Thanks everyone for some brilliant reply's, they have given me a good insight into Melbourne.
I am going to take the advice that seems to be the majority, to give it some more time, to give Melbourne a chance.
I have my reservations I must admit, maybe because I have never really tried to live in a big city like this before but I will give it a go. It seems all a bit weird to me, I went into the library a minute ago and was served by a guy in womens clothing, he had a blouse and a dress and had attempted some make up, not that I am saying theres anything wrong with that its just a bit odd to me.
As I write this in the central shopping center theres a young asian girl falling asleep in a chair next to me. A strange place to have a kip if you ask me.

I will give it a try and see what happens, I will put in a application for a flat now, wish me luck

Thanks again

Good luck! Keep us posted how you get on, I hope things work out well for you.

Good luck! How about house sharing if it's just you? Commuting via tram/train is a bit like commuting in London using the tube; smelly coats in the Winter and wet armpits in the Summer

One thing I've long been aware of is that when exploring a new area you only see the main roads and the shopping centres and the whole place looks like a noisy chaotic ants nest.
Step off the main roads, go for a stroll around some neighbourhoods, smell some roses and it's a different story altogether. Even in some inner city madhouses like Newtown or Surry Hills in Sydney, you can just walk away one block from the main street and it's almost like being in a sleepy little British or French village somewhere with cats sleeping on the footpath and old men in dressing gowns and pyjamas heading to the newsagent to get their papers

Couple of scenes I shot in Sydney, and we are only a couple of ks from the CBD. I expect you would find similar in Melbourne.

Interesting - if it wasn't for the metal roof, the bottom photo of the shuttered house could almost be from a country around the Mediterranean. Just goes to show what is under our noses...

+ 1. If you're not a big city person then why lurk around in a crappy studio in Melbourne CBD? That honestly isn't representative of Melbourne life.

Or, if you're determined to stick it out at the very least consider getting into a decent flat-share in somewhere central but not CBD -Port Melbourne would be great for you as it's the first stop for the tram so you'll always get a seat in the morning, you'll be at Southern Cross in 5mins plus you have the bay so best of both worlds.

Anyways, best of luck with whichever you decide and good on you for giving it a go

My advice, similar to the others would be to stick it out a bit longer.

The weather was horrendous on Saturday - I was showing a friend round melbourne and just kept saying on a normal day it would be like this, on a normal day it would be like that. But as the others have said July and August are never going to be the most pleasent months in Melbs! I would try and get a house share with similar people, often you can rent a room for a month which will give you a chance to explore a bit more. With the trains - yes peak hour is busy but pre 8am on my line I always get seat and once you have a job you might be able to flex your working hours to suit you a bit better.
Feel free to drop me a message if I can help at all but Melbourne has heaps to offer, apparently there is some light show in the city this week so look out for that!

Good luck!

I'm sorry Dave, I am cracking up!

What do the staff wear in the post office?

It's a great city and I wish we had come here decades ago, I would get a house share if I was you, get yourself more of a social life.
Best of luck though, keep us all posted.

Mummy3 and Pootle, can i ask which suburbs you live in- if that's not too personal! I am mum of two (ages 4 and 6) and currently live in quiet pocket of inner/lively suburb of Leeds- ie best of both worlds! does such a suburb exist in melbourne? sorry to use your thread to ask this question, Dave!

Depends on budget, Armadale, South Yarra, Malvern might suit your tastes with flourishing café and accessibility to CBD and St Kilda Road.

Pm'd you

Pretty much sums up Melbourne.

If you want to live here though you'll have to get used to it. Melbourne is growing by hundreds of people each week.

What sort of 'tech support' work are you looking for? Have you had a look at any jobs? Good luck to you, but level 1/2 support work in Melbourne at the moment is an employer's market.

Thanks reddragon- will check out those suburbs.

Too true

Gone are the sub one mill days