For the 12 deals of Christmas my travel bud gave to me...

R-R-R-REMIXXXXXXXXX

Christmas 2021 is a matter of weeks away and how we got here, I dunno ?????

In the true spirit of Christmas, I've left my Christmas shopping to the absolute last minute (again) and have been praying for a ?Christmas miracle? when it comes to getting my sh*t sorted.

*CUE THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE*

After trawling through the THOUSANDS of tours and activities available worldwide across our site, I have compiled this list of 12 AMAZING experiences that you can purchase right here, right now, so that anyone else struggling for ideas can sit back, relax, and enjoy the silly-season without the stress.

Big (gift) sack energy.

For the first deal of Christmas my travel bud gave to me…WINE TASTING IN THE BAROSSA VALLEY ??

When it comes to getting sh*t faced; I prefer to do so in as Instagram-able place as possible.

For your booze-loving bestie who is also a fan of the 'gram, check out one of our Barossa Valley wine tasting tours.

Home to more than 150 amazing award-winning wineries, this South Australian region is best known for its Shiraz - which is very on brand for Christmas if you ask me. (Get it...because it's red...)

OMFG-icron: Can you not?

Australia's border re-opening plans are paused and tbh I'm shocked, but not surprised

Really bitch? Really?

Everyone's Hot Girl Summer 2021 dreams have been halted as the ultimate Hot Girl Bummer, Covid, sees plans to re-open Aussie borders on December 1 (aka TOMORROW) put on hold.

Everyone, meet Omicron.

The federal government announced this morning that it would pause its plan to see international border restrictions ease, delaying the move by an extra fortnight as we try and work out what TF this Omicron variant is doing.

Basically, this means fully vaccinated visa holders WILL NOT be able to fly into Australia without an exemption.

@me after writing about Aussie borders reopening LITERALLY 3 days ago

Meaning these guys are gonna have to wait a littleeeeeeeeee longer to get in/come back:

So yeah, this is sucky news to top of what has been a sucky year BUT it means travellers get an extra 2 WEEKS to plan how they'll spend their time when they FINALLY arrive on Aussie soil.

Thoughts on a celebratory cob loaf? Anyone?

So in the spirit of Covid, the gift that keeps on giving, give the ultimate WELCOME TO AUS gift with one of our tours, adventures or experiences - without having to lock in a set date!

Simply select 'BUY AS A GIFT' at the checkout, and your currently stranded family/friends/partners/Tinder flingz etc. have something to look forward to when they get here (aside from seeing you...obviously).

Call me Santa, Baby.

We've got everything from scenic flights over the Great Barrier Reef to skydiving adventures in Noosa (if anyone feels like throwing themselves out of a plane...???????)

Also, don't stress too much if you're already, um, in transit.

In a statement, the Morrison government noted that the Australian Border Force may allow people who are already in transit to enter, but these people will be subject to state based isolation requirements (yay?)

We will continue to take sensible and responsive evidence based action, led by medical experts. This will ensure we can open safely, and stay safely open as we learn to live with the virus.

ScoMo

Anyway, that's all...for now.

BABY COME BACK: Aussie borders set to re-open from Dec 1

200,000 visas are up for grabs and F me that's some GREAT news

Mood.

Let’s face it, 2021 has been an absolute ?shit show? of a year for the majority of us.

COVID, the #qween of ruining plans, reared her ugly head AGAIN and saw another year of us essentially being cut off from each other...and y'know, the rest of the world.

However, in some positive news, our international borders are set to relax a li’l from December 1, as we welcome a bunch of (fully vaxxed) people back onto our shores.

(HOOOOYAHHHHHHHHHH)

Y’know what this means? Aside from getting to crack open our advent calendars in less than a week, we also get to reconnect and reunite with our nearest and dearest...which is the sweetest pre-Christmas gift of all :’)

So...who's welcome in?

Fully vaccinated international students and eligible visa holders from around the world, as well as tourists from Japan and South Korea will be welcomed back to Australia from December 1. 

This group includes people on a:

What’s the catch?

First of all, you’ve gotta be fully vaccinated (like, duh), and your vaccine has to be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (also important).

#StickMe

You also have to undertake a pre-departure COVID-19 test (soz) and obtain your foreign vaccination certificate.

Travellers to Australia should also complete an Australia Travel Declaration (ATD) at least 72 hours before departure...just sayin’.

So you want visa?

Bruh, fair enough.

You can apply now for either a Working Holiday visa (417) or Work and Holiday visa (462), so long as you’re from one of these eligible countries (aka you're a passport holder FROM one of these countries):

For the 462 Work and Holiday Visa, passport holders from these countries are also welcome to apply:

Okay cool. But how long until I get my visa?

Yeah...about that.

Due to the backlog of Visas throughout COVID, the Visa processing time is a littleeeeeeee longer than normal.

I ain't getting any younger my dudes.

Immigration’s indicator of times are as follows:

Working Holiday visa (417)

Work and Holiday visa (462)

How many visa places are available?

Around 200,000 places were announced by ScoMo and Co. and these are dispersed between skilled migrants, students and refugees... but MORE could be on the cards.

HOWEVER, there’s a little bit of maths involved.

Currently available are 79,600 places in the skilled visa category, 13,750 in the humanitarian program, yet NO CAP on the number of student visas that can be granted...so that's, like, a lot of students? (I'd give you an actual number but, well, just refer to the 'no cap' comment).

(Actually me right now)

Working holiday visas are also eligible, to give our poor ol’ tourism industry a fkn BOOST.

"These changes are crucially important to Australia as we go through our reopening phase.

We are working on a figure of 200,000, it may well be more than that but we will be actively looking to bring as many people into Australia as soon as we possibly can."

Home Affairs Minister - Karen Andrews

Singles knowin' there's gonna be some hella fresh fish swimming in the online dating sea.

This also means our uni’s will see a surge in vaccinated international students with a valid visa no longer needing an exemption to travel to Australia...meaning 2022 fresher parties are gonna be fresh (after they complete the quarantine arrangements of the state/territory they are travelling to).

In jurisdictions with quarantine-free travel, international students also won’t count towards passenger caps, so that’s cool.

Lessss goooooooo

All in all, everything’s coming up Milhouse.