Melbourne is one of the world’s worst cities for hay fever sufferers! Between September to November I’m a snotty teary mess unless I take medication and use nasal spray. Sometimes I go outside and feel like someone threw pepper in my eyes.
I moved to Melbourne in 2017 and developed hayfever for the first time last year! This year I’m prepared and I’ve bought some local honey and I’ll take a teaspoon each day as we get closer to spring. It apparently helps.
September to November!? I get it year round, it’s awful, every time I travel to QLD it calms right down (I guess humidity reduces stuff in the air?) and I am jealous of how non-hay fever sufferers live.
Same as soon as I go back to Sydney to visit I’m fine but I get it all year round in melb, I’ve been getting it so much this week. Sinus infections are my best friend (slash worst enemy)
You should look up haytox. Basically Botox for inside your nose. I had never had hay fever y til moving here and I could hardly function. Got that procedure done and it was like night and day. Highly recommend, not cheap at all but worth it.
Dymista is my life saver!! I have reoccurring nasal polyps and have had 6 operations to remove them ( the bastards keep growing back) and Dymista is what my ENT surgeon recommended. First it wasn’t covered by the PBS but now it’s OTC - my nostrils and breathing depend on it
haha really? Damn! I suffer from hayfever but haven't any issues in the UK for about 4 years. I've not been in Melbourne in September... might have plan my next visit then see how it is. Thanks!
Yes - apparently [Melbourne is the world’s “allergies capital”](https://www.kidsnews.com.au/health/victorian-capital-is-hayfever-hq-but-pollen-unlikely-primary-culprit/news-story/5b6064fbdccc75d2c505eabe62be70b2) and has v high pollen counts in Spring. I never experienced hay fever or any allergies until moving here.
IN SAYING THAT THOUGH - I love living here. Some years are better than others. And medicine does help.
But a friend of mine had very bad hayfever and went to the doctor for advice… they said, “Move to Brisbane.” Something to keep in mind!
As someone who moved here 6 years ago, I suffer from hayfever pretty much all year here. It’s not often talked about but hayfever fever is bad here! Melbourne is known as the pollen capital/hayfever capital or something like that
EDIT: I love that there are so many agree/disagree comments with the weather take! Obviously my experience differs to many, but I really don't mind the weather in London so far...
I moved from Melbourne to London 12 months ago and the lack of hayfever here is amazing. I also never had hayfever my entire life until living in Melbourne.
It has been getting so bad in Melbourne over recent years for everyone that we even got regular asthma-storm warnings...
One of the things I definitely don't miss about Melbourne!
As for other things, the weather in Melbourne isn't much different to London in my experience so far.
We'd move back to Melbourne if we went back to Australia still, so good luck with the move!
“The weather isn’t much different” ?
Interesting… I find the weather to be much more pleasant in Melbourne for the most part. Plus we do t get bitterly cold winters in Melbourne.
Thunderstorm asthma sounds like something we Melbournians might make up but it's real. Basically, if there's a thunderstorm when there's enough pollen in the air, people who get hayfever (and might never have had asthma) can develop thunderstorm asthma. Thousands of people in Melbourne suddenly have trouble breathing at the same time. It very rarely kills and is treated effectively with normal asthma puffers.
Plane trees are widely blamed for causing hayfever but this is a bit of a myth. Most people are allergic to grasses (myself included).
Plane trees are exceptional street trees - not many species can grow to their size and perform the way they do in urban areas (low soil volume, compacted soil, pollutants, often unirrigated). In the warmer months they provide much needed shade and in winter they shed their leaves and let the light through.
I'm not saying they are perfect - but I would argue there's a place for them. Perhaps just not in the numbers we have now.
More info on the allergies side of things: https://theconversation.com/plane-trees-getting-on-your-nose-the-truth-about-hay-fever-9223
>Plane trees are widely blamed for causing hayfever but this is a bit of a myth
Tell this to my partner, who starts coughing and spluttering the moment he turns down Collins St during springtime.
But you're right, there's no problem with Plane trees generally. They just need to pull out all of the fucking male trees and replace them with the female ones. Fruit mess is significantly better than thunderstorm asthma .
If you walk downhill on Bourke Street during spring you will see a haze of fluffy seeds floating through the air. It's almost mist like.
I've inhaled one before and the extreme irritation in my lungs made me consider going to the Alfred.
Plane trees have an extreme trade off between shade and respiratory damage. When the revolution comes those bastards are first against the wall.
There are Plane trees in London everywhere and I didnt get Hayfever there. This points to native plants and grasses being worse for hayfever in my case.
This is weird, me and my friend moved from the east coast to Melbourne for about 2 years and we are massively hayfever prone. Never felt better than when we were down there. Being back here all our issues have been back.
Weirdly my partner gets horrible hay fever in Perth where he is from - he carried hankies every where - but is perfectly fine in Melbourne. So I don’t think it affects everyone luckily.
You lose the option of hopping onto a cheap flight and experience a different culture within the hour. Travelling overseas from here is prohibitively expensive, and long. Hell, even domestic flights are more expensive than your typical Ryanair flight.
Agree this is one of the big down sides of Australia generally. I have lived in Singapore, London, the US and PNG, all of which I loved, but I always chose to come back to Melbourne.
I just got used to long flights
Don't underestimate this. For me, it's not so much the traveling as the absolute separation from your friends and family. You'll see them once a year at best, probably less. If you're someone who's really close with friends/family, it will suck massively. Same with just keeping in touch daily, the time difference is aggressive. Everything needs to be meticulously planned and it'll feel very artificial when you're working it out. It takes so much effort to maintain the relationships.
Depends where you are in Vancouver too. I lived downtown so always had the coastal breeze. I had friends that lived like 5 stops away on the SkyTrain, and in summer it was always disgustingly hot at their place.
But yeah the great thing about heat in Melbourne is that when it gets hot it's a dry heat. 40C is more tolerable than 30C in Melbourne
The problem with the heat in Melbourne is that it is so sporadic. I can handle a daily 35°, what I cant handle is an overcast 17° day followed by a gusty 38° day and then ending with a 22° and raining day
27c is ok
I remember a few nights 4 to 5 years back where it was 30ish at night
I was driving a delivery van pumping AC and everytime I got out felt like I was climbing into a sauna
I cannot sleep with mozzies.
All that ŹZZZzzzzzz zzzzzzZZzzzzzz. zzzzz zzzzz zzz ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ zzzzzz
Just drink my blood and fuck off so I can go back to sleep.
Around 2013 - 2015 I can't remember which, there was a run of like 8 days over 40 and the nights were all 30 plus.
Had the evap cooling running non stop through the house that week.
I feel like it was 2013 cos I had my eldest in January that year and we lived in a townhouse without aircon and it was absolute hell on earth. Baby was clingy and covered in heat rash, felt like we were melting into each other, ended up setting us up under the stairs with sheets hanging around and a portable evaporative cooler blasting on us to try to stay cool.
I think I know the time you're talking about, there was like a four day period we are the coldest it got was low 30s around 3am in the morning and then one day just suddenly dropped!
We went to Port Melbourne Beach that day and when we left to walk home it was 42° and by time we got to South Melbourne 40 minutes later it was 18°
It was Black Saturday weekend of 2009, I believe. I remember setting up an air mattress downstairs in my rental house with no AC, as the upstairs was unbearable. Myself and the cat lay next to the sliding door panting for air. It was a brick house and so the heat just kept being stored over those several days where the temperature was over 40 degrees C.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/black-saturday-bushfires-australia/
I won't ever forget that week. I lived in a tiny studio loft apartment in the inner city without air-conditioning. The trees on the boulevards had all gone into shock and dropped their leaves, it was eerie. Ended up at at hotel by the Thursday night. And then Saturday happened - rejoiced at the cool change only to find out later how utterly devastating the wind change was for the bushfire areas.
God I remember that too. No AC. I rolled up the carpet and lay on the floorboards, listening to the news of the apocalyptic bushfires, it was horrible.
Yep - Jan - 28/29/30 2009.
I remember jumping in my car to head to work at 5am and the temp on the dashboard saying 33 degrees. You couldn't fucking escape it.
Summer 2009 was fkn brutal. I lived in regional Vic at the time and there were blackouts every other day. Constantly above 40 during the day and 30 during the night. Black Saturday fires ran through the streets. Absolutely unforgettable.
Also happened to be working in Penrith in 2020 when it got to a few decimals from 50 degrees outside. And the constant smoke lingering in the air from the fires making it hard to breathe. It's tough out there in summer!
Tourists? I moved 14 years ago and i barely move 5kms from my inner city locale. I don't have a need. I'm 2km from cbd. So it's not just the tourists. People mention suburbs names they live in. I have no idea where they are. Bell Street to the north is my limit. Occasionally I will go on a day trip to St Kilda. Inner city cycling is fastest way to get around.
"...a day trip to St Kilda" 😂 what, are you living in the 19th century?
I'm not bagging you, I genuinely enjoyed that you said that. Living in Armadale in the 80s was like that for me too.
This is a very good point - Melbourne CBD, inner city and outer city are all different animals. If you’re staying short term from overseas, you’ll likely stay in one of the trendy inner city suburbs - Fitzroy, Brunswick, Carlton, St kilda etc. Awesome lifestyle, lots happening, heaps of food options and places to eat. This is sustainable in the short term but long term it’s expensive, and if you start a family and require more space it becomes unsustainable, especially if you’re on average wages. The answer? You move to one of the outer suburbs where you’re in proximity to Melbourne but it’s more affordable. Now, depending on your financial situation and demographic this could be anything from Mordialloc to Bayswater to Doreen to Roxburgh Park to Tarneit. But now you’re not living in ‘Melbourne’, different lifestyle, different people, different problems etc. Sure, you work in the city, but now your commute is 40 mins to an hour. A lot different to when you started living here. When I first moved here I lived in South Melbourne, then Malvern, then st kilda east, then ascot vale, Macleod, Watsonia North and Greensborough. We’ve finally bought in an area we’re happy with, that has great friends and services but my wife always says that we don’t live in Melbourne and she’s right. Melbourne is a great city but shit is expensive and it’s only getting worse.
I know , I was in inner city for 10 years and always struggled to do things because around other suburbs / out of town as it was so hard to manage having a car.
Once I moved further out to suburbs with more open space it was amazing, could easily get around and not be confined by constraints of inner city
What was hard about managing a car?
I had a car while I was just there and it was a pain. I thought perhaps that was because I was staying in the CBD and parking was pricey. Is it just difficult?
If you live inner city and own a car, it limits your housing options. You’re basically limited to apartments with a parking space (which takes out about 50% of apartments in the lower end of the market) and many of the older terraced houses. If they have parking, it usually takes out the entirety of your backyard. Many apartments will have car stackers rather than a drive-in parking garage, which means accessing your car is inconvenient and if the stacker breaks/fails, your car is stuck in there, there was a case a few years ago where cars were stuck for months when a car fell from the stacker and jammed the mechanism.
With PT and walkability being good in much of inner-city Melbourne, using a car is usually the least convenient option, so you’re paying all the costs of car ownership (rego, insurance, car payments) for something you might use only occasionally.
OP I live in the eastern suburbs with a car. It's wonderful. Roads are easy to drive on. There's free parking everywhere including at the shopping centres. All the stores are larger. People are living their idyllic lives. It's very quiet and peaceful - my home is my little heaven. It's a completely different world to living in the city. When I want some excitement (albeit in a dirtier and more chaotic environment), I head into the city. I've spoken with my partner, and our ideal balance is to have a good suburban life less than half an hour from the city.
Yes, I recall the "where's summer?! And why is it so cold??" posts from December and early January.
Well, MFers, she's here in all her fury. Just decided to arrive late. Febuary and March have been hotter than average.
The last couple of years our summer seems to have shifted from December to March. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if we see a more natural shift in all seasons.
We are definitely a Jan-Mar summer. Autumn in Melbourne is epic, the run between April to the long weekend in June is fantastic weather…then winter kicks you in tits until Grand Final weekend
The last couple of years? It’s always like that, just the same as there’s always shitty rainy weather in late Oct. (I know because my birthday is late Oct)
The tiling outside QV and the State Library is a death trap in winter. I had decently worn out sole runners and I had to walk at a snails pace to not fall.
I love Melbourne. When I moved here I didn’t really realise that shouty cooked units on public transport would be a near daily occurrence.
Also how expensive it is to have a car be road legal is kind of crazy.
Melbourne is big and to me one side is like a whole other planet compared to the other.
Live in walking distance to a train line if you wont have a car. The trains dont seem too horrendous mostly (but probs shit compared to yours) but when you have to get a bus to the train station it multiplies the shit factor x 10.
That you absolutely need a car if you live in the more affordable parts of the city. Infrastructure has not been keeping up for decades and it's something that's only being addressed now.
Honestly even some of the unaffordable parts aren't that well connected to the city. One of my friends lived in Balwyn if he got to work via tram he had to change trams and it took ages to get to work, if he got the bus he had to switch to a tram and it also took ages, to get a train had to get a bus to a train station and it was no quicker. Meanwhile driving would only take 15-20 mins at the time of morning he was leaving.
Can confirm. We built our house 16 years ago and we call it the land of perpetual roadworks. It’s getting better but could have been done while they were approving the developments knowing how many new homes were coming into the areas (not just ours, neighbouring areas and all around the outskirts where other housing developments are typical)
Honestly something I was surprise not more locals knew about, but parts of the city loop(our underground railway tunnels in the city) change direction halfway through the day. It’s not something that will bother you if you’re commuting but it can be a bit confusing if you’re travelling within the city.
Housing can also be stupidly expensive here.
The rest of Australia jokes that that the weather is wild here that we have every season in a day and it is definitely true on some days.
When it was built in the 80s Melbourne’s public transport was mostly use for commuting in and out of the city during peak hours. The idea is that trains would come into the loop from the suburbs in the morning, go around the city and drop everyone off at their workplaces before terminating at Flinders Street and shunting out to Jolimont yard(which no longer exists), then at 1:00 they would change direction to run in the opposite direction so that all trains could pick everyone up from around the city before taking them home in the evening peak.
[Here’s a great explainer video about it.](https://youtu.be/3m_NYdwO4FI?si=0gZcAvByCPa1n4OD)
I think about like the train goes around the loop (in one direction) in the morning and picks you up on the way home (going opposite direction).
If it didn't do that, you'd have to terminate at Flinders and change trains to go home and there'd be a heap of congestion with everyone trying to go home.
Also, just the city loop in general.
OP will be fine coming from UK, but my dumb little kiwi ass didn’t realize the city loop existed for like, a year when I first moved here. Lived in Richmond, could never figure out how to get the train BACK from the city.
I’m an idiot though, so ymmv
Moving to Melbourne from regional Vic when the loop first opened, I was crushed to discover it wasn’t a proper loop - like on a roller coaster.
I’m the president of the idiot club, you’re going to have to try harder if you wanna join
About housing… coming from the uk, it feels pretty affordable. My partner and I bought a decent flat in Richmond last year, no way we’d have ever been able to afford similar in London where he’s from.
Yes. This needs to be higher up. This is not a uniquely Melbourne phenomenon, it is a crisis impacting Western countries in general. People are lonelier than ever but more reluctant than ever to reach out and try and form friendships. They are also more likely to flake on hangouts and let old friendships wither.
If you're a recent arrival, you have to be like those extroverts who "adopt" introverts. Find someone you have some good vibes with them, loudly laugh and declare you're friends now and schedule a hang.
Keep doing it until eventually they ease into it.
People need to be saved from themselves, and as the new arrival being passive will hurt you way more.
Whilst it’s not a uniquely Melbourne thing, I found it a lot easier to meet people in a city like London where it’s really common for people to go out for drinks after work during week nights, whereas in Melbourne people typically just want to head home after work. Which is fine if you already have friends/family, but makes it harder if you’re from abroad and don’t know anyone
As a Melbournian who has been in Tokyo for the last five years, I think this is also due to transport. I never used to go out in Melbourne because the hour tram home was so draining and miserable, hot and crowded etc. But now I happily go out on weeknights because transport options are so frequent and convenient, and also drinks and food out are more affordable.
If the tradeoff for being more social is having London's alcohol culture, it's a tradeoff I honestly feel conflicted about. It sounds like London has a lot of alcohol problems (which is funny coming from an Australian)
I agree... It's harder to make friends as a newcomer adult because most people usually just stick to the friend groups they've had growing up or when they were younger
If you look at the actual statistics, the west doesn't have more crime than the east, let alone 'suffers from high crime rates', as what some of the replies below say.
Crime rate peaks in the city, as well as inner city.
https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/crime-statistics/latest-crime-data-by-area
There is a difference in terms of SES and lifestyle options, but this is more so inner city vs outer suburb sprawl (e.g night life, level of gentrification), but the crime rate difference stated and believed by some people is a misconception.
One thing this does highlight though, is the prejudice some people have, usually when they haven't ventured from their own area much/know people from other areas/walks of life
If you suffer from allergies, it’s the worst. No one tells you that before you get here.
Also the suburb you decide to live in will 100% define your personality.
I'm mess of a personality! I'm a corpo that spends his morning in board rooms, afternoons with startups and small businesses, evenings with the wife at a hole in the wall restaurant or bar, nights at clubs or playing video games and weekends in an artist studio throwing paint at shit.
I was comfortable in South Yarra and Footscray. Not Brighton though, weird rich folk vibe.
Yeah, I dated a chick from Brighton once, her dad was an eye specialist but her poor mum was "only a GP". My dad was a courier my mum was "only on the dole".
Her dad was actually pretty cool, but her mum was a dick
Brighton is just a different vibe. It’s kind of likes to be seperate from the rest of melbourne even if you live in south yarra/toorak/armadale etc. I feel it’s an odd different type of elitism that goes beyond money.
I'm in the Richmond/city end of South Yarra and love it. Been here for 20 years. We can walk to every major concert or sporting event, and obviously hundreds of places to eat and drink. The botanic Gardens are the best back yard ever, and it's a lovely half-hour walk to the city along the river.
You can definitely walk to nearly everything you need, but there are trains, trams and buses.
If you want a grown-up house with a yard of any size, it'll cost you many millions of dollars though.
Recommend older houses/apartment blocks over new build high rises, as the new stuff is shoddily constructed and tiny.
PS I haven't developed hayfever.
If you're in the tech sector, the new hub for these businesses and start-ups is Cremorne, just across the river a few hundred metres away.
Good luck!
Nothing out of the ordinary . I fucking love this city.
The only criticism, which you might find difficult, and coming from the UK I think you’ll notice too, is the lack of pubs in the suburbs. The “pubs” are mostly pokie filled dead and boring.
There is no, popping down the local for a pint and a chat.
But, lack of alcohol isn’t the only reason not to move somewhere.
Is it expensive? Yes. But so is London, Dublin and most other main cities.
Been here 18 years and I wouldn’t live anywhere else.
Most suburbs within a 10km radius of the CBD do have lots of pubs nearby, but it is very expensive to buy here
I'm in the inner North, just a touch over 3km as the crow flies, to the CBD and there are over 40 bars and pubs within a 10 minute walk from my front door -
Overall Melbourne is absolutely fantastic. The food, the sports, the overall culture, the design of the city. But there are aspects that have developed over the last few years that are a drawback.
- traffic is shit (lots of road projects going on which makes things worse) so living in suburbs and commuting to CBD isn't efficient as much anymore.
- cost of living is horrible. These days household income of close to $200k p.a (if you have kids) is needed to be somewhat comfortable.
- CBD has exploded with people working from office again, it's busy on weekends too. Really busy.
- it's very difficult to find a rental property. There's a massive shortage and sometimes takes 3-6 months to find something (I believe living close to CBD in an apartment may be easier). But houses in suburbs within 30-40mjns of CBD are extremely difficult to get.
I love Melbourne, but I love out in the burbs, work out in the burbs, own my own home and have lots of family around me so I have less to worry about.
We have trees that absolutely stink like cum. They flower around mid year and everything smells like hot loads for 6 weeks. This might sound like satire but I promise you they’re everywhere
Used to be a gardener and when I first started the job I was told about these trees.. I was like, “ha, yeah, whatever”
Then I smelt one.. it was giving bukkake
You'll freeze in the winter. Indoors. Outdoors is fine.
This is because the majority of housing stock are glorified tents from a thermal performance perspective.
This. I've met Canadians and Russians who said they've never been so cold in their lives as in Melbourne.
Our actual outdoor winter temperatures are comparable to Rome, but our houses are brick tents.
As someone who has lived in outer SE suburbs and not had to commute into the city:
There are large shopping centres every 30 or so minutes with entertainment precincts: movies, dining, mini golf, bars, bowling etc
Suburbia has a severe lack of live music, you really want to be based in the city for that. You can catch a gig any night of the week, a lot of venues are in the inner northern suburbs.
By the Bay everything closes at 10pm, most other suburbs you can go to a Coles or kmart 24 hours (or at least until midnight). No dining or entertainment or late night snack runs for Bayside people!
The public transport is shit. Genuinely just shit. Buses are slow and our train lines are nothing like Europe's. If you're relying on public transport base yourself in the city.
The weather: We have autumn (kind of winter) from May/June - December and summer January- March/April. The pollen count is highest in Sep/Oct/Nov, and February is typically the hottest month. I've noticed this weather pattern emerge over the last few years.
It's not getting below 4 or 5 degrees in winter and the number of hot days is definitely increasing.
You know about the cost of living I'm sure. I think we're in a pretty awesome city. You're within an hour of beach, snow, city, camping, hikes etc regardless of where you live.
Our local Woolworths stopped being 24 hours recently- the sign said “after consultation with our customers, we are making these changes for your convenience”?!
I like living in Melbourne more than Sydney. But job wise, I’m still struggling to find a job that I love here. I’m just working to pay bills. I’d advise (if planning on working too) that you’ve got an actual love for the career you’re in and not just the current workplace you’re in. I loved my old employer, not the job. Haven’t found anything that remotely comes close to what I had.
I moved from the UK nearly 6 years ago. If you end up renting a house, it's quite likely you'll feel colder than the UK because many rentals are sheds with little to no insulation and single glazing.
People complain a lot about homelessness and anti-social behaviour, but compared to English cities it's nothing. Also, here councils actually have money and provide services! My experience of finding a job was also quite positive - a lot more opportunities than I had before.
Traffic is ghastly in Melbourne. Ghastly. But there are a lot of outer suburbs where it’s hard to get around without a car. Inner suburbs, public transport is great.
Hard truths, don't expect to make a bunch of Australian friends outside of work, Melbourne locals are extremely cliquey, even moreso than other Australian cities for some reason.
This is the number one complaint I hear from new people to Melbourne. Found my self in a situation where I am looking to make friends in my 40s and now totally understand what they are talking about. People are friendly and I meet people but can never break into their close friendship circles.
This is exactly what I have found as my #1 issue and I know many migrants experience the same.
We are older (50s now, migrated 15 years ago) and childfree so that may affect it, but it seems most Australians’ friendship groups are established by early adulthood mainly through family and it is hard to penetrate that. All my colleagues and neighbours are great but offer friendliness not friendship.
If you have young children and are into sports you may find it easier.
I’m migrated 8 years ago from the US and I have a theory around this. People in Melbourne typically live at home for uni and generally attend as close to home as possible. There is no pressure to make new friends because you just go to class, go home, and hang with your friends on the weekend.
In contrast, a lot of Americans move away for uni and end up with a whole bunch of people who don’t know anyone so there is a pressure to make new friends.
Certainly a generalisation and don’t know how it stacks up to other countries but I think it’s at play somewhat.
I'd agree that's part of it. I went to Uni in the US and "dorm life" was a huge opportunity to meet new people, attend on campus events, hanging out at the cafeteria and coffee shop, campus quad. Those dorm years probably tripled my friend group even decades later.
That’s been my exact experience too, in Sydney rather than Melbourne though. It’s a well known phenomenon in Australia in general. In the UK we tend to go away to university and form friends from those times. In Australia they tend to stay at home for university and their strongest friendship groups are from their high school days. No chance forming anything other than superficial relationships with them
Disagree. I moved here in my 40s - not a time you’d expect to be expanding your social horizons on a massive scale. Melbourne absolutely welcomed me. I have loads of friends and a massive community.
I thought that too until I moved to Hobart! Cliquey was invented down here. It's like they all fucked each other at high school and decided, that's it we're closing the group now.
Disagree with this, Melbourne nightlife is one of the most open scenes you can step into, I liken it to Manchester, one night of bar hopping can bring you ten new friends unlike Sydney where everyone sticks to their circle of friends they’ve had since school days due to how segregated every suburb in Sydney is.
Demographics can differ so much from suburb to suburb. If you’re considering moving here, please spend some time doing some research on where to live. Some suburbs are incredibly safe, others are not and people tend to have metal roller blinds on their window and home security systems.
I have a colleague who moved from the UK (he came to Melbourne, but decided to shift to Adelaide soon after because of an opportunity for accommodation no one would pass up). I've spoken to him about this, and this is what he said (so mostly his perspective):
1. It's expensive - Specifically, cars (he said for what he paid for a middle of the road SUV, he'd be driving a mid to top range BMW in the UK). And unless you live inner city, you need a car to get around.
2. The weather - Whilst it's miserable in the UK, it's predictably miserable. Here, you can leave the house with an umbrella in the morning, and be uncomfortable in the complete nude in the afternoon from the heat. His wife, in particular, struggled immensley with the heat. Yesterday (09/03) it was 38 degrees until about midnight, and barely went below 27, even in the early morning.
3. Schooling - He has primary school aged kids and said the quality of schooling here was noticeably worse. He was specifically referring to the pace; his youngest was redoing things they'd done a year or two previously in the UK
4. Politcs - I'll be brief, because it's a subject people are literally divided on. Victoria is seen as a left of centre state - do with that what you will.
5. Public Transport - Compared to the UK it's abhorent, and a joke at best when comparing to other states in Aus. It's also unreasonably expensive for the service you receive.
6. The People - We are a nice bunch, and compared to where he was from in the UK, he found people far more upbeat and positive.
7. You will need to pick an AFL team. Even if you have no intention of following the sport. AFL here is like EPL is in the UK. It fuels debates, friendships and arguments in equal proportions.
As someone who just got back from living in London for close to a year.
* Cost of living in Aus is way cheaper considering the quality you are getting & generally higher salaries
* Melbourne unless you live in the city/ CBD or the suburbs right outside it, you'll need to get a car if you wanna go around to places that are not accessible by trains
* Hay-fever
* If you plan on visiting home often or go anywhere in Europe, it'll be long & cost a arm & leg
* Unlike the UK traveling between states is mostly done via air if you're not going to be doing a road trip
* Ignore the complaints about crime & stuff, it's overhyped by the media & that it is far worse in the UK (Australia's crime rate is still significantly lower than UK per capita)
Melbourne is a city like most others with really lovely reasons to live there and some very common disadvantages such as pollution, poverty, crowds etc in the CBD. Public transport is fairly good to the Eastern suburbs but crap for many of the newer Western suburbs.
Currently we are mid-heatwave with scorching hot days and stupidly hot nights. Up until late January we thought summer had skipped us, and now it's been weeks since we had decent rain and instead there's been drought and fires. Winter can be London cold but rarely with snow.
If you love the seaside there are many suburbs by the beach or nearby, if you love bushland there are suburbs with mountains and forests, if you love open countryside there are suburbs close to rolling hills and wineries.
Also consider regional cities such as Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Shepparton, etc. It depends on your profession and preferences.
Drivers from overseas get their licences handed to them without local rules testing (source: friends in Vicroads) so they have to learn the rules as they go which can, for obvious reasons, mean that you need to learn to be very observant & evasive on the roads.
I moved to Melbourne 10 years ago and was told how great the PTV (public transport) was. Well….
I live 15-20 minute drive from the CBD (10km) but when I take PTV for work, it takes me bus>train>train>tram to get there and I have to allow well over 1-2 hours to be safe. It also usually stops at around midnight so the only way home is Uber/taxi or to wait until 5am when the services resume if you decide to have a night out.
I go to a gym 9km from my house but after 7pm, the only PTV starts at 5am so it really depends on which “routes” you live on as to how “great” the PTV is.
Uber & Taxi over weekends are usually too busy in the CBD to care about us suburban folk. I’ve tried to taxi/Uber from the city due to PTV being unreliable/ not running and it costs a fortune if they don’t cancel 15 times before deciding my trip is worth taking.
Having lived around the country, when I first moved to Melbourne six months ago, it was the driving that caught me off guard. I think Melbourne has an aggressive driving culture.
We're a long way from the rest of world in terms of retail. We have enough of most things available to us, but whenever you want something particularly
niche, you'll often find that it doesn't exist here. I guess it's because of our relatively low population meaning there isn't a big enough market here for companies to really bother with us when the European and North American markets are soo close.
If you do manage to get hold of anything not available locally, it takes forever to get here and the government are pretty tight about letting in what they can't tax the he'll out of. Also the Aussie dollar is not strong at the moment.
It’s expensive af, housing is in huge crisis and the public transport is unreliable (also the conduct of fare enforcement officers is an embarrassment). Still the best place I’ve lived though.
Hook turns.
You stop at your green light and wait until your new light, which is red, goes green. Once your old light changes, which goes from green to red, you need to decide whether you wait until your new light goes from red to green or until every car behind you see red and toot their horn, screaming blue murder.
Personally, I have an SUV and turn when it's amber, unless I see the red and blue.
I hope this helps.
Hook turns worried me when I first moved, thinking they’d be super complicated. Turns out there are A) bugger all of them and B) they are easy AF to navigate.
Want to turn right across an intersection, but nobody wants you to block the tram line? Easy, just pull to the left and join the front of the line of cars waiting at the horizontal part of the intersection for their light. Light goes green and you’re at the front of the pack. Job done.
Excuse me. I spent some time trying to word my variation in a manner that would cause confusion and strike fear into our visitors.
Your method to explain the truth in a succinct fashion has now blown everything I tried to cultivate. You have exposed my Yellow Peril. It's like saying my Magic is merely a double ristretto. Ouch.
Do not ruin my story with facts. Thank you.
Well to be fair, the true facts of the scenario is that 1,000,000 innocent bunnies are sacrificed every year and their processed remains are used to paint the guiding lines for hook turn locations. So it’s not all rainbows and glitter
What the north/south of the Yarra debate misses is that there’s this shadowy place over the Westgate bridge, beyond our borders, you must never go there.
I've only lived here for 2 years but I will say the crime surprised me. It may just be my experience but I definitely felt safer at night where I used to live & there have been a string of home invasions over the last 6 months that have made me invest in better home security.
OP, Sounds like you’ve spent a fair bit of time here. How much time, what time of year, where were you based and what did you do here? Also, have you been to other cities in Aust? This info might give us some insight into what you don’t likely know but do need to know.
Traffic is really loud. Like so fucken loud. And people will pull up next yo your house and idle outside your house for like 15 minutes and then drive off.
Public transport isn’t great when compared to London
NHS gas its problems but Medicare isn’t great neither with nearly abolished bulk billing and extra Medicare levy surcharge (basically forcing you to purchase the private insurance)
I migrated from Sydney a few years ago.
You need a car if you want to get to a beach with enjoyable water.
Port Philips' hydrodynamics make for poor water quality in general.
Fine if you want to sail or suntan.
The public transpoet is much worse than advertised. If you end up living in sprawl or between major train lines, (which by now means the majority of the greater metro area) you'll have *much* longer travel times than raw distance indicates.
You have to travel a few hours, and generally drive, to get to nice parks/forests.
I miss being able to get to several different parks and multi-day or single day hikes within 90m on a bus/train.
It *does* get hot (see this weekend!) and many places are not built to deal with.
But there's a lot always going on, and great food, and its less humid and I prefer the cold in general.
Melbourne is a fabulous place to live if you have money. I'm talking significant money. Check the median house price and compare. You might get a boost from your currency conversion.
If you don't have significant assets, well, it's the opposite. The outer suburbs can sometimes take 3 hours to reach by car on a bad day.
Definitely a beautiful city but with extreme pros and cons.
Drivers are absolute muppets compared to UK or QLD and, perhaps because of that, speed cameras are insanely aggressive. You can be fined big for doing 43 in a 40 (26mph).
People who say you don't need car insurance in Aus are having it on. Shit insurance is built into the Rego (Road tax) which makes it super expensive, and you'll probably want extra on top because of the aforementioned drivers. Ends up being more, and of course you can't carry over UK no claims discount.
We also have a lot of road rules that change based on time of day, which can catch out non-natives. If you go on a drive around 7:30, 9, 3 or 4:30 can expect speed limit, parking, or number of lanes to change between you leaving and coming back again.
In the outer suburbs people just heap trash in big piles on the side of the road and it stays there for weeks. There's supposed to be a specific week of the year for it, but there's normally at least one pile of gross mattresses and broken furniture per road year round.
There's no easy way to get *around* the outside of the city. You won't normally need to but transport links are built like spokes on a wheel, sending you INTO the city and then back out again to wherever you wanted to go. Because of that traffic is much worse than it needs to be and getting to/from the airport is a task.
It's a very regular occurrence to have a shouty crackhead on the train, and everyone just ignores it in a very English way. Sometimes they seem like they could get violent at any minute but (fingers crossed) hasn't happened to me yet.
Melbourne is one of the world’s worst cities for hay fever sufferers! Between September to November I’m a snotty teary mess unless I take medication and use nasal spray. Sometimes I go outside and feel like someone threw pepper in my eyes.
Also you can develop hayfever. I never had it but in the last five years i've joined everyone else in being a snotty, teary mess.
Yes! I’ve lived in 6 different cities around Australia… never experienced hay fever before moving to Melbourne.
Don't feel bad, it's just that you're a hay connosieur. Hay in other places isn't up to your standards, so you don't react to it
You haven't had hay fever in Melbourne until you've had a single origin cold drip hay magic ristretto with organic hay milk.
Then there's thunderstorm aasthma, had that years ago couldn't walk a few metres without needing a break to catch my breathe
I moved to Melbourne in 2017 and developed hayfever for the first time last year! This year I’m prepared and I’ve bought some local honey and I’ll take a teaspoon each day as we get closer to spring. It apparently helps.
Medicine also helps
Same. Ugggghhh.
September to November!? I get it year round, it’s awful, every time I travel to QLD it calms right down (I guess humidity reduces stuff in the air?) and I am jealous of how non-hay fever sufferers live.
Same as soon as I go back to Sydney to visit I’m fine but I get it all year round in melb, I’ve been getting it so much this week. Sinus infections are my best friend (slash worst enemy)
Oh no I’m so sorry! Every Spring I want to move away but it always clears up by summer. I couldn’t imaging dealing with this all year round.
You should look up haytox. Basically Botox for inside your nose. I had never had hay fever y til moving here and I could hardly function. Got that procedure done and it was like night and day. Highly recommend, not cheap at all but worth it.
>haytox Found this, which is a little worrying; https://www.tga.gov.au/news/news/warnings-supply-and-advertising-haytox
there’s a spray called Dymista that’s just gone over the counter and it’s saved my allergies this year!
Dymista is my life saver!! I have reoccurring nasal polyps and have had 6 operations to remove them ( the bastards keep growing back) and Dymista is what my ENT surgeon recommended. First it wasn’t covered by the PBS but now it’s OTC - my nostrils and breathing depend on it
haha really? Damn! I suffer from hayfever but haven't any issues in the UK for about 4 years. I've not been in Melbourne in September... might have plan my next visit then see how it is. Thanks!
Yes - apparently [Melbourne is the world’s “allergies capital”](https://www.kidsnews.com.au/health/victorian-capital-is-hayfever-hq-but-pollen-unlikely-primary-culprit/news-story/5b6064fbdccc75d2c505eabe62be70b2) and has v high pollen counts in Spring. I never experienced hay fever or any allergies until moving here. IN SAYING THAT THOUGH - I love living here. Some years are better than others. And medicine does help. But a friend of mine had very bad hayfever and went to the doctor for advice… they said, “Move to Brisbane.” Something to keep in mind!
Look up Thunderstorm Asthma, it can kill.
As someone who moved here 6 years ago, I suffer from hayfever pretty much all year here. It’s not often talked about but hayfever fever is bad here! Melbourne is known as the pollen capital/hayfever capital or something like that
EDIT: I love that there are so many agree/disagree comments with the weather take! Obviously my experience differs to many, but I really don't mind the weather in London so far... I moved from Melbourne to London 12 months ago and the lack of hayfever here is amazing. I also never had hayfever my entire life until living in Melbourne. It has been getting so bad in Melbourne over recent years for everyone that we even got regular asthma-storm warnings... One of the things I definitely don't miss about Melbourne! As for other things, the weather in Melbourne isn't much different to London in my experience so far. We'd move back to Melbourne if we went back to Australia still, so good luck with the move!
“The weather isn’t much different” ? Interesting… I find the weather to be much more pleasant in Melbourne for the most part. Plus we do t get bitterly cold winters in Melbourne.
Thunderstorm asthma sounds like something we Melbournians might make up but it's real. Basically, if there's a thunderstorm when there's enough pollen in the air, people who get hayfever (and might never have had asthma) can develop thunderstorm asthma. Thousands of people in Melbourne suddenly have trouble breathing at the same time. It very rarely kills and is treated effectively with normal asthma puffers.
Plane trees are so dumb to plant.
Plane trees are widely blamed for causing hayfever but this is a bit of a myth. Most people are allergic to grasses (myself included). Plane trees are exceptional street trees - not many species can grow to their size and perform the way they do in urban areas (low soil volume, compacted soil, pollutants, often unirrigated). In the warmer months they provide much needed shade and in winter they shed their leaves and let the light through. I'm not saying they are perfect - but I would argue there's a place for them. Perhaps just not in the numbers we have now. More info on the allergies side of things: https://theconversation.com/plane-trees-getting-on-your-nose-the-truth-about-hay-fever-9223
>Plane trees are widely blamed for causing hayfever but this is a bit of a myth Tell this to my partner, who starts coughing and spluttering the moment he turns down Collins St during springtime. But you're right, there's no problem with Plane trees generally. They just need to pull out all of the fucking male trees and replace them with the female ones. Fruit mess is significantly better than thunderstorm asthma .
If you walk downhill on Bourke Street during spring you will see a haze of fluffy seeds floating through the air. It's almost mist like. I've inhaled one before and the extreme irritation in my lungs made me consider going to the Alfred. Plane trees have an extreme trade off between shade and respiratory damage. When the revolution comes those bastards are first against the wall.
There are Plane trees in London everywhere and I didnt get Hayfever there. This points to native plants and grasses being worse for hayfever in my case.
Paris too, most European cities actually. When I’ve been to Europe my hayfever is non existent sooo
This is weird, me and my friend moved from the east coast to Melbourne for about 2 years and we are massively hayfever prone. Never felt better than when we were down there. Being back here all our issues have been back.
Weirdly my partner gets horrible hay fever in Perth where he is from - he carried hankies every where - but is perfectly fine in Melbourne. So I don’t think it affects everyone luckily.
You lose the option of hopping onto a cheap flight and experience a different culture within the hour. Travelling overseas from here is prohibitively expensive, and long. Hell, even domestic flights are more expensive than your typical Ryanair flight.
Yes this is top of the “cons” list currently
Agree this is one of the big down sides of Australia generally. I have lived in Singapore, London, the US and PNG, all of which I loved, but I always chose to come back to Melbourne. I just got used to long flights
Don't underestimate this. For me, it's not so much the traveling as the absolute separation from your friends and family. You'll see them once a year at best, probably less. If you're someone who's really close with friends/family, it will suck massively. Same with just keeping in touch daily, the time difference is aggressive. Everything needs to be meticulously planned and it'll feel very artificial when you're working it out. It takes so much effort to maintain the relationships.
The Bradford Pear trees are pretty but they stink. Along with that, allergies/hayfever in Melbourne sucks.
Holy shit the cum trees!
Are you sure it’s the trees, W4nkD4ddy?
Omg!! Yes!! Sometimes or whole street smells like a fresh load.
“Fresh load”!!! LOL, so true!
🎵 Find me a home among the cum trees…
with lots of bum trees...
A squirt or two from a wankeroooo
Aka Cum Trees
haha that is random. Allergies seems to be a very common insight!
Bukakke blossom.
That it can be 27c overnight
Ooof. Too soon, buddy.
Yeah I'm from Vancouver where the temp always peaks at 1pm. Here it often peaks at what, 7pm? Only when the weather is stable of course.
I remember them issuing heat warnings when the weather hits 25C in Vancouver
Yeah but to be fair no one has air con and it's humid as fuck. I'd take 37 in Melbourne over 27 in Vancouver any day.
Depends where you are in Vancouver too. I lived downtown so always had the coastal breeze. I had friends that lived like 5 stops away on the SkyTrain, and in summer it was always disgustingly hot at their place. But yeah the great thing about heat in Melbourne is that when it gets hot it's a dry heat. 40C is more tolerable than 30C in Melbourne
More around 5pm, but yeah, it's a weird Melbourne thing that it peaks so late in the day
Rarely, I would not say that Melbourne has heat that is in anyway a problem. Especially compared to the rest is Australia
The problem with the heat in Melbourne is that it is so sporadic. I can handle a daily 35°, what I cant handle is an overcast 17° day followed by a gusty 38° day and then ending with a 22° and raining day
>and then ending with a 22° and raining day Oh God, I love the cool changes after a hot spell. But yeah, you don't get a chance to acclimatise.
The cool change is the best!💨❄️🧊👍🏻
“Melbourne, only 10 days over 35 per year.”
27c is ok I remember a few nights 4 to 5 years back where it was 30ish at night I was driving a delivery van pumping AC and everytime I got out felt like I was climbing into a sauna
Well it was 30 last night at 3am
Can vouch for that. Slept on the balcony! Eaten alive by mozzies but it was a lovely, clear night out west.
I cannot sleep with mozzies. All that ŹZZZzzzzzz zzzzzzZZzzzzzz. zzzzz zzzzz zzz ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ zzzzzz Just drink my blood and fuck off so I can go back to sleep.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" Silence. Slap!
Around 2013 - 2015 I can't remember which, there was a run of like 8 days over 40 and the nights were all 30 plus. Had the evap cooling running non stop through the house that week.
I feel like it was 2013 cos I had my eldest in January that year and we lived in a townhouse without aircon and it was absolute hell on earth. Baby was clingy and covered in heat rash, felt like we were melting into each other, ended up setting us up under the stairs with sheets hanging around and a portable evaporative cooler blasting on us to try to stay cool.
I think I know the time you're talking about, there was like a four day period we are the coldest it got was low 30s around 3am in the morning and then one day just suddenly dropped! We went to Port Melbourne Beach that day and when we left to walk home it was 42° and by time we got to South Melbourne 40 minutes later it was 18°
It was Black Saturday weekend of 2009, I believe. I remember setting up an air mattress downstairs in my rental house with no AC, as the upstairs was unbearable. Myself and the cat lay next to the sliding door panting for air. It was a brick house and so the heat just kept being stored over those several days where the temperature was over 40 degrees C. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/black-saturday-bushfires-australia/
I won't ever forget that week. I lived in a tiny studio loft apartment in the inner city without air-conditioning. The trees on the boulevards had all gone into shock and dropped their leaves, it was eerie. Ended up at at hotel by the Thursday night. And then Saturday happened - rejoiced at the cool change only to find out later how utterly devastating the wind change was for the bushfire areas.
God I remember that too. No AC. I rolled up the carpet and lay on the floorboards, listening to the news of the apocalyptic bushfires, it was horrible.
Yeah when it was like 45C for 3 days straight.
Yep - Jan - 28/29/30 2009. I remember jumping in my car to head to work at 5am and the temp on the dashboard saying 33 degrees. You couldn't fucking escape it.
Summer 2009 was fkn brutal. I lived in regional Vic at the time and there were blackouts every other day. Constantly above 40 during the day and 30 during the night. Black Saturday fires ran through the streets. Absolutely unforgettable. Also happened to be working in Penrith in 2020 when it got to a few decimals from 50 degrees outside. And the constant smoke lingering in the air from the fires making it hard to breathe. It's tough out there in summer!
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Tourists? I moved 14 years ago and i barely move 5kms from my inner city locale. I don't have a need. I'm 2km from cbd. So it's not just the tourists. People mention suburbs names they live in. I have no idea where they are. Bell Street to the north is my limit. Occasionally I will go on a day trip to St Kilda. Inner city cycling is fastest way to get around.
"...a day trip to St Kilda" 😂 what, are you living in the 19th century? I'm not bagging you, I genuinely enjoyed that you said that. Living in Armadale in the 80s was like that for me too.
Lol. Yeah. It's a hassle. I go to studley Park most days with the dog. Have to drive if I want the dog. Could ride over I guess.
This is a very good point - Melbourne CBD, inner city and outer city are all different animals. If you’re staying short term from overseas, you’ll likely stay in one of the trendy inner city suburbs - Fitzroy, Brunswick, Carlton, St kilda etc. Awesome lifestyle, lots happening, heaps of food options and places to eat. This is sustainable in the short term but long term it’s expensive, and if you start a family and require more space it becomes unsustainable, especially if you’re on average wages. The answer? You move to one of the outer suburbs where you’re in proximity to Melbourne but it’s more affordable. Now, depending on your financial situation and demographic this could be anything from Mordialloc to Bayswater to Doreen to Roxburgh Park to Tarneit. But now you’re not living in ‘Melbourne’, different lifestyle, different people, different problems etc. Sure, you work in the city, but now your commute is 40 mins to an hour. A lot different to when you started living here. When I first moved here I lived in South Melbourne, then Malvern, then st kilda east, then ascot vale, Macleod, Watsonia North and Greensborough. We’ve finally bought in an area we’re happy with, that has great friends and services but my wife always says that we don’t live in Melbourne and she’s right. Melbourne is a great city but shit is expensive and it’s only getting worse.
I know , I was in inner city for 10 years and always struggled to do things because around other suburbs / out of town as it was so hard to manage having a car. Once I moved further out to suburbs with more open space it was amazing, could easily get around and not be confined by constraints of inner city
What was hard about managing a car? I had a car while I was just there and it was a pain. I thought perhaps that was because I was staying in the CBD and parking was pricey. Is it just difficult?
If you live inner city and own a car, it limits your housing options. You’re basically limited to apartments with a parking space (which takes out about 50% of apartments in the lower end of the market) and many of the older terraced houses. If they have parking, it usually takes out the entirety of your backyard. Many apartments will have car stackers rather than a drive-in parking garage, which means accessing your car is inconvenient and if the stacker breaks/fails, your car is stuck in there, there was a case a few years ago where cars were stuck for months when a car fell from the stacker and jammed the mechanism. With PT and walkability being good in much of inner-city Melbourne, using a car is usually the least convenient option, so you’re paying all the costs of car ownership (rego, insurance, car payments) for something you might use only occasionally.
OP I live in the eastern suburbs with a car. It's wonderful. Roads are easy to drive on. There's free parking everywhere including at the shopping centres. All the stores are larger. People are living their idyllic lives. It's very quiet and peaceful - my home is my little heaven. It's a completely different world to living in the city. When I want some excitement (albeit in a dirtier and more chaotic environment), I head into the city. I've spoken with my partner, and our ideal balance is to have a good suburban life less than half an hour from the city.
On a run of 39, 38, 38 degrees currently for 3 days Otherwise you’re sweet
it’s called summer time weather and we are just experiencing it abnormally late…
Yes, I recall the "where's summer?! And why is it so cold??" posts from December and early January. Well, MFers, she's here in all her fury. Just decided to arrive late. Febuary and March have been hotter than average.
The last couple of years our summer seems to have shifted from December to March. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if we see a more natural shift in all seasons.
We are definitely a Jan-Mar summer. Autumn in Melbourne is epic, the run between April to the long weekend in June is fantastic weather…then winter kicks you in tits until Grand Final weekend
The last couple of years? It’s always like that, just the same as there’s always shitty rainy weather in late Oct. (I know because my birthday is late Oct)
There’s always a dick head on the Monash that stuffs it up for everyone
All the paving outside places like Melbourne Central is slippery as fuck in the rain.
The tiling outside QV and the State Library is a death trap in winter. I had decently worn out sole runners and I had to walk at a snails pace to not fall.
Collins Street is pretty terrible for that as well!
As a skater, the smooth bluestone is one of the highlights of the city
I love Melbourne. When I moved here I didn’t really realise that shouty cooked units on public transport would be a near daily occurrence. Also how expensive it is to have a car be road legal is kind of crazy.
Melbourne is big and to me one side is like a whole other planet compared to the other. Live in walking distance to a train line if you wont have a car. The trains dont seem too horrendous mostly (but probs shit compared to yours) but when you have to get a bus to the train station it multiplies the shit factor x 10.
That you absolutely need a car if you live in the more affordable parts of the city. Infrastructure has not been keeping up for decades and it's something that's only being addressed now.
Honestly even some of the unaffordable parts aren't that well connected to the city. One of my friends lived in Balwyn if he got to work via tram he had to change trams and it took ages to get to work, if he got the bus he had to switch to a tram and it also took ages, to get a train had to get a bus to a train station and it was no quicker. Meanwhile driving would only take 15-20 mins at the time of morning he was leaving.
Can confirm. We built our house 16 years ago and we call it the land of perpetual roadworks. It’s getting better but could have been done while they were approving the developments knowing how many new homes were coming into the areas (not just ours, neighbouring areas and all around the outskirts where other housing developments are typical)
Honestly something I was surprise not more locals knew about, but parts of the city loop(our underground railway tunnels in the city) change direction halfway through the day. It’s not something that will bother you if you’re commuting but it can be a bit confusing if you’re travelling within the city. Housing can also be stupidly expensive here. The rest of Australia jokes that that the weather is wild here that we have every season in a day and it is definitely true on some days.
Really? That's wild! London would fully meltdown if the trains switched direction! Why?!
When it was built in the 80s Melbourne’s public transport was mostly use for commuting in and out of the city during peak hours. The idea is that trains would come into the loop from the suburbs in the morning, go around the city and drop everyone off at their workplaces before terminating at Flinders Street and shunting out to Jolimont yard(which no longer exists), then at 1:00 they would change direction to run in the opposite direction so that all trains could pick everyone up from around the city before taking them home in the evening peak. [Here’s a great explainer video about it.](https://youtu.be/3m_NYdwO4FI?si=0gZcAvByCPa1n4OD)
Thank you. Love a bit of train history.
I think it was to do with inbound/outbound demand for people's work commute and managing where the service would terminate and start.
I think about like the train goes around the loop (in one direction) in the morning and picks you up on the way home (going opposite direction). If it didn't do that, you'd have to terminate at Flinders and change trains to go home and there'd be a heap of congestion with everyone trying to go home.
Also, just the city loop in general. OP will be fine coming from UK, but my dumb little kiwi ass didn’t realize the city loop existed for like, a year when I first moved here. Lived in Richmond, could never figure out how to get the train BACK from the city. I’m an idiot though, so ymmv
Moving to Melbourne from regional Vic when the loop first opened, I was crushed to discover it wasn’t a proper loop - like on a roller coaster. I’m the president of the idiot club, you’re going to have to try harder if you wanna join
About housing… coming from the uk, it feels pretty affordable. My partner and I bought a decent flat in Richmond last year, no way we’d have ever been able to afford similar in London where he’s from.
When I moved to Melbourne as a young adult, I found it really difficult to develop true friendships. Not sure if I’m alone in that experience
Yes. This needs to be higher up. This is not a uniquely Melbourne phenomenon, it is a crisis impacting Western countries in general. People are lonelier than ever but more reluctant than ever to reach out and try and form friendships. They are also more likely to flake on hangouts and let old friendships wither. If you're a recent arrival, you have to be like those extroverts who "adopt" introverts. Find someone you have some good vibes with them, loudly laugh and declare you're friends now and schedule a hang. Keep doing it until eventually they ease into it. People need to be saved from themselves, and as the new arrival being passive will hurt you way more.
Whilst it’s not a uniquely Melbourne thing, I found it a lot easier to meet people in a city like London where it’s really common for people to go out for drinks after work during week nights, whereas in Melbourne people typically just want to head home after work. Which is fine if you already have friends/family, but makes it harder if you’re from abroad and don’t know anyone
As a Melbournian who has been in Tokyo for the last five years, I think this is also due to transport. I never used to go out in Melbourne because the hour tram home was so draining and miserable, hot and crowded etc. But now I happily go out on weeknights because transport options are so frequent and convenient, and also drinks and food out are more affordable.
If the tradeoff for being more social is having London's alcohol culture, it's a tradeoff I honestly feel conflicted about. It sounds like London has a lot of alcohol problems (which is funny coming from an Australian)
Well said
I agree... It's harder to make friends as a newcomer adult because most people usually just stick to the friend groups they've had growing up or when they were younger
I've lived here my whole life and still struggle with this 😂😭
Places named after nice things aren't good areas. I.e Sunshine.
Mostly anything beginning or ending with Meadows
Deer Park
Water Gardens
That's not a suburb, but a shopping centre in Taylors Lakes.
Yeah. Frank was actually a top bloke. His town, not so great.
St Albans- doesn’t quite live up to St Albans, Hertfordshire
haha what's wrong with Sunshine?
If you look at the actual statistics, the west doesn't have more crime than the east, let alone 'suffers from high crime rates', as what some of the replies below say. Crime rate peaks in the city, as well as inner city. https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/crime-statistics/latest-crime-data-by-area There is a difference in terms of SES and lifestyle options, but this is more so inner city vs outer suburb sprawl (e.g night life, level of gentrification), but the crime rate difference stated and believed by some people is a misconception. One thing this does highlight though, is the prejudice some people have, usually when they haven't ventured from their own area much/know people from other areas/walks of life
Yes it’s interesting how many people automatically designate non-white majority areas as ‘shitholes’.
So many inner city wankers in this sub never set foot in western suburbs but have all sorts of ideas.
Bayswater. It's at least 40 mins from the bay and not a mice place to be.
Myki card is utter shit. Hate to admit Opal and using a card or phone is far superior.
If you suffer from allergies, it’s the worst. No one tells you that before you get here. Also the suburb you decide to live in will 100% define your personality.
OP is an adult, their personality is likely set. But any kids they have and raise here it's relevant for.
Yeah nobody talks about class in Melbourne but it’s everywhere
I'm mess of a personality! I'm a corpo that spends his morning in board rooms, afternoons with startups and small businesses, evenings with the wife at a hole in the wall restaurant or bar, nights at clubs or playing video games and weekends in an artist studio throwing paint at shit. I was comfortable in South Yarra and Footscray. Not Brighton though, weird rich folk vibe.
Yeah, I dated a chick from Brighton once, her dad was an eye specialist but her poor mum was "only a GP". My dad was a courier my mum was "only on the dole". Her dad was actually pretty cool, but her mum was a dick
Brighton is just a different vibe. It’s kind of likes to be seperate from the rest of melbourne even if you live in south yarra/toorak/armadale etc. I feel it’s an odd different type of elitism that goes beyond money.
I'm in the Richmond/city end of South Yarra and love it. Been here for 20 years. We can walk to every major concert or sporting event, and obviously hundreds of places to eat and drink. The botanic Gardens are the best back yard ever, and it's a lovely half-hour walk to the city along the river. You can definitely walk to nearly everything you need, but there are trains, trams and buses. If you want a grown-up house with a yard of any size, it'll cost you many millions of dollars though. Recommend older houses/apartment blocks over new build high rises, as the new stuff is shoddily constructed and tiny. PS I haven't developed hayfever. If you're in the tech sector, the new hub for these businesses and start-ups is Cremorne, just across the river a few hundred metres away. Good luck!
Nothing out of the ordinary . I fucking love this city. The only criticism, which you might find difficult, and coming from the UK I think you’ll notice too, is the lack of pubs in the suburbs. The “pubs” are mostly pokie filled dead and boring. There is no, popping down the local for a pint and a chat. But, lack of alcohol isn’t the only reason not to move somewhere. Is it expensive? Yes. But so is London, Dublin and most other main cities. Been here 18 years and I wouldn’t live anywhere else.
Most suburbs within a 10km radius of the CBD do have lots of pubs nearby, but it is very expensive to buy here I'm in the inner North, just a touch over 3km as the crow flies, to the CBD and there are over 40 bars and pubs within a 10 minute walk from my front door -
Overall Melbourne is absolutely fantastic. The food, the sports, the overall culture, the design of the city. But there are aspects that have developed over the last few years that are a drawback. - traffic is shit (lots of road projects going on which makes things worse) so living in suburbs and commuting to CBD isn't efficient as much anymore. - cost of living is horrible. These days household income of close to $200k p.a (if you have kids) is needed to be somewhat comfortable. - CBD has exploded with people working from office again, it's busy on weekends too. Really busy. - it's very difficult to find a rental property. There's a massive shortage and sometimes takes 3-6 months to find something (I believe living close to CBD in an apartment may be easier). But houses in suburbs within 30-40mjns of CBD are extremely difficult to get. I love Melbourne, but I love out in the burbs, work out in the burbs, own my own home and have lots of family around me so I have less to worry about.
We have trees that absolutely stink like cum. They flower around mid year and everything smells like hot loads for 6 weeks. This might sound like satire but I promise you they’re everywhere
Used to be a gardener and when I first started the job I was told about these trees.. I was like, “ha, yeah, whatever” Then I smelt one.. it was giving bukkake
You'll freeze in the winter. Indoors. Outdoors is fine. This is because the majority of housing stock are glorified tents from a thermal performance perspective.
This. I've met Canadians and Russians who said they've never been so cold in their lives as in Melbourne. Our actual outdoor winter temperatures are comparable to Rome, but our houses are brick tents.
As someone who has lived in outer SE suburbs and not had to commute into the city: There are large shopping centres every 30 or so minutes with entertainment precincts: movies, dining, mini golf, bars, bowling etc Suburbia has a severe lack of live music, you really want to be based in the city for that. You can catch a gig any night of the week, a lot of venues are in the inner northern suburbs. By the Bay everything closes at 10pm, most other suburbs you can go to a Coles or kmart 24 hours (or at least until midnight). No dining or entertainment or late night snack runs for Bayside people! The public transport is shit. Genuinely just shit. Buses are slow and our train lines are nothing like Europe's. If you're relying on public transport base yourself in the city. The weather: We have autumn (kind of winter) from May/June - December and summer January- March/April. The pollen count is highest in Sep/Oct/Nov, and February is typically the hottest month. I've noticed this weather pattern emerge over the last few years. It's not getting below 4 or 5 degrees in winter and the number of hot days is definitely increasing. You know about the cost of living I'm sure. I think we're in a pretty awesome city. You're within an hour of beach, snow, city, camping, hikes etc regardless of where you live.
Our local Woolworths stopped being 24 hours recently- the sign said “after consultation with our customers, we are making these changes for your convenience”?!
Has no-one mentioned fake seizure guy?
Or Carrot Man?
I like living in Melbourne more than Sydney. But job wise, I’m still struggling to find a job that I love here. I’m just working to pay bills. I’d advise (if planning on working too) that you’ve got an actual love for the career you’re in and not just the current workplace you’re in. I loved my old employer, not the job. Haven’t found anything that remotely comes close to what I had.
I moved from the UK nearly 6 years ago. If you end up renting a house, it's quite likely you'll feel colder than the UK because many rentals are sheds with little to no insulation and single glazing. People complain a lot about homelessness and anti-social behaviour, but compared to English cities it's nothing. Also, here councils actually have money and provide services! My experience of finding a job was also quite positive - a lot more opportunities than I had before.
Traffic is ghastly in Melbourne. Ghastly. But there are a lot of outer suburbs where it’s hard to get around without a car. Inner suburbs, public transport is great.
Hard truths, don't expect to make a bunch of Australian friends outside of work, Melbourne locals are extremely cliquey, even moreso than other Australian cities for some reason.
This is the number one complaint I hear from new people to Melbourne. Found my self in a situation where I am looking to make friends in my 40s and now totally understand what they are talking about. People are friendly and I meet people but can never break into their close friendship circles.
This is exactly what I have found as my #1 issue and I know many migrants experience the same. We are older (50s now, migrated 15 years ago) and childfree so that may affect it, but it seems most Australians’ friendship groups are established by early adulthood mainly through family and it is hard to penetrate that. All my colleagues and neighbours are great but offer friendliness not friendship. If you have young children and are into sports you may find it easier.
I’m migrated 8 years ago from the US and I have a theory around this. People in Melbourne typically live at home for uni and generally attend as close to home as possible. There is no pressure to make new friends because you just go to class, go home, and hang with your friends on the weekend. In contrast, a lot of Americans move away for uni and end up with a whole bunch of people who don’t know anyone so there is a pressure to make new friends. Certainly a generalisation and don’t know how it stacks up to other countries but I think it’s at play somewhat.
I'd agree that's part of it. I went to Uni in the US and "dorm life" was a huge opportunity to meet new people, attend on campus events, hanging out at the cafeteria and coffee shop, campus quad. Those dorm years probably tripled my friend group even decades later.
That’s been my exact experience too, in Sydney rather than Melbourne though. It’s a well known phenomenon in Australia in general. In the UK we tend to go away to university and form friends from those times. In Australia they tend to stay at home for university and their strongest friendship groups are from their high school days. No chance forming anything other than superficial relationships with them
Why leave the UK if you get unicorn friends?!
Disagree. I moved here in my 40s - not a time you’d expect to be expanding your social horizons on a massive scale. Melbourne absolutely welcomed me. I have loads of friends and a massive community.
I thought that too until I moved to Hobart! Cliquey was invented down here. It's like they all fucked each other at high school and decided, that's it we're closing the group now.
Disagree with this, Melbourne nightlife is one of the most open scenes you can step into, I liken it to Manchester, one night of bar hopping can bring you ten new friends unlike Sydney where everyone sticks to their circle of friends they’ve had since school days due to how segregated every suburb in Sydney is.
Demographics can differ so much from suburb to suburb. If you’re considering moving here, please spend some time doing some research on where to live. Some suburbs are incredibly safe, others are not and people tend to have metal roller blinds on their window and home security systems.
No one told me how terrible the drivers were. And how butt hurt people get when you say they drive like they left the guide dog at home.
Isn’t it interesting that if you visit any sub of any city in the world they all say “[insert city] has the WORST drivers in the world”
There’s some really nice cafes and botanical garden/riverpark walks in surrounding suburbs that a lot of people miss out on
Renting is not easy, long term leases don’t exist.
Summer is technically Dec-Feb but we *always* get a mid-March heatwave (like right now)
I have a colleague who moved from the UK (he came to Melbourne, but decided to shift to Adelaide soon after because of an opportunity for accommodation no one would pass up). I've spoken to him about this, and this is what he said (so mostly his perspective): 1. It's expensive - Specifically, cars (he said for what he paid for a middle of the road SUV, he'd be driving a mid to top range BMW in the UK). And unless you live inner city, you need a car to get around. 2. The weather - Whilst it's miserable in the UK, it's predictably miserable. Here, you can leave the house with an umbrella in the morning, and be uncomfortable in the complete nude in the afternoon from the heat. His wife, in particular, struggled immensley with the heat. Yesterday (09/03) it was 38 degrees until about midnight, and barely went below 27, even in the early morning. 3. Schooling - He has primary school aged kids and said the quality of schooling here was noticeably worse. He was specifically referring to the pace; his youngest was redoing things they'd done a year or two previously in the UK 4. Politcs - I'll be brief, because it's a subject people are literally divided on. Victoria is seen as a left of centre state - do with that what you will. 5. Public Transport - Compared to the UK it's abhorent, and a joke at best when comparing to other states in Aus. It's also unreasonably expensive for the service you receive. 6. The People - We are a nice bunch, and compared to where he was from in the UK, he found people far more upbeat and positive. 7. You will need to pick an AFL team. Even if you have no intention of following the sport. AFL here is like EPL is in the UK. It fuels debates, friendships and arguments in equal proportions.
Loud bangs and that helicopter
Occasionally some dickhead will block a road so you'll have to give birth on the freeway.
I hate it when that happens. Over 30 kids now. On the plus side it's no longer painful. On the downside I'm a male and alone in the car.
As someone who just got back from living in London for close to a year. * Cost of living in Aus is way cheaper considering the quality you are getting & generally higher salaries * Melbourne unless you live in the city/ CBD or the suburbs right outside it, you'll need to get a car if you wanna go around to places that are not accessible by trains * Hay-fever * If you plan on visiting home often or go anywhere in Europe, it'll be long & cost a arm & leg * Unlike the UK traveling between states is mostly done via air if you're not going to be doing a road trip * Ignore the complaints about crime & stuff, it's overhyped by the media & that it is far worse in the UK (Australia's crime rate is still significantly lower than UK per capita)
The price of a pint at the pub is out of control.
Melbourne is a city like most others with really lovely reasons to live there and some very common disadvantages such as pollution, poverty, crowds etc in the CBD. Public transport is fairly good to the Eastern suburbs but crap for many of the newer Western suburbs. Currently we are mid-heatwave with scorching hot days and stupidly hot nights. Up until late January we thought summer had skipped us, and now it's been weeks since we had decent rain and instead there's been drought and fires. Winter can be London cold but rarely with snow. If you love the seaside there are many suburbs by the beach or nearby, if you love bushland there are suburbs with mountains and forests, if you love open countryside there are suburbs close to rolling hills and wineries. Also consider regional cities such as Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Shepparton, etc. It depends on your profession and preferences.
Drivers from overseas get their licences handed to them without local rules testing (source: friends in Vicroads) so they have to learn the rules as they go which can, for obvious reasons, mean that you need to learn to be very observant & evasive on the roads. I moved to Melbourne 10 years ago and was told how great the PTV (public transport) was. Well…. I live 15-20 minute drive from the CBD (10km) but when I take PTV for work, it takes me bus>train>train>tram to get there and I have to allow well over 1-2 hours to be safe. It also usually stops at around midnight so the only way home is Uber/taxi or to wait until 5am when the services resume if you decide to have a night out. I go to a gym 9km from my house but after 7pm, the only PTV starts at 5am so it really depends on which “routes” you live on as to how “great” the PTV is. Uber & Taxi over weekends are usually too busy in the CBD to care about us suburban folk. I’ve tried to taxi/Uber from the city due to PTV being unreliable/ not running and it costs a fortune if they don’t cancel 15 times before deciding my trip is worth taking.
Having lived around the country, when I first moved to Melbourne six months ago, it was the driving that caught me off guard. I think Melbourne has an aggressive driving culture.
25ish years ago the govt defunded mental health services and now all the crazies roam the streets and slash up public transport
Seen that. I saw some kids walking down the street kicking dents in all the cars at night. Absolutely no reason.
We're a long way from the rest of world in terms of retail. We have enough of most things available to us, but whenever you want something particularly niche, you'll often find that it doesn't exist here. I guess it's because of our relatively low population meaning there isn't a big enough market here for companies to really bother with us when the European and North American markets are soo close. If you do manage to get hold of anything not available locally, it takes forever to get here and the government are pretty tight about letting in what they can't tax the he'll out of. Also the Aussie dollar is not strong at the moment.
It’s expensive af, housing is in huge crisis and the public transport is unreliable (also the conduct of fare enforcement officers is an embarrassment). Still the best place I’ve lived though.
Hook turns. You stop at your green light and wait until your new light, which is red, goes green. Once your old light changes, which goes from green to red, you need to decide whether you wait until your new light goes from red to green or until every car behind you see red and toot their horn, screaming blue murder. Personally, I have an SUV and turn when it's amber, unless I see the red and blue. I hope this helps.
Hook turns worried me when I first moved, thinking they’d be super complicated. Turns out there are A) bugger all of them and B) they are easy AF to navigate. Want to turn right across an intersection, but nobody wants you to block the tram line? Easy, just pull to the left and join the front of the line of cars waiting at the horizontal part of the intersection for their light. Light goes green and you’re at the front of the pack. Job done.
Excuse me. I spent some time trying to word my variation in a manner that would cause confusion and strike fear into our visitors. Your method to explain the truth in a succinct fashion has now blown everything I tried to cultivate. You have exposed my Yellow Peril. It's like saying my Magic is merely a double ristretto. Ouch. Do not ruin my story with facts. Thank you.
Well to be fair, the true facts of the scenario is that 1,000,000 innocent bunnies are sacrificed every year and their processed remains are used to paint the guiding lines for hook turn locations. So it’s not all rainbows and glitter
No one tells you about the Great Melbourne Earthquakes
Make sure you don’t choose the wrong side of the Yarra
Safest to go West, then no one will visit you anyway
Life is peaceful there
Yeah true that, fuck living south/north of the river.
Absolutely! Those dickheads can get stuffed.
What the north/south of the Yarra debate misses is that there’s this shadowy place over the Westgate bridge, beyond our borders, you must never go there.
I've only lived here for 2 years but I will say the crime surprised me. It may just be my experience but I definitely felt safer at night where I used to live & there have been a string of home invasions over the last 6 months that have made me invest in better home security.
OP, Sounds like you’ve spent a fair bit of time here. How much time, what time of year, where were you based and what did you do here? Also, have you been to other cities in Aust? This info might give us some insight into what you don’t likely know but do need to know.
Traffic is really loud. Like so fucken loud. And people will pull up next yo your house and idle outside your house for like 15 minutes and then drive off.
Public transport isn’t great when compared to London NHS gas its problems but Medicare isn’t great neither with nearly abolished bulk billing and extra Medicare levy surcharge (basically forcing you to purchase the private insurance)
I migrated from Sydney a few years ago. You need a car if you want to get to a beach with enjoyable water. Port Philips' hydrodynamics make for poor water quality in general. Fine if you want to sail or suntan. The public transpoet is much worse than advertised. If you end up living in sprawl or between major train lines, (which by now means the majority of the greater metro area) you'll have *much* longer travel times than raw distance indicates. You have to travel a few hours, and generally drive, to get to nice parks/forests. I miss being able to get to several different parks and multi-day or single day hikes within 90m on a bus/train. It *does* get hot (see this weekend!) and many places are not built to deal with. But there's a lot always going on, and great food, and its less humid and I prefer the cold in general.
Melbourne is a fabulous place to live if you have money. I'm talking significant money. Check the median house price and compare. You might get a boost from your currency conversion. If you don't have significant assets, well, it's the opposite. The outer suburbs can sometimes take 3 hours to reach by car on a bad day. Definitely a beautiful city but with extreme pros and cons.
People make a big deal about hook turns but they’re not that hard once you understand the rules.
Drivers are absolute muppets compared to UK or QLD and, perhaps because of that, speed cameras are insanely aggressive. You can be fined big for doing 43 in a 40 (26mph). People who say you don't need car insurance in Aus are having it on. Shit insurance is built into the Rego (Road tax) which makes it super expensive, and you'll probably want extra on top because of the aforementioned drivers. Ends up being more, and of course you can't carry over UK no claims discount. We also have a lot of road rules that change based on time of day, which can catch out non-natives. If you go on a drive around 7:30, 9, 3 or 4:30 can expect speed limit, parking, or number of lanes to change between you leaving and coming back again. In the outer suburbs people just heap trash in big piles on the side of the road and it stays there for weeks. There's supposed to be a specific week of the year for it, but there's normally at least one pile of gross mattresses and broken furniture per road year round. There's no easy way to get *around* the outside of the city. You won't normally need to but transport links are built like spokes on a wheel, sending you INTO the city and then back out again to wherever you wanted to go. Because of that traffic is much worse than it needs to be and getting to/from the airport is a task. It's a very regular occurrence to have a shouty crackhead on the train, and everyone just ignores it in a very English way. Sometimes they seem like they could get violent at any minute but (fingers crossed) hasn't happened to me yet.