Surfing Waves

Calling aussies.... or ex-pats in Oz, or just people who know a bit more than me about it....

Im going to apply for job in Oz, but I'll be able to take it in more-or-less any major city

But I need to work out which one first, before applying. So give me the low-down on where the ideal place to live in australia is. Surfing is a priority (obviously), but also what its like generally.

Clearly, I need to visit - but I just need a start so I can fill in the form properly

oo Good post. I want to see the answers to this one. Sorry I cant help DBBB. I want to move to Aus after I finish Uni. Im fed up of the UK.

Laguna wrote: Im fed up of the UK.

Is it because you live in Swansea

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!!! You can come and stay with me and Brent in NZ

Libby wrote:Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!!! You can come and stay with me and Brent in NZ

It's only a "Possibility" at the moment - but Ive been getting in contact with people and getting some info. Fortunately, a visa doesnt appear to be a problem for me

The earliest it could happen will be next summer. But Im definitely going to be sending off some applications soon (hmmm, a chat with Mrs Drowning is probably in order).

There's also a job in NZ which I wont get, but I'll apply for, just in case....








(PS - At the SW meet in 2011, as I sit around outside my battered old van, you can all ask 'Hey DBBB, I thought you were moving out the country?' and I can reply, "well, yeah, I meant to, but you know how these things go...")

No no no in the 2011 SW meet you'll be sitting in your van in New Zealand saying "Hey, can you remember i almost stayed in England and even worse I nearly got a job in Ozzie, thank god you pursuaded me to move to NZ Libs"

He he if you move out there next summer we'll be emigrating at pretty much the same time

FishKid Wales wrote:

Laguna wrote: Im fed up of the UK.

Is it because you live in Swansea

Nope, just fed up of the surf, politics, chavs...etc Plus id want to travel/explore

Sydney's a beautiful city and has some great surf spots...........it's a start

Yep thats what i was gonna say ( Sydney ) ... maybe Brisbaine if you want to burb' it for a bit or get somewheres near Byron Bay i think its called .. i only know bits of info from my buddies good lady ( best Oz accent ) .. Jojo but im sure she'll help with anything she can bro .. and obviously bits of info about Gold Coast .

Im kinda interested in the West Coast cause its a little more laid back than East coast ! .. so im told by my cousin who WILL be receiving a visit from his FAVOURITE cousin soon ... i get in on the " related to an oz card " if i decide to emigrate woot woot !!
let me know what your thinking Matt cause Oz and NZ are all part of my big picture of getting the hell outta here as soon as lil'man is old enough to get on a plane

Maybe try applying to a company that has offices in a few cities?

I was gonna go over a couple of years ago, found out that my job/ qualifications were 'in need', applied to a huge photographic company and had a successful phone interview. Unfortunately it wasnt successful enough to guarantee sponsorship and it all fell through.

They probably saw your avatar

They probably saw your avatar

..naaa .. they would have deffo taken her i reckon

CheeZee wrote:

They probably saw your avatar

..naaa .. they would have deffo taken her i reckon

Cheeky sodbags the both of ye!!

Actually do need to update that thing, the pic is about 5 years old

Western Australia - Margaret River.
Eastern Australia - Sunshine Coast.
Northern Australia - Don't do it! 45 days of surf annually.
Southern Australia - Great ocean road, Yorke Peninsula, eyre Peninsula (no large cities tho).

-doug

Sydney is looking a possibility.... any downsides to sydney?

Crowded, crowded surf. Not great weather year-round. Annoying japanese constantly taking photographs!

But it's a good start!

Dec wrote:Crowded, crowded surf.

Hmmm, like the UK

Dec wrote: Not great weather year-round

Hmmm, like the UK

Dec wrote:Annoying japanese constantly taking photographs!

Hmmm, like london

Dec wrote:But it's a good start!

Just sent off the first tentative 'give me a job'-email to a place in sydney

At some point, I might stop to think about this, but at the moment I'll just go with the flow and see if the momentum takes me anywhere

Good luck with it all! What type of job are you looking for there?

Dec wrote:What type of job are you looking for there?

A cancer research job - so I'll be applying for a grant, which is why I can take it anywhere
But I need to find a 'host institute' to start with - so Ive just emailed sydney uni to see if they can come up with the goods.

And if they say 'yes', then I need to do a grant application (months of work), submit it, then wait until next spring til I find out whether Ive got it or not... THEN arrange to move next year. There's a lot of hurdles there to trip over, so its still only 'a possibility' at the moment

Hey, don't know if you've already made a decision, but Sydney is the scientific research capital, closely followed by Melbourne, both have institutes with good lab facilities etc. This might limit where you can go with your grant. Try the Garvan Institute in sydney.

As for which city to go to: Sydney is good if you stay near-ish to the coast. It gets real hot in summer inland, and the roads are chaos getting to the beach if you're in the western suburbs. Look at northern beaches, eastern suburbs, or sutherland shire. Almost everyone in these areas surfs, and it's crowded on weekends (I have trouble finding a quiet place to learn the basics of surfing). Plus, if you take a weekend trip away, you have hundreds (yes hundreds) of surf beaches and reefs within 2 hours up or down the coast from sydney.

Never been to melbourne, but they get some really hot days (42C) followed by cold days all year... the weather's a bit unpredictable, and it rains more than in sydney. On the other hand, they get a lot more wind from the southern ocean, and with the wind there comes 4-6m swell too extreme for me, but it's common in that part of the world. I'm not sure about this, but I think you have to drive further to get to surf beaches in melbourne, but there's plenty of coastline around there so surfing shouldn't be a problem.

P.S. I'm an immunologist researching transplantation in sydney at the Red Cross. Let me know how you get on with the grant.
Hope this helps,
James.