BrisneyWorld sounds about right. Cycling within the city is easy. But if
you're a Canadian wood logger with an aversion to a humid climate,
Brisbane or anything further north during an Aussie summer is not what
you want.

I would be going in the fall/winter anyway (March-June) which seems like a
milder, dry time of year as I understand it?

When I was in Australia, employment opportunities in the IT sector were
a bit restricted for foreigners - the market needed people who could
stay within the company for a longer term. That excluded me. Don't know
how it is now, though.

Quite possibly I will encounter the same situation, in which case I have
some backup work possibilities anyway. You're probably right about this,
several people have warned me about the short duration.

That said, most beautiful country I've ever ever seen.

Could someone also give me an idea, what length of a trip does it take to
reach interesting coastline scenery from the city? Looking on a map it
seems about 10 to 15 km to get out of Brisbane and reach the coasts. Does
that work in practice?