The Westies

We are currently living on the Sunshine Coast and have been for over 12 months now, things are pretty difficult on the coast with regards to getting work (it is more or less a closed shop to none Queenslanders), making friends ect ect. Speaking to a lot of poms on the coast they all seem to say a similar thing, so have decided to try another location before making a move back to the UK. I am a carpenter / builder OH is a Hairdresser so we would hope our skills would be required in Victoria, we are looking for advice on suburbs around Melbourne wheres good wheres not so good, have heard Geelong is very nice. Any comments would be good as we are looking to visit at the end of Feb and also any news on the work front in Victoria would also be good to know.

The Bloke

It is a little hard for ANYBODY to get work nowadays (thanks to the financial downturn), as there is not much around anywhere like there used to be in Australia, so I think your comment about being a closed shop to non-Queenslanders abit harsh. Have you actually considered this? As for making friends, it is not compulsory for anyone to make friends, even for Queenslander/Australians. Have you made any attempt to interact with locals, join clubs, societies, neighbours?????

The Westies

Thanks for the comments, we have tried aeverything you said and the closed shop situation has been confirmed by Aussie tradies I have managed to get close to.