Nice review.
About Aus, it is a really beautiful place.
Sydney is a bit plastic, not all, but the tourist places like Bondi are...Beach is nice though.
Melbourne has a more artsy culture,cool bars clubs, urban sorta thing. Nice city, the outer suburbs are nice but there are some dumps. Just like anywhere else.
Queensland is really nice, beaches etc..Don't really like surfers paradise, its a bit fake. Melbourne is where its at though, culture wise.