In short Australia is a fantastic place. If you work in the resource industry expect to earn very good money, sure cost of living is high but I am considerably better off since moving here (earn over 3x what I earnt in the UK)
Wildlife is fascinating, see a few spiders but Redbacks only live in the garden/shed and even then are pretty rare and always run away anyway. Never seen a poisonous snake and Huntsman spiders are awesome, oh and not poisonous!!
I live in Perth, hot in summer sure but the spring and autumn are just beautiful, with perfect riding weather and mid 20's in the day time. Winter gets pretty cold but also amazing weather with blue skies 80% of the time. You just go out early when it warms up and with no daylight savings it's sunny at 4am in the middle of summer!!
Road riding is great, can ride every day and will onyly get wet a handful of times, the wind can be a pain though! Mountain biking is also great and getting better all the time with heaps of work going into dedicated, authorised trails in the hills. Sure it's not mountainous but riding for 4 hours on a trail that is 90% single track is pretty sweet.
Culture is a little tricky but there is still plenty of good stuff to go and see, and heaps of great festivals, local art and some great influences from Aboriginal culture and Asia in particular.
Oh yeah and 3 hours south of Perth is Margaret River, with wines that can comfortably hold their own against anything Europe has to offer!!
In summary, Do It, seriously....
Shorts in Winter....
Since coming back to the UK in May I can say that I really don't see the cost of living in Oz is any higher than here. In fact, petrol/diesel is way cheaper there, I think gas/leccy is cheaper in WA too.
Have you been out around Mundaring? Great riding.
Will have to give you a shout when I'm back. I lived across the road from Little C's brewery for two years. Man, am I missing the pale ale!
I personally feel that with the way this country is going and you have the chance and have a bit
of money behind you then yes go for it.
One thing is they don't recognise our skills certificates so you would have to start again
I believe in Australia you have to prove yourself.
Not like here.
To be honest where communication is easier to talk/skype your not so far away from your family
also I believe they allow family visas once your been there for a while.
But make sure you have proper Health insurance for them and yourselves.