Thanks for the info. Interesting place, I've enjoyed reading on other sites about the cities, development trends, and lifestyles of Oz. More compact and urban, yet you guys still have the option of living in the suburbs. Nice transit systems, too. Quality of life appears to be quite high, if only they hadn't taken your guns away. Crime still getting worse?
A few more years of savings and I'll be down, looking forward to hitting Brisbane, Surfer's Paradise, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and of course Perth! Not crazy about those blue-ring octopi or box jellyfish, however, so I'll pass on reef diving.
Now if you can set me up with your gold medal ski jump girl, I'll be down this week!
Let me know when you go, and I'll help you plan your itinerary. Don't worry about the blue rings, they don't a more than one person every five years or so -- and they're only in the south, so the Reef will be OK.
I'm flying back in abt. two weeks (I'm based here in NYC). If someone could fix me up with the ski jump gal, I'd be there faster, too -- although she wouldn't be doing too much jhumping after the wife had broken her legs!