When you move from Sydney to Melbourne, there seems to be an adjustment period that everyone has to go through when they make this monumental transition. So the First Thing to remember is that you are not the first person to move to Melbourne and feel at a loss as to how to proceed with getting acclimated to this very distinctive Australian city.
The Second Thing To Remember: The second thing to remember is that good housing is hard to find if you aren’t from there. It doesn’t matter whether you are renting or buying, it is hard to find an apartment to rent or a house to buy that you will fall in love with and be able to afford. This is because most of the good ones are already taken and if you don’t know anyone, you will need some time to generate some leads on a place where you would like to sign a lease or buy a home. The good news about Melbourne: they have many furnished, short-term lease apartments. You can rent one of these for a few months while you spend every spare moment of your time getting to know the city and finding the right place to live.
The Third Thing To Remember: The third thing to remember is that you will want to live either near to where you work or near to where you like to spend your free time. This is because Melbourne is a big city land-wise and unlike Sydney, there are some parts that are just residential apartments with nothing going on in the off-hours, and other parts that are business districts with nothing going on except for work.
So the main thing to think about is the train commute and how long it will take you to get where you spend most of your time. Ask yourself: do I want to be near work and be bored at night, or do I want to be far from work and near to things I like to do? It should be one or the other, because it probably won’t be both. However, don’t get stuck in a place that is far from work and far from fun or you will be miserable for the first several months you are there.
The Fourth Thing To Remember: The fourth thing that you have to remember is not to tell anyone you are from Sydney, unless of course you also tell them you hate it. Rivalries between the two cities date back to pre-federation Australia as well as Aussie rules football vs. Sydney soccer rules, so you won’t score any points with the people in Melbourne if you point out its faults. The fact of the matter is, Australian cities are more alike than Australians might like to admit. And if you like Sydney, Melbourne is large enough and diverse enough that you will find similar things to do as well as people that you will like – you just have to look for them.
