itbestuk

Hi, can anyone recommend a way of deciding where to move to in Australia, is there a website which can help me make an informed decision?
Even when I locate an area to look into I have no idea on what the local areas are like, for example where in Sydney is a nice place to live. I am after sun, beach, and a city not to far away, any ideas? Whats Melbourne like (I heard it rains alot there?)

jan

Funnily enough Most cities in oz are along the coastline might be a good idea to visit if poss ,If not buy some books Living in AUSTRALIA by David hampshire is a good read.

vivi

I should imagine the first step is to find out where you will be able to get work and then that narrows down the field! From my limited experience and picking up a bit on this site, I would assume that Sydney is quite expensive, Melbourne I have been told is like England ( weather wise) we are in Queensland and talk is that most people( yes even the Aussies) are piling in as quick as they can. We have lovely weather all year round, and glorious beaches and yes even a city!
Good luck in your quest. By the way once you have narrowed down the area, then search here as there are loads of threads on desirable areas etc!!
ViVi

Foeke Booy

You'll find there is more annual rainfall in Sydney than there is Melbourne.

I'll make your decision for you, Perth.

ozzieeagle

Ahh the trouble with Perth is its the most remote city in the world, plus has the lowest wages in Aussie.

I'd personally really feel that remoteness "where we going today, ahh freemantle" etc etc etc.

steandleigh

CAIRNS!!!!!

leejo

I'll second that - CAIRNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lee

steve99

Given you pretty much always have to fly to another major city in OZ no matter which one you live in its not really an issue, if you've got the hassle of going to an airport an extra couple of hours in the air isnt really relevant.

Not sure on the wages remark, I cant believe Perth wages are less than Darwin or Hobart. I would think they would be on a par with Brisbane and Adelaide. In general the roles I recruit for (in IT) are generally paying around 15% less than Sydney/Melbourne.
Cost of living can be a lot cheaper in Perth if you want it to be, the real estate market is still going strong, the WA economy is booming. The weather is the best in Australia
Perth wins every time for me

steandleigh

There's an echo in here!!!

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Melbourne techically gets mild winters and hot summers - similar to say the South of France. The hottest days in Melbourne are some of the hottest in any city in Australia - it could be 40 degrees with low humidity in Melbourne and in the 20s or 30s in Brisbane. Having said that recent summers have been 'disappointing' - last year we only got to something like 37ish, the year before there were only a few weekends of 40. Apparently in years gone by, a few weeks of 40 could be expected. Melbourne in the summer in sports terms is considered a 'hot' city for athletes or sportsmen competing there and athletes must prepare and expect accordingly. England has never been. Winter nights in Melbourne are the same as winter max day time temps in London. The day time maxes in Melly are low teens to mid teens.

In Melbourne, autumn and spring are mild - warm, autumn is particularly stable, best time of year, it rains alot in mid winter. Sydney and Brissy get all their rain in the summer which brings a change to hot temps. Perth is particuarly hot all summer - 35 relentlessly for weeks well into Autumn.

The night time temps in all southern cities are cold - temps of 3 to 7 degrees (say) are possible at various times. Melbourne at night I've discovered seems to suffer least due to cloud cover. Parts of met Perth and Sydney has had much colder temps than met Melbourne during the night - of course it depends exactly where you live. Our coldest night time temp all winter even when other parts had snow was 3 degrees, normally it is 7-10 min. Sydney and Perth are quite a bit warmer during the day, you need to open all your windows and doors to let all the radiant heat in lol....

The only comparison between England and Melbourne is that the weather is changeable, and that you need to dress and act like you are in winter - ie a jumper and or a fleece is required, and unless you are standing outside for a time, a winter coat is not generally required.

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renth

The women are better looking in Perth. The weather is the best in Oz. It's more laid back than the test of Oz.

Plus Perth isn't full of Serbs and Croats and Lebbos beating the crap out of each other every weekend like Melbourne and Sydney.

ABCDiamond

Some annual rainfall figures for you, for 2004

http://www.bom.gov.au/
Sydney - 1,094 mm
Melbourne - 544 mm
Brisbane - 828 mm
Perth - 786 mm
Darwin - 1,714 mm
Hobart - 507 mm
Canberra - 623 mm

http://www.metoffice.com/
Greenwich - 602 mm

But as many people say, in the UK it seems to drizzle forever, but in Australia, when it rains it comes down in bucket loads, eg: take the Gold Coast on June 30th, 350mm in just one day

steve99

NickyC

Not really so. Plenty of people in Sydney and Melbourne drive to Queensland. Particularly families going on holiday, it's cheaper to drive plus you have the benefit of your car when you get there.

We have driven from Sydney to Gold Coast/Brisbane many, many times and down to Melbourne more than once. So many people from Melbourne drive to Queensland at the start of the Victorian school holidays that it's almost impossible to get a motel room on the Newell Highway.

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Just the drive gives parents the chance to show kids the 'outback' - in a manner of speaking and some of the stops along the way.

We will defo be doing the drive and not the flight.

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