Hey Ange,
Myself and a few others found the best way was to take a credit card to start off with, then start a bank account over there ASAP with either TD or RBC. Then use Canadian Forex (there's a deal and more description on CanAussie here) to transfer larger sums to yourself. You'll get a much better rate than the banks will give you, and the cash usually takes about 4 - 5 days to come through (for me, but currently I'm going the other direction - Canada > Australia).
Good luck with the trip!
J