’m happy with that as I think deep down I didn’t really want to be living every day of my life up in the air, it’s a bit of a claustrophobic place to work. Having said all that – the perks are GREAT and I have some friends who have managed to travel the world just from working on aeroplanes.

flights around the world — Flight attendants get around!

I hope these five tips help you along the way to get out there and live your travel dreams. If you have experiences in these five fields of work, you can literally work anywhere in the world as I have done for the last 10 years or so. You can check out my working career and my travel timeline for more specific information on my own work history, or simply just follow my Working Wednesdays stories every week on here!

Safe travels and don’t work too hard!!

Getting a second Australia working holiday visa

How To Get A SECOND Australian Working Holiday Visa

Posted on April 21, 2013May 2, 2014 by Jonny Blair

You have to love Australia. It’s hard not to…and you might have already gone there on a working holiday visa but that year went so fast (or is going so fast) that you need and want another year. You’ve come to the right page. Here’s a full guide on how to get a second Australian Working Holiday Visa to be the sequel to my post on getting your first Australian Working Holiday Visa.

broccoli farming in Tasmania working holiday — Working on a broccoli farm in Moriarty, Tasmania to help me get my SECOND Australian Working Holiday Visa.

Right, first of all you will need to have already had your first Australian Working Holiday Visa issued and either in use, or used. So you’ll be in one of these situations:

1. Currently living and working in Australia on your first Working Holiday Visa

2. Currently in Australia on a tourist visa having already done your first Working Holiday Visa

3. Currently outside Australia but have done your first Working Holiday Visa

Sydney Airport passport stamp Australia Jonny Blair a lifestyle of travel — How to get a SECOND Australian Working Holiday Visa!

OK and all three situations are fine to apply, but there are a number of rules, guidelines and catches to follow in order to get things right. It takes a bit of time and thinking. I pondered over this for a long time during my first Australian Working Holiday Visa, before deciding I would be option 3. There are 2 reasons why this is best:

1. If you apply for your second working holiday visa while you are in Australia and are successful, it just continues from the last day of your first year, so you are stuck there and cannot travel in between (well you can, but it uses up your days). I met a few others that did this and they regretted spending 2 bulk years based in one country – even a 2 week holiday to New Zealand, Indonesia or Fiji cuts into your time, so think about it.

2. If you apply for your second working holiday visa while you are outside Australia and are successful you have a year to activate it from the date you get the e-mail, giving you more freedom. (I was in South Africa when I applied and I wanted the freedom).

Now once you know all that and have made your choice you have to also have completed a MINIMUM 88 days of Harvest or Labour Work. As with my application for my First Australian Working Holiday I did it all myself and all online on the OFFICIAL Australian Government Website. Here’s the link:

Get a SECOND Australian Working Holiday Visa

So it will always be cheaper and better to do these things yourself through the official channel. I met travellers who had paid agencies to get their visas for them and they were completely ripped off and completely oblivious to the fact that they were ripped off!

Here are the requirements as listed word for word on the Australian Government website, if you are a day before your 31st birthday it is still OK to apply by the way!:

To Get Your SECOND Australian Working Holiday Visa, you must:

have completed three months of specified work in regional Australia while on your first Working Holiday (417) visa (there is no requirement to do further specified work on the second visa)
not have previously entered Australia on a Work and Holiday (462) visa
be aged between 18 and 30 years (inclusive) at the time of applying, however, you may be aged over 30 years of age at the time your visa is granted
be applying no more than 12 months before you intend to travel to Australia, if applying from outside Australia
will not be accompanied by dependent children at any time during your stay in Australia
Note: A dependent child is the child, or step-child, of you or your partner who:
- is not married, engaged to be married, or in a de facto relationship
- has not turned 18.

So once you have done your 88 days or 3 months of specified work then you will need to get proof from your employer and also their ABN – Australian Business Number. This is all simple stuff. Just ask your boss for their ABN and a signed sheet to say you did the minimum number of days. In the end I didn’t need to submit the signed sheet but you might be asked for it as they are getting more strict and checking these things more and more.

Getting an Australian Working Holiday Visa — Arrival in the land down under at Sydney Airport in 2009!

How to Fake Your Way to a Second Aussie WHV (the slackers/lazy people’s way!)

If you haven’t done your 88 days or 3 months of specified work then you have two options (I don’t recommend this by the way and I’m a grafter – I do things by the book mostly as it gives me personal satisfaction. I worked hard to get my second year visa and did it the proper way) But if you’re a lazy person or a slacker here’s what to do:

1. Pretend you did the 88 days of specified work and pay a farmer to sign you off and give you an ABN.

2. Just wing it, fill in the forms with an ABN of a company that offers specified work. And hope they don’t phone them and ask!

You’re chancing your arm with these two options but I must admit I met LOTS of travellers who did that. I just feel they are not real travellers and not real hard workers, they cheated their way to a second year visa, they’re lazy and they’re slackers. I did it the proper “backpackers way” and I’m proud of my 5 months of farming work (yes, I did 5 months in the end instead of just the 3 as I loved it!).

What is Specified Work in Regional Australia?

You won’t get it working in a Casino in Melbourne or a Bar in Sydney that’s for sure!! Here is their page on Specified Work: Specified Work – basically worked away from cities, working in the outback, working on farms etc. Just do it – you’ll love the experience of it all and meet some great people!

Making friends in Poatina Tasmania — The amazing group of people I met while farming up in the Tasmanian mountains at Poatina!

What happens if I only did 87 days of Specified Work?

If I were you and you only did 87 days, I’d say you deserve your visa, so get the farmer to sign you off for 88 days. Round it up. My official figure was 105 days in the end over a 5 month period. I remember on the 88th day having a beer for the first time in 6 weeks to celebrate!

Working in Cressy to get my second Working holiday visa for australia — OH YEAH! Day 88 and having my first beer in 6 weeks with my Boss Rebecca on a lonely farm near Cressy, Tasmania!

How much does the SECOND Australian Working Holiday Visa Cost?

Ok they have made some important changes as of March 2013, so this post is fairly up to date and here is the latest PDF guidelines: Getting a 2nd Aussie WHV.

The current fee is a whopping $365 Australian Dollars! Sorry folks but that’s the current price. When I got mine back in 2010 it was about half that price so it has really gone up dramatically. Don’t let the price put you off though – you will earn your $365 back in your first few days of work!

working hard in Australia — You can earn a load of money in Australia to help fund your travels!

Final Bit of Advice and my top 5 Tips on how to get a SECOND Australian Working Holiday Visa:

1. Do it properly and do your 88 days of farming – you will LOVE it.

2. Apply online on the official website and NOT through an agency.

3. Leave Australia the day your first Working Holiday ends – even if it’s just to New Zealand and apply online – you’ll get a full year to activate ANY time you want within the next year, rather than have it continue from your first year.

4. Don’t forget to check all the details – the ABN of your company, the signed document from the company, your age when you apply (30 years and 364 days old is the maximum age and remember Australia is a different time zone).

5. DO IT. Australia is a fantastic country with amazing sights and great people. There is an abundance of work out there and it is all very well paid. I managed to backpack my way to Antarctica and Machu Picchu on the strength of working hard in Australia. Live your travel dreams my friends…

Backpacking Northern Ireland flag in Antarctica. — I made it to Antarctica all from working hard and saving money in Australia on my 2 working holidays!

How to get a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa

Posted on January 14, 2013January 25, 2022 by Jonny Blair

So you have an inkling that you might move to Asia to find work, but you have no idea where to start? Why not try Hong Kong? Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa s are available for citizens of certain countries aged between 18 and 30. It could be you! Hong Kong is an amazingly busy, cultured and fascinating place. You will also find it an easy place to get work – I moved to Hong Kong back in 2011 and had about 8 or 9 different jobs in the Kong – I use it as my base for my most recent travels!!

What is Hong Kong?

Is it a city, country, region, colony or province? That’s really up for debate. Call it a country and it won’t mind – they have their own currency (Hong Kong Dollars), their own language (Cantonese/Guangdonghua), their own visa regulations (this isn’t quite China!) and the ultimate in deciding whether a place is a country or not – a National Football Team. So I call it a country! It’s not really a city as you’ll discover, because of the outlying islands and new territories which consist of gorgeous fishing villages that feast your eyes and taste buds away from the bustling skyscraper growth in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. My advice? Get that visa and get out to Hong Kong!

Everything you need to know is on the Official Hong Kong Immigration Website. But since I have been through the Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa process first hand, I thought I’d make things a bit easier for you…

Do I need to be able to read or speak Chinese? No, you don’t need to speak Chinese. The Hong Kong Immigration Website is also available in English and indeed there are three main languages used in the Kong: Chinese Mandarin (Putonghua), Cantonese (Guangdonghua) and English (Ying Man). Cantonese remains the number one language, but English is used for a lot of businesses.

How do I get a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa? For a start, do everything yourself, don’t be using any agencies. Head to the Hong Kong Immigration Official Website and check if you are eligible. If you are, download the application form here.

What Age Groups Can Apply for a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa? You MUST be aged between 18 and 30 when you apply.

What Nationalities Can Apply for a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa? Currently only passport holders of the Republic of Korea, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan and New Zealand.

How Do I Apply for a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa? Download the application form from the link here, print it out, fill it in with a pen and post it off!

Can I apply by e-mail or fax? NO, you can only apply by post.

Does a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa allow me to visit China, Macao, Taiwan and Tibet? NO, those countries all have their own Visa regulations and you will need to apply separately for each one (though a lot of nationalities don’t require visas for Macao and Taiwan). However getting a China Visa in Hong Kong is easy as I found out. For the other countries visits this will depend on your nationality.

How long will it take for the Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa to be approved? Again this depends. I applied on an Irish Passport and received confirmation by post within a few weeks. I lived in Australia at the time.

How much does a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa cost? My Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa was FREE. I applied on an Irish passport and as you can see from the photo below, there was NO FEE. There may be a charge for other nationalities.

How long can I stay in Hong Kong with a Working Holiday Visa? It runs for exactly one year from the day you arrive in Hong Kong.

How long can I work for under my Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa? You can work for all 12 months of your stay but officially you can only stay with one employer for 3 months (or 6 months if you are from South Korea)

Can I extend my Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa? NO, after one year that is it. You can only get one Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa in your lifetime (although changing your name and nationality may be an option!!)

How long is my Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa Valid For? Once your visa is confirmed you have 3 months to enter Hong Kong and activate it.

What else might I need to get a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa? You might be asked for a recent bank statement to confirm you have enough funds. You might also be asked for proof of travel insurance for your stay. (in both cases send them a photocopy as proof and that should be enough).

Are there any other limits? Yes, and the last point to note is that each country has a maximum limit per year. For example only 100 Irish people per year can possess a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa (I was one of the lucky ones!!). A useful resource for Irish people is here.

So that’s it folks!! If you are eligible to apply then go for it!!

Right so now you have landed in Hong Kong with your Working Holiday Visa activated you need four more things, as I see it:

– a place to stay

– a Hong Kong ID card

– a Hong Kong bank account

– a JOB!!

You could start off by staying at the notorious Chung King Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui. You can make an appointment to get your Hong Kong ID card here. It’s a fairly straight forward process. As for opening a bank account, there are simply thousands of banks in Hong Kong!! Next step is to find a job and the good news is there are LOTS of jobs in Hong Kong – it’s a vibrant, booming place. The main types of jobs you can get are bar work, teaching and office jobs:

1. Bar Work:

My first job in Hong Kong was working in a bar. There is lots of bar work available in Hong Kong. I worked in the excellent Delaney’s Irish Pub in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. The main parts of Hong Kong to get bar work are Lan Kwai Fong, Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui.

2. Teaching:

There are lots of jobs teaching in Hong Kong, mostly for Native English Teachers. I have got teaching jobs in Kindergartens, Primary Schools, Private Teaching and at Events. Easy to come by and decent rates of pay. In most cases you will need some sort of TEFL or degree (I will reveal more on that in future posts). Read my post on why Hong Kong needs English teachers.

3. Office Jobs:

Anyone that knows me knows that I actually despise office jobs and often look down on those in these types of jobs. However there are LOTS of jobs like this in Hong Kong if that is what you’re after. I’ll talk more about this in future but basically I live a lifestyle of travel – I do what I want, when I want and where I want most of the time. Why would you want to spend your entire life working away for some company in an office 9am – 9pm all your life. Think about it!! I have spent a couple of years of my life doing Office Work including a year in London doing PR for Apple. Over time I realised I want to live my own life the way I want it, so my all means go for an office job, but don’t forget to clock out at 5pm and live your life the way you want it!! That said I have enjoyed doing some part time PR work at Internations Events in Hong Kong!

So there you have it, a long winded post and believe it has taken me a lot of time and effort to write this!! During the process I have had a broken computer, a CRASHED server and a faulty hard drive. I always seem to gloss over the bad parts of travel writing. I’m now typing this on an unresponsive keyboard!! But the important thing is you now know how to get a Hong Kong Working Holiday Visa!! Feel free to leave me a comment or ask me any questions!

You might also be keen to know how to get an Australian Working Holiday Visa and I will have plenty more to come on Visas, Hong Kong and teaching.

Don’t Stop Living – a lifestyle of travel:

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jonny blair working on a farm in tasmania

How to get an Australian Working Holiday Visa

Posted on November 21, 2012June 6, 2020 by Jonny Blair

There are a lot of young and inexperienced travellers out there, and if it’s your first time out of your own continent, you might want to head to Australia as a lot of first time backpackers do. Crime rates are relatively low, work is easy to find, the country is beautiful, there are so many people doing it, and you can live cheaply!! here’s how to get a working holiday visa for Australia. On my travels, I have got a total of 4 Working Holiday Visas before, so will detail each one and the process separately on different posts on here.

First things first – DO IT! If you have thought about it – don’t hold back! Get out there and see Australia while you work your way around. It’s an experience of a lifetime and an easy one, especially if you speak English. You’ll be amazed at how much money you can make, how friendly people are and how wonderful the landscape is.

Rule number one is do everything yourself – none of this rubbish about paying other companies to get your Visa for you. In fact I still can’t believe some travellers actually pay money to agencies (especially in the UK) to sort out their Australia Working Holiday Visas. I met a guy who had paid 400 pounds for his! That’s just ridiculous.

Start by going on the OFFICIAL Australian Government website, very easy to understand, here’s the link: Australian Working Holiday Visa. You must be aged between 18 and 30 the day you apply (meaning that the option begins the day you turn 18 and ends the day before you turn 31 – just to clear that up). If you are under 18 you CANNOT apply, same if you are aged 31 or ABOVE. If you don’t fit the age group category, then you will have to look at another means of getting a valid work visa for the land down under.

As I understand it there are 3 types of working holiday visa:

1. FIRST Australian Working Holiday Visa (subclass 417) – I got one of these

(for these countries ONLY – Belgium, Canada, Republic of Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan and United Kingdom)

2. SECOND/EXTENDED Australian Working Holiday Visa (also a subclass 417 but on different terms) – I also got one of these

(for these countries ONLY and on confirmation and completion of the required labour work during your first working holiday visa – Belgium, Canada, Republic of Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan and United Kingdom)

3. FIRST Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462)

(for these countries only – and as far as I know it cannot be extended to a second year – Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey and the USA)

So click on the official link to apply for your First Working Holiday Visa. Simply click here: Take me to Australia Now!!

I must admit that when I applied for my Australian Working Holiday Visa I found it ridiculously EASY. I simply got myself a cup of tea, sat down with all my papers and information and typed it up in one sitting (took me less than 2 hours). I sent it off, went into work and when I came home from work, I got an e-mail to confirm my Working Holiday Visa application was successful!

It currently costs $280 Australian Dollars (it was about half that price when I did it!), here’s a link – Cost of Australian Working Holiday.

So fill in the forms first, wait for the confirmation and book your flights! You’re almost ready to get out there and work! On arrival in Australia you will also need to apply for your Tax File Number. This can be done by phone when you arrive and they will post you out a confirmation letter detailing your new number (if staying in a hostel/campsite – make sure you use that address). Applying for your Tax File Number (TFN) was free when I did it. You will also need an Australian Bank Account to get paid of course!

So to sum up in short, here’s what you need to get a Working Holiday Visa for Australia and start working:

1. Be aged 18 – 30

2. Be from one of the countries on the list (or hold a passport for that country – dual citizenship is no problem)

3. Fill in the online form

4. Get an Australian Bank Account

5. Get an Australian Tax File Number

6. Go to interview and get a job!

Good luck my friends, any questions, feel free to ask, I’m a travelling Northern Irishman living a lifestyle of travel ! Don’t Stop Living!

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Getting My RSA and RCG: Becoming a student for 2 days in Australia!

Posted on December 7, 2009March 30, 2020 by Jonny Blair

I have only lived in Australia for 6 weeks or so and already I have three qualifications to my name! (the two mentioned here, and a “publife” certificate) I didn’t expect that to happen! I thought my days of studying were well and truly behind me. Over the years I’ve spent too much time doing qualifications, and have over 30 certificates, some of them random (Radio DJ Awards, Bomb Safety), some important to have (First Aid, BA Degree) and some essentials (Driving Licence, GCSEs), but the two I’ve gained here in Australia are great as well!

Getting My RSA and RCG: Becoming a student for 2 days in Australia!

Five days after arriving in Sydney I booked in to do my RSA. I did this at Thinq Training on York Street. RSA stands for Responsible Service of Alcohol and is a must have qualification to work in a bar in Australia. I had my first (and only) job interview the following day in Parramatta for the job in PJ Gallaghers Irish Pub. It would be an excellent thing to turn up for the interview having my RSA, and having been in the country less than 6 days.

I simply went onto the internet and booked myself into the RSA, which was an all day course, with an exam at the end. The course would begin at 9.15 am and end at 4 pm. The cost would be 65 Australian Dollars, which I felt was fair enough, given that I got a certificate, a qualification, something extra for my CV and a day of learning. My mate Daniel Evans decided to do the course as well, and the day before we called in and got him booked in as well. All you needed was the money, your passport and to turn up.

We got our free hostel breakfast and then walked to the venue. It was Thinq Training Centre at 32 York Street on the third floor. Our trainer for the day was Doug. The room was packed and the students were from all over the world. Represented was England, Northern Ireland (well as ever I was the only one), Sweden, Australia, China, Taiwan, Germany and France. Straight away we were given a booklet and we launched into the nitty gritty of alcohol serving in Australia. Given the fact that I had already worked in lots of different bars and outlets over the previous 8 years, it would be fairly straight forward for me. My first bar job was back in 2001, working in McMillens in Bangor. We had a coffee break and a lunch break and then around 3 pm we had the test.

Everything was as I thought fairly straight forward. Questions such as how much is in a measure, who can’t you serve, what are the fines for pubs, what licensing laws change at midnight etc. I wasn’t surprised to get 100% and be awarded with my certificate straight away. I paid an extra 3 Australian Dollars to have my certificate laminated and an extra 2 copies. The next day I went for my interview at PJ Gallagher’s and later got the job – the only job I’ve ever applied for in Australia.

With the RSA done and the job sorted out, the next idea was to get my RCG. For working in a bar, the RSA is mandatory, whereas the RCG is voluntary. RCG is the Responsible Control of Gambling. I wanted to get it as well. Firstly it meant more experience, having the knowledge of gambling. Secondly it meant I could get more shifts in work, by being able to work alone in the TAB room and Gambling Section of the pub. Thirdly it was an extra qualification for me! Once I got settled into the flat in Parramatta and I’d started working in the pub, I sorted out my RCG. I did it in Parramatta. I was working the Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday that week, so decided to do the RCG on the Wednesday evening.

It could be done locally at Alexander Beaumont Hospitality Training College, which was Level 2 at Wentworth Street, just 25 minutes walk from my flat. The course would run from 5 pm to 10 pm. It was in a small room at the top of the stairs in the building beside a bar called the Pink Pepper Pub. I was the first to arrive and there were 4 girls and 4 guys on the course. 6 were Australian, 1 Indian, 1 Northern Irish. Our course trainer was Renee Gower. During this course there was only a very short break. The course involved all the rules and laws with gaming venues, casinos and pubs offering gambling. Questions such as what is the maximum cash pay out for gaming machines, what is a Self Exclusion Scheme, how far must a cash machine be from the gaming machines etc. It was just as easy and straight forward as the RSA. Again I got 100%, passed and was handed another certificate – my RCG!

RSA –

Gained – Sydney, October 2009

At – THINQ TRAINING, 3rd Floor, 32 York Street, Sydney

Cost – 65 Australian Dollars

Trainer – Doug

Result – 100%

RCG –

Gained – Parramatta, November 2009

At – ALEX BEAUMONT HOSPITALITY TRAINING, Level 2, 23 Wentworth Street, Parramatta, 2150

Cost – 70 Australian Dollars

Trainer – Renee Gower

Result – 100%

What is Hong Kong?

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