I'm sure I can google but I wanted to ask for first hand experience.
Money overseas, How does it work accessing your own back at home? Is there a bank / card / whatever that is generally better than everyone else?
my 2c
Aust Post is really good for getting cash to take with you before hand. good rates (but you need a few days to get the money since they send away for it.
You'll get better rates for the aussie dollar in Australia than you will OS.
You can probably use your cashcard in foreign ATMs. there will be a charge to use (like $2-5 at the ATM, and possibly on your account, plus exchange.
Using a credit card to get a cash advance OS is not a great value proposition for you. It's great for the banks, though.
No matter what people tell you, your credit card will get charged. Some so a decent exchange rate, then charge you a foreign exchange fee on top, others won't charge you a fee but will give you a shittier rate. A good way to work out how your current finances work is to check your statements for any OS purchases, you can use this to work out how much your cc charges
http://www.xe.com/creditcard-charges-calculator/
you can also get pre-loaded currency cards if you want to "lock in the rate" some are better than others and they're safer than large scads of cash. They also replaced traveller's cheques.
also, important to remember, that exchange rate you hear about on the evening news, or on business news sites or whereever you hear about the state of the aussie dollar? That's called the mid-market rate. It's nigh on impossible to actually get any business to give you that rate. If you find a conversion that's less than 3c less than mid-market, you're doing well.
I'm sure someone will chime in and say everything I posted is wrong so whatevs.