Sydney and Brisbane
My wife got a job working a retail exec job in the beginning of 2013, back when the AUD was actually worth just more than the USD.
She went 5 months before me, since I stayed with our Aussie-Rottie mix at home for the first five months of the quarantine process (post blood draw, you wait 5 months before what was the last month in country).
She was in a furnished building in Manly (NSW) about 100 meters down the street from Tony Abbott's constituency office. So, when I got there, I literally was a 110 meter walk to Manly Corso. I saw the Pacific for the first time, and it was unreal . . . compared it to what Santa Monica must have been like BEFORE pot.
I spent a month going twice a week to visit the dog. She lost some real weight, but I must say your quarantine people were incredible. Anyway, I'd take the 30 minute Ferry to Circular Quay, then a 45 minute train ride, followed by a 20 minute taxi. Would spend like 100 AUD each visit, and by like the 3rd visit, after 10 minutes my girl was like 'if you're not taking me home, then piss off'.
Anyway, for when she got out, we rented the 1st floor of a hundred year old Victorian that was right across the street from a 40 meter walk down to Fairlight Beach. Literally, you could open our window and see the inlet to Sydney Harbour from the Pacific.
SO, long story short, we lived in Manly right off the Corso and in Fairlight Beach literally right across from the beach.
After that, the misses went to an exec role at Mountain Designs. We lived in Balmoral (right next to Bulimba). It reminded me of living in the San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles).
EDIT: Since we're doing dog stories, I'd walk my dog to a dog park in Bulimba surrounded by condos and on the river. She liked this 6 month old bull terrier boy, so much so that she'd get behind him, grab his hips, start acting like she was humping him, and actually make these little frowns like she was a porn star or something. Anyway, people would see this all the time . . . one day, a girl, maybe like 8, walking with her mum sees it and screams 'look mum, they're cuddling'.
