Hoping to move down under!!
 

Hello Aussie's. I might be relocating to a new job in Melbourne. I was just wondering if you had any insider info that you could give me. What are the good areas to live in, the nightlife, hot spots, etc. The job is in Richmond so I would be looking for someplace close.

My stats, I'm 27, single, grew up here in Canada. Visited many other places, but never lived anywhere outside of my current city (which is roughly 1/3 the size of Melbourne, there are 1 million people here).

Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks!!

i just moved to another country..Dubai in the UAE. God i miss Sydney!

that'd be about all i'd tell ya!

Giday BookerV,

Well I recently moved to Melbourne myself, and I have to say, it's probably the best city in Australia, apart from the weather.

Richmond is a pretty cool area, and it's close to the city. It has quite a lot of clubs and some very cool live music venues as well.

What kind of things are you into? Melbourne has a scene for pretty much everyone really.

If you find yourself down here I'd be more than happy to show you around the place a bit so you get your footing :)

If you love art, music, culture, and all manner of strange shit in between then Melbourne is definitely the town for you.

Melbourne is my home town, but I've been living in Queensland for 10 years. Richmond is very cool - excellent factory outlets shops and cafes. Quite a large Vietnamese/Chinese community as well, with fantastic restaurants and grocery stores. Richmond is a short tram ride from the city, and really, you can't go wrong living there. Good luck!

I just moved down from QLD a few month back, where abouts are you living up there?

I'm in Brisbane, mate...southside. Where were you?

I used to live in New Farm in Brissy. I think apart from Westend, it's probably my favorite part of Brissy.

People, if you ever get a chance to go to Aus, or even if you live in Aus, spend some time in Brisbane.

I loved that town so much!

So, why did you move?

A whole host of reasons I will share when I'm particularly drunk.

But I move to Brisbane because it was A) Completely unkown to me, and thus an adventure, and B) I would get to escape at least one freezing ass winter for one year in one of the southern states. And trust me, Brisbane winters are just devine, not too hot, not too cold, just lovely.

But I moved down to Melbourne because it's where I've always wanted to be, because it has all the things I love, and because as much as I loved Brissy, I hated the situation and circumstance I was in up there.

I guess sometimes you take risks in your life and make a call, sometimes that blows up in your face. The important thing is you can take some damn valuable lessons from that while you still can.

The great thing about working in Richmond is that there are a hell of a lot of places that are relatively close. Richmond itself is hard to beat as it's next to the city, close to Sth Yarra/Chapel St, beaches, and St Kilda. The only problem is you pay for it. There will be a million rental places available so that's no problem, just be expecting to pay $130-180 each for the privalige. A slightly cheaper alternative is moving out a couple of suburbs but stay on train lines that connect to Richmond station. I'll list a few for you:

Hawthorn
Glenferrie
Kew
Auburn
South Yarra
Prahran
Windsor
South Melbourne
Toorak

All are pretty good places and around the same price as Richmond (Toorak and Sth Yarra might be slightly higher), but in my opinion I'd stick with Richmond itself, especially considering your age. You'll love it, great shopping down Bridge Rd, shitloads of pubs/cafes, and it's only 5 mins away from the CBD which will have anything your Cannuckistani heart could desire.

Word to the wise: DO NOT come over expecting Aussies to want to hear about your home country 24/7. This is a big mistake Nth Americans make when they get here. Yes your accent will get you laid, but not if you are loud, obnoxious when pissed, and condescending to the locals.

Anything else I can help you with mate?

Hi all, sorry it took me a while to get back.

Thanks for the tips. I'm really hoping that things work out with this job. I really want to move down under.

From what I have read it sounds like a great city and exactly what I am looking for. I am totally looking for some good places to go and have fun. I like pubs, and hanging outside, and partying it up in the nightlife.

Richmond sounds like a nice area. I was looking up St.Kilda too and that seems like a fun place, but I wouldn't mind living in Richmond and just heading into St.K to have fun. I looked a bit online and found a lot of nice looking apartments for rent with all the trimmings. I would be looking for a place in the $300-$400 / week price range, maybe a bit more but not too much. It looked like there were some pretty decent places for that price.

Basically I would want to be near the entertainment and a good scene. But in a good area. I just have no idea exactly where the best entertainment is.

Oh and no worries about me spending all my time being an ass or talking about home, I'm not like that. I am definitely glad to hear that the accent will get me in with some local ladies though... :thumbsup:

Jesus, if you're prepared to live on your own and pay around $300-400 you'll find shitloads of nice places!!

For that money you can pretty much pick the street you want to live on, so make sure you're as close to Bridge Rd as you can get, preferably anywhere in the square made up by Bridge Rd, Punt Rd, Swan St, and Church St. Pretty much everyone around that area is young and social, you'll love it. If you don't mind paying big rent also have a look around the Fitzroy area, pretty much the same as Richmond but a bit more arty.

Yeah, I was going to say, $300-400 a week will get you one sweet apartment, you could almost get an entire terrace house for that. All the places Meridae'n has mentioned are ace. Fitzroy is where I'd choose, but then again, I like the whole 'arty' aspect and being close to Brunswick St.

Yup Brunswick and Lygon are big pluses, I just don't like the lack of trains, so it'd be a bit of a hike to work.

Let's face it, anything that actually costs $400 a week is going to be in a pretty decent location...