As Britain slowly gets more and soggier, turning the entire country and population into a puddle, that can mean only one thing: it's hotting up Down Under!

Summer is well on its way in Sydney, Barbies are being fired up in Brisbane, Mojitos are being made in Melbourne and some stuff beginning with A is going down in Adelaide.

So if you're in Australia this October, there's plenty of stuff to look forward to, most of which will come along with a risk of getting sunburn.

Here's a look at some of the top things to do in Australia this month.

Melbourne Fringe - Melbourne - 26th September - 14th October

The Melbourne Fringe Festival is now in its third decade and more than 50,000 performers have entertained over 2 million people (although the odd one probably bombed).

This year's festival is spread across the city and features some of the best comedy, dance, performance music and all sorts of other weird stuff throughout the week.

I wanna have ahem...breakfast on the beach - Sydney 14th October

Breakfast on the beach probably ranks pretty highly on most people's ridiculous lists of stuff they'd do if they won the lottery but it's also one you can actually do even if you're not super rich.

However, picking the wasps off your stale sandwiches while the wind blows wet sand in your eyes on Morecambe beach probably doesn't quite live up to the fantasy.

If you're in Australia this month however, how's about ticking something straight off your lottery list when thousands of people will head down for Breakfast on Bondi - one of the world's best remember (no broken bottles or soiled nappies) - for some hearty breakfast.

Melbourne Festival - Melbourne - 11 - 27th

The Melbourne Festival of the Creative and Performing Arts is a two week festival which does exactly what it says on the tin: that means there'll be plenty of shows to see, music to listen and just plenty of excuse to get drunk in general.

Brazilian Dance - Brisbane - 5th to the 7th

Brazilians like a few simple pleasures: beaches, bikinis, football and dancing. They also like to do as many of these things in as few clothes as possible.

So while you might not really be all up for learning how to dislocate your hips like Shakira, heading down to the Old Museum in Brisbane for Brazil Central Zouk lessons should be worth it for the view alone.

Noodle doodle - Sydney - 3rd - 5th

While you might be disappointed to find that you won't be able to live entirely off beer and the odd tequila slammer (for the vitamins in the lime) for the duration of your working holiday in Australia, don't be too disheartened.

Just because it won't get you drunk, it doesn't mean it won't be delicious and nowhere will you be able to find such a good selection of the time-tested, student, budget-traveller favourite: noodles than the Night Noodle Markets in Sydney's Hyde Park.

Beer in the buff - Sydney - 22nd

Most people won't admit it, but the hope of getting to see someone naked at some point in the night is usually niggling its way at the back of their mind when their glamming themselves up for a night out.

For girls, that usually means picking up your friend out of a pile of her own sick and rearranging her skirts at about 2am and for lads...well if you thought that was gross.

So, why not achieve beer and nudity in one civilised swoop? The Beer Meets (Life) Art at The Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst promises just that. They provide the nude model and the beer, all you have to do is draw them without being insulting and colouring outside the lines.

Harry Potter, possibly - Perth - 2nd to the 7th

Potted Potter is a two man show starring Jefferson Turner as the eponymous specky kid and Daniel Clarkson as everyone else in the book. The aim is to get through all 7 books, in 70 minutes.

We debated whether to include this in the month's review but given Ms Rowling's first venture into the world of publishing not armed with Scooby Doo or whatever we thought it worth the risk.

Going to see Potted Potter is most certainly a risk, the reviews are good but who knows? Do let us know won't you.

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- Dominic Ladden-Powell is the Online Editor with the Australian Visa Bureau, an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people lodge applications for a Working Holiday Visa to Australia.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

The Western Australian government has said enough is enough. After five fatal shark attacks in the past 10 months, great white sharks caught near the beach will be caught and killed.

We wrote a few weeks ago about the state government considering its options when it comes to allowing people, working holiday visa holders included, indulge in a spot of shark tourism, which basically equates to chucking some blood and guts in the water and waiting for the sharks to come get you AND THEN expecting them to leave you alone once you've had your fun.

But now five people have lost their lives in many people's literal nightmares and the WA government has decided to act.

As part of an almost AU$7 million (£4.5 million) package of strategies aimed at tackling the problems, the newly-created Department of Fisheries will be given AU$2 million (£1.2 million) to track down and kill great white sharks.

"Previously the orders were used in response to an attack, but now proactive action will be taken if a large white shark presents imminent threat to people," said Fisheries Minister Norman Moore, who was quick to add there was "not going to be a shark hunt".

What's the point?

Swimming with sharks would be alright if you were wearing some diamond clad, shark repelling, machine gun armed gear but you're not, you're in the same thing your mum does stepsercise or whatever in in the gym.

Not only that, but you're in their environment. A beached shark or one with a fishbowl full of water on its head would probably still present a bit of a challenge but no, you're in the sea, where they've been hunting for a few hundred million years now without much of a challenge.

Get real

There's plenty of stuff you can do on the beaches and in the seas of WA without resorting to trying to wind up a 5 metre shredding machine with a taste for human flesh.

Try Rockingham Wild Encounters to chill with some penguins and maybe even slap a seal (they won't hit back).

Alternatively, if you want to be on the water, Werner's Hot Spot offers plenty of chance to learn a bit of wind surfing or even kite boarding. Sharks don't like kites.

Above all, if a shark does come looming out of the darkness at you while you're bobbing for apples or whatever, remember, they don't like peanuts, so have some on you.

- Dominic Ladden-Powell is the Online Editor with the Australian Visa Bureau, an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people lodge applications for a Working Holiday Visa to Australia.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

Well as some of you will know we at the Visa Bureau teamed up with our friends over at STA Travel a couple of months ago to offer one lucky working holiday goer a full refund on their flights to Australia up to the cost of £1,000!

We received plenty of entries but there could only be one winner so.......

Step forward Kara Lyons!

We finally caught up with Kara this week, she's already in Australia putting her Australian working holiday visa to good use.

Entering the competition

The Visa Bureau and STA competition had been running for a while when Kara processed her and booked her flights but was in a such a rush, she says it wasn't the chance of winning that made her choose Visa Bureau and STA.

"I found Visa Bureau online and used them because the process was so easy and efficient, the only issue I had which slowed down my application was I needed to have chest scans. Visa Bureau found a clinic for me in London and I got everything sorted in less than two weeks as I had to leave for Canada. My mum booked my flight to Australia for me while I was in Canada. STA Travel got me a great deal on a top airline with lots of baggage allowance. I was happy enough with that, she didn't even tell me I had been entered into a competition."

Winning the competition

Flights to Australia aren't likely to be the cheapest part of anyone's trip so Kara was understandably shocked and overjoyed to find she wouldn't be paying for hers, especially as she didn't even know she was in a competition:

"It was a complete surprise! I didn't believe it at first, I had to get my boyfriend to check. He had just woken up for his 5am shift so I turned to check my phone and there was the email. I made him check it because I thought it was a scam! Then I called my mum and asked her to read it too."

Kara says now she knows she's definitely won and doesn't have to give a stranger her bank details over email her working holiday plans have changed.

"I have credit card and overdraft debt back home thanks to my previous travels that I hope to pay off now while I'm working out here. Plus it now means I can enjoy more of my hard earned dollars on my future travels!"

Kara's trip 

While winning so much money is enough to make anyone's day, winning is just the icing on the cake for Kara in a long term adventure she's been planning for years, and her working holiday in Australia isn't her first trip.

"I first decided to go travelling when I was at University, that I would go when I graduated. It seemed like the best time to, after all that hard work and before I settle down and start my career. My dear friend Alex was also losing his battle with cancer at the time and as I'd already lost my dad as a teenager, I was reminded of how quickly life can be taken away. 

"But Alex's fight and zest for life was so admirable that he inspired me not to waste time and begin my own life changing journey.

"In January 2011, me and two of my best friends travelled the east coast of Australia as well as New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand before we went our separate ways. I stayed in Thailand for a year teaching Kindergarten kids English. Teaching completely brought me to life; the energy and enthusiasm of those kids was truly infectious.

"While I was in Thailand I also had the opportunity to travel through Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos before heading home to the UK for a quick visit, a family holiday to Florida, a trip to Canada and then finally back out to Australia on a working holiday, phew!"

However, it's not just the prospect of seeing the world, living on beaches, experiencing a different culture or even just getting to wear sandals every day that persuaded Kara to head Down Under. 

"Like all perfect travel stories - I fell in love. I first met my boyfriend on his travels through Cambodia and Thailand. He was going to Australia on a working holiday visa so when my time in Thailand was up it seemed like the perfect opportunity to work and travel together and see everything I missed the first time around!"

Despite winning a competition and falling in love and lots of other good stuff, Kara says there's still plenty of practical aspects to her trip and has one piece of sage advice she says no traveller should be unaware of.

"Take a travel towel! I wouldn't travel with an ordinary one ever again. They're so easy and when you're on the move daily you need something that can dry quickly before it's shoved back in your bag. They are so thin and light they hardly take up any room too which is a bonus, especially seeing as my boyfriend Dan and I are both working in the Outback of Western Australia in a town called Laverton - it's remote to say the least!"

What next? 

Kara has already done so much on her trip but still has plenty of things planned for the rest.

"It's all been amazing but I would have to say sky diving and scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef are in my top 10.

"I've surprised myself many times! I certainly never thought I would jump out of a plane or that I would be even the slightest bit capable of surfing!" 

"I really want to go whale watching off the west coast of Australia and I'm dying to go see Ayers Rock. I also can't wait to spend Christmas and New Year in Sydney - it's such a great city!"

Well we were happy we could manage to get hold of Kara during what sounds like the trip of a lifetime but she had a few last thoughts about the travelling experience.

"Every day is a new experience when you're travelling and you never know what's around the corner. It's definitely not all about where you're going but who you are going with and I feel like I've made some lifelong friends this past year and a half.

"I just hope to keep having fun with great company while seeing a bit of the world too!"

We expect Kara doesn't need telling to enjoy the rest of her working holiday!

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- Dominic Ladden-Powell is the Online Editor with the Australian Visa Bureau, an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people lodge applications for a Working Holiday Visa to Australia.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2013

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.