Pay in Australia is fine for 'unskilled jobs' and I'd say pokerspiv is about right for working at a bar (friend works at one and makes about that) but bear in mind it is pretty expensive on that sort of wage. For e.g. Canberra (absolutely do not go there) rent is bout ~130-200/week for most average sort of places (AUD is currently exactly par with USD and CAD) and food will probably run you 100-150/week without eating out. So basically don't expect to live all that well on 20-25$/hr (you'll be able to pay all bills fine though). Could probably get a labouring job otherwise (seems to be what alot of people from overseas do on working visas). Seems to be a ton of jobs in Canberra at least, but I don't really know for sure as i don't work (none of my friends have had probs getting jobs though).
NZ is definitely cheaper to live (dollar is worth a fair bit less) but you will also get paid much less (I believe min is about 13$/hr and i'd guess most crap jobs pay that). Was living in NZ for a few months last year and a friend was making $14/hr for the entirety of his building apprenticeship. Some of the bigger cities like Auckland are definitely more expensive although prob pay more (doubt you'd do well with a crap job though).
Presumably you might have some trouble getting into either country without proof of funds or some sort of plan/skills for paying your way while there?
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Thanks for the heads up.. Australia.. I wonder what it would be like living there.
Basically the polar opposite of Canada in terms of weather/geography/sports but fairly similar to Canada in other respects (as are alot of "western places"). Then again I'm half Canadian/half NZer so everything is jumbled together and I probably can't tell which things I associate with which side :/