Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Slinger
1) Which city is recommended between Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne?
2) What do I need to know about Australia that I may not normally think to ask?
3) Any overall experiences you can share and recommendations?
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1) Depends on your... 'thang'. Melbourne is more metro / cosmo, Perth and Brissy more laid-back, Adelaide operates in slow motion.
Adelaide and Melbourne weather sucks, might as well be in Canada. Well, not that bad, but still bad, it sometimes snows and crazy shyte like that. Perth weather is the nicest, like Brissy but less humid.
Perth is a long freakin' way from anywhere else, but if you like a Perth kind of lifestyle, there's enough around it that you won't feel the need to go anywhere else very often.
All are very nice cities in their own right, I'd consider what kind of lifestyle you enjoy... if you're an urban kinda guy, you'll enjoy Melbourne the most. Adelaide is a very quiet town, kinda like a huge suburb. If the most important thing to you is enjoying a relaxing weekend outdoors, preferably out of town, you'll like Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth. Consider city size as well; Melbourne is a major city of 4M+ people, Brissy is about twice the size of Calgary, while Perth and Adelaide are Calgary-ish in size.
The deadly animals thing is ridiculously overstated; Aussies think the same thing about Canadians living among the bears and wolves, and it's equally relevant in normal day-to-day life.
2) Visas: You'll want a 457, don't let them dick you around with some substandard piece of crap. The 457 buys you 4 years; if you dig it, you can apply for permanent residency after two.
Taxes: I haven't crunched the numbers, but gut feel says that it's pretty similar to Canada.
Wages: Higher than Canada. If they try to pay you the same as what you make in Calgary, they're hosing you.