shy_guy

Hi All, I'm a brit thinking about moving to Oz and I have a potential job opportunity at ANU. Unfortunately I get the impression Canberra is not that great a place to live, as it can be quite quiet, quite cliquey, and just generally difficult to make friends. Can people give me a low-down on life there - both the good and bad points! To give a bit of background on me: I'm 38, I live in Reading (as a reference town) and if I pursued a job over there I would be moving on my own. I'm not a huge fan of massive cities, like London, but Reading is about as quiet as I can handle. Ideally I'd like to live somewhere on-par with say Bristol or Edinburgh. In terms of interests I enjoy the outdoors, and I'm a big fan of rock climbing, but I hear climbing is a bit limited there. My clubbing days are long gone too, and I prefer a chat with friends in the pub, cafe, or small house gatherings. I am a little shy, which I understand will make things difficult anywhere, but my impression is it's especially difficult to meet people in Canberra. It would be good to get a realistic expectation of life over there, the likelihood of building a good social life, etc... Thanks in advance for any information offered!