Melbourne

[Moscow Mule]

Thanks all!

The agency will be sorting out the visa side of things.

Flights, initial lodging costs (1st 2 weeks), visa costs, paid holiday (bizarre!), medicare and some 9% money back at the end (?) are all part of the deal.

Cooperinliverp00l I simply went through an aussie agency on jobserve.

After your (mostly) good comments I think I'm gonna do it.

I predict;

You won't come back...

[DodgyAgent]

Been offered a 12 month contract in Melbourne.

Can anybody recommend the place? Good points as well as bad are welcome. Money seems tulipe comared to normal contracting wages (100k Aus)? But I'm guessing lifestyle and cost of living would atone?

Wife and 4 year old in tow.

Thanks

Your wife is in for a shock as Aussie men do not communicate with women at all. Also it is extremely suburban and backward in terms of culture. If your wife enjoys coffee mornings and idle gossip with other mums then fine. If she enjoys a bit of nightlife and occasional conversations with men then forget it.

And the flies are something else.

[weboo]

You lucky f%^&er. Thats it, I'm going to jobserve.com.au to find a contract!! If the client needs a web application infrastructure person with bags of experience...pm me!

[MickeyP]

Thanks all!

The agency will be sorting out the visa side of things.

Flights, initial lodging costs (1st 2 weeks), visa costs, paid holiday (bizarre!), medicare and some 9% money back at the end (?) are all part of the deal.

Cooperinliverp00l I simply went through an aussie agency on jobserve.

After your (mostly) good comments I think I'm gonna do it.

[sli_gryn]

really nice place to live, probably more european than most aussie cities but is the absolute a*se end of the world. have only just left and am only beginning now to realize how bl00dy far from anything it is!

cost of living;
- rents for 2 bed house w/in 30mins train of the city is about $250 - $500 (i lived in prahran and paid $400 p/w)
- a nice ron-of-the-mill dinner out is about $18 a main up to $30, pub meals about $12
- a beer (heineken) is about $7 on average
- public transport is about $6 per day (bought daily)
- utilities aren't too bad about $400 per quarter will cover everything
- child-care (don't know, sorry!)
- a weeks worth of shopping at the local supermarket for two people (eat-in most of the week) will set you back about $120 or so
- mobiles about $50 a month for $300 worth of calls (weird pricing packages)

what it's really like; (very biased)
- rainy in winter (well, at least it's supposed to be!) but no more than London
- colder than most parts of Aus (except summer where it gets to 40)
- black is the clothing color of choice
- very intelligent crowd, great clubs, bars, music, etc.
- good for sport (F1, spring racing carnival, football, etc.)

so, there's my 50 bl00dy cents...

btw, have a read of this for the local lingo... http://blogs.theage.com.au/lifestyle...lpage#comments

[richy_rich]

Who is doing your work visa application for this contract cos it is not simple if my visa application for residency is anything to go by?

Melbourne is a great place to live and as Hart-floot has stated there is a load of stuff to do there...

100k does not seem a great deal of money for a contract but its all about the lifestyle over there and if you like it then try and get residency.

Cheers,

RR.

[Cooperinliverp00l]

congrats MickeyP

How did you manage to get this gig in terms of interviewing e.t.c. I would love to go and work in Oz. I'm a Tester by trade and now more into Test Management. I see loads of jobs advertised on Jobserve Aus but never shown interest as i assume they wouldn't be interested in a pomme like me due to location change e.t.c.

Any advise on how you went or anyone else went about getting long distance overseas gig much appreciated.

Sorry mickey for hijacking your post.

[rootsnall]

Been offered a 12 month contract in Melbourne.

Can anybody recommend the place? Good points as well as bad are welcome. Money seems tulipe comared to normal contracting wages (100k Aus)? But I'm guessing lifestyle and cost of living would atone?

Wife and 4 year old in tow.

Thanks

Melbourne is not bad and I'm sure you'd have a good lifestyle there. Most of Oz is family and kiddie friendly due to the better weather more than anything. Some expats are very pro Melbourne but if you can wangle it Sydney is a lot better weatherwise and a much more attractive city all round IMHO. There is usually more work in Sydney but quite a few HQs for big Co's are in Melbourne.

100K per annum contracting sounds low !? There is however a decent tax perk to be had for non permanent residents. The cost of living is lower than here but not ridiculously so, there are a lot of outdoor things you can do for free.

[Hart-floot]

Been offered a 12 month contract in Melbourne.

Can anybody recommend the place? Good points as well as bad are welcome. Money seems tulipe comared to normal contracting wages (100k Aus)? But I'm guessing lifestyle and cost of living would atone?

Wife and 4 year old in tow.

Thanks

Go for it - it's a great place. Often comes top in surveys of cities with the best quality of life in the world. Living costs low compared to UK
More "cultured" and laid-back than Sydney these days, strong meditterranean influence too , beautiful parks, great beaches nearby (i.e along the Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island, Wilsons Prom etc) easy to get into the Snowy Mountains. Kids will love it. Climate can be extreme compared to other aussie cities, does get a winter (of sorts) and temperatures often go from mild to extreme heat (say 35 degs) in a day.

I lived there for over a year living in one of the boho inner suburbs, just north of the central area. Generally the southern and eastern outer suburbs are better than the northern or western ones but difficult to generalise. Melbourne does sprawl abit but public transport is good, so most places are a tram or train ride from the centre.
Cant think of anything bad to say about the place but people from Sydney might disagree lol

[Flubster]

Place is full of Australians (and no water) ....nuff said

Just like Earls Court then...

[Troll]

Been offered a 12 month contract in Melbourne.

Can anybody recommend the place? Good points as well as bad are welcome. Money seems tulipe comared to normal contracting wages (100k Aus)? But I'm guessing lifestyle and cost of living would atone?

Wife and 4 year old in tow.

Thanks

Place is full of Australians (and no water) ....nuff said

[MickeyP]

Been offered a 12 month contract in Melbourne.

Can anybody recommend the place? Good points as well as bad are welcome. Money seems tulipe comared to normal contracting wages (100k Aus)? But I'm guessing lifestyle and cost of living would atone?

Wife and 4 year old in tow.

Thanks