I've been here exactly a week now. Before I left, a few people had been asking about making the big move alone; I thought that people in this position might be interested in my experience so far.
I've travelled a lot, and can honestly say that Melbourne is truly one of the world's great cities. As with some of my other favourites-Helsinki, New York-the powers that be clearly paid attention to the importance of having open green spaces in citiy centres. As it's laid out on a grid system, it's really easy to find your bearings. I even gave someone directions yesterday-not bad after a week.
My own preferences are for the Eastern/South Eastern areas-Prahran, South Yarra, Richmond. There are tonnes of places to eat/drink/hang out. Reminds me of Manhatten/Greenwich Village. The difference being that you can actually afford to rent in these places! I entertained myself yesterday by just wandering around all night. When you can do things like this, then being out here on your own isn't a problem. i've been too busy exporing to be lonely.
The other thing is that it's safe to do all of this. Of course, Melbourne is a city with the associated problems, but compared to Liverpool, where i was before (and no, I'm not a scouser), what's really striking is the absence of scallies (that's chavs to the rest of you) hanging around.
In this first week, I've been on the receiving end of some incredibly generous acts-people willing to drop what they are doing to show me around etc. Been getting texts from friends of UK friends asking me out for drinks etc.
Ok, so you want the reality check? Here goes
1. The trains are unreliable. I've experienced 5-6 cancellations in the first week. they can also get more crowded than the London underground. I've been dreaming about car free living, but not sure if that's gonna be possible.
2. Any of you academics? If so, be warned, Universities are universities i.e. it takes forever to get anything done, or even get a straight answer to a straight question. I was supposed to have a lap top waiting for me when I got here, they know I've been coming since June, and it wasn't here. This is a bit like sending a soldier to Iraq then not giving him/her a rifle.
3. Despite what I said about being able to afford to rent in swanky areas, overall life ain't that cheap, in my opinion. Several people have said to me to think a dollar for a pound-i.e. if something costs you 2.50 in pounds it will cost 2.50 in dollars. For most things, in my experience, that isn't the case. Still, in terms of major cities, things are way more affordable. Oh, I don't know, I'm still learning.
4. Rentals. Very competitive market. So much so that estate agents can get away with being lazy, innefficient, uninformative and rude. I've had to sgn a 12 month lease, despite the fact that I'd like to buy once I know that the job's gonna work out etc.
Having said this I did manage to get a place in 5 days.
So, that's my experience so far. Perhaps the most important thing to say is this. I'm a natural pessimist. 2006 was the roughest year of my life on a personal level. If I'm honest, i wasn't really looking forward to coming here; professionally, I felt forced out of the UK uni system.
So I'm happy to say that today I look around me and all I see are new possibilities. And the best selection of restaurants in the world.
This is the second week of the year...and the tail end of the holidays... people really on start getting back to work next week...and things should improve ... a l ot! ...but the rail system is never actually perfect.
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Geelong, Victoria's second largest City
mccarudd - are you a lecturer at Uni? I'm currently an RA and would prefer to remain as that when (if) we move to Melbourne. Been looking at payscales etc and can't really make out what would be my equivalent but it looks like it's going to be a massive pay cut (gbp 30k down to aud 45-50k) so considering going into the real world (i.e. engineering industry).
Would be interested to hear what the main differences between UK and Aus unis you have noticed so far are (although I guess you've only been there a week). Based on point 2 of your message it sounds pretty similar ;)
I am indeed a uni lecturer. As you'll see fro my other posts, I'm having a hard time figuring out what money is worth over here. The pay is lower, but then there is the whole lifestyle equation thing. So, I've gone from being a homeowner with quite a lot of disposable income to (for the time being) a renter who has to watch the pennies. On the other hand, I'm living in hate middle of a fab city rather than Liverpool, which I found unpleasant.
In terms of work conditions, although uni admins are in some ways uni admins, in terms of research culture it's WAY better over here. I was in the new uni sector in the UK, which at my institution at least was going nowhere fast-actively hostile to research, which creates problems with career progression etc. Bascially all they want me to do here is research and write, which is pretty much what we sign up for.
Put it this way, I've met a few people over here who are thinking of movig to UK unis, and I think they're out of their mind, all things considered.
