springonion

Hi,

I am planning to go on a reccie to Oz in April and my original thoughts have been to migrate to Perth. The thing is, as I'm over there, I am now considering looking at either Melbourne or Brisbane as well. Trouble is I only have time to visit 1 of those places.

A lot of people seem to head to Melbourne and so there must be a reason why its so popular. I've also heard Brisbane is really great for laid back, beach lifestyle.

The down sides I've heard (and are probabley wrong) is that Melbourne has weather very similar to the UK and Brisbane is quite small and quiet. I'm looking for great weather, chilled out lifestyle and beaches if I can get them.

Has anyone else been to these places and what were your thoughts? Which should I visit out of the 2 in the time I've got out there? I'm drawn to Melbourne but if its true about the weather being like the UK then that would put me off.

Help !! I'm so confused now.

Thanks

Nick

NickyC

You appear to be labouring under a couple of misapprehensions here .

Weather in Melbourne is NOTHING like the UK. Where in the UK do you get weeks of summer temperatures over 35 degrees?

There are NO beaches in Brisbane (unless you count the man-made one in the city). It's located slightly inland on a river. You have to travel quite a way north or south of Brisbane to get to a decent beach for that laid-back lifestyle. Melbourne has better beaches than Brisbane (but no surf).

Alternatively, come to Sydney, which has the lot; great weather AND fantastic surf beaches.

springonion

Cheers Nicky,

I'm quite open to the fact I've got it completely wrong. I normally do according to the missus

From that, it sounds like Melbourne is defo the place to look at out of the 2

MartinLuther

Buzzy's already done the work for you. Have a look at these.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=412993

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=413388

NickyC

Good pick - Melbourne is nice. If I wasn't lucky enough to live here, I'd be down there like a shot.

springonion

Hi MartinLuther,

Fantastic - cheers for that - read through them and it really helps out. Melbourne it is then (Sorry Brisbane - nothing personal).

I'll leave Buzzy some karma - great reviews.

Buzzy--Bee

Where's the bloody karma then? Did it get lost in the post?



Buzzy

mohogony

The recent 46c degrees heatwave in Melbourne, l would'nt say its similar to UK weather, but it does get cold and wet in winter. Melbournes about twice the size of Brisbane.

The Crow

We're hoping - haven't seen much WET since I've been here (3 years!).

Wendy66

Do a load of reading on the areas and see if you get a gut feeling about the areas as to which will suit your situation best, ie, house prices, lifestyle etc.

We only went for a little over 2 weeks and spent about 10 days in WA and then split the remainder between Brisbane and Melbourne, we literally flew into Melbourne for 48 hours and stayed with Ozzies we knew who showed us round.

fish.01

I agree. Brisbane has a few great islands off shore which means there are no real beaches. You have to travel 45mins to get to the awesome beaches.

But, I think you should really know about the weather. Brisbane has warm, dry winters (usual max of 21c) and stormy hot summers. Melbourne has cold winters and hot dry summers. On average you will be a lot warmer year round in Brisbane.

If you are after warmth and year round beach life then Brisbane/Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast would probably be your better choice.

If you are after large city life then Melbourne would be better.

The Crow

Cold in relation to Brisbane, but not in relation to the UK. Coldest month last year was 14oC average daytime temp.

hantsfamily1

Go to both and make sure you pack jumpers and coats for Melbourne and t shirts for Brisbane.

The Crow

Oh yes, cause an average temp of 21oC in April is freezing - definitely need your coat

hantsfamily1

But on the not so average days it can go a lot colder than the average 21 degrees so like I said, pack some warmer clothes.