looking for shared flat and a job in Melbourne

In the last few days we've decided to start looking for a shared flat or something similar in Melbourne. Once we've found a place (on weekly basis, that gives us the most flexibility), we'll be looking for a job in Melbourne. So if anyone knows anyone who knows someone in Melbourne who can get us a wellpaid job... let us know :)

We spent today looking for some sort of shared accomodation. Didn't really find anything yet, but it's early days. We got some good tips though, and we're checking out a local bookshop in the neighbourhood tomorrow that's supposed to have a big noticeboard with loads of adds for shared accomodation and flats. So hopefully there's something hanging out there that looks good.

Looking for a decent job will be quite a challenge too. I'm gonna start high up the ladder looking for some basic officework or something... and if that doesn't work out i'll give hospitalitywork or some sort of tele-/direct marketingjob a try, or start looking for a dogkennel in the suburbs :) hmmm, that's probably not even a bad idea... I'll keep my eyes open for that, got plenty of experience there :) And if things don't work out at all in Melbourne, it's up to the outback and picking fruit in the Ozzie heat. I've heard that fruitpicking is hard work but can earn you loads of money in a short time if you work long hours (up to 12 per day, 7 days per week). So maybe it's well worth working like mad for a month and making enough money in that time to last another three.

Up to now travelling here has been great. I've seen beautifull places and things in the short time i've been here, and talked to some interesting people (and a bit mad too... for example: some guy in Bondi told me he was going to be as famous as Jesus... for what, i couldn't really figure out... but by the looks of him and his talk i'd think he's starting his own sekt/religion thing... At least i've got a photo of him and me, so if he does turn out to be the new Jesus i've got something to boast about... but somehow i doubt it...). Australians, or at least the one's we've talked to, are very friendly. Most of the busdrivers here, for example, are the opposite of the type you're likely to run into in Belgium: extremely friendly and always looking for a chat. They even go off of their normal routes to drop you of somewhere if you ask them nicely... It's almost like a taxi... but then better: bigger, cheaper and more legspace :)

We've bumped into a lot of Europeans here too. The majority of them seem to be Brits (not really much of a surpise here now is there...), but Holland, Germany and Scandinavian countries are also well represented. The amount of Belgians on the other hand is negligible (is that correct spelling mum?). I can literaly count them on one hand: FOUR... and that's counting two frenchspeaking Belgians... so I'm not even sure if that really counts... ... .... just kidding...

Our trip has also been a little frustrating though. Fear of running out of cash too fast has made us think twice about doing some worthwile trips (The Great Ocean Road, The Snowy Mountains, some national parks, ...) and activities. But that will be less of an issue once we start making some cash here. The past weeks will no doubt have been the most expensive of our trip, so once we refill our bankaccounts we should be fine and get a chance to see and do much more.