Astor Theatre
See interesting films at the Art Deco-styled Astor Theatre (http://www.astor-theatre.com) in St Kilda. There are several moonlight cinema programmes in summer. The Melbourne International Film Festival (http://www.melbournefilmf...) is on in August.
Comic's Lounge
Visit a comedy club. The Comic's Lounge (http://www.thecomicsloung...) has shows for $10-25 including a show filmed for Channel 31 on Mondays, or dinner and show for $45. The Comedy Club (http://www.thecomedyclub....) has dinner and show for $32 and shows only beginning at $7 discount ticket price.
Footy fever
It may be called "Australian rules" football, but the city that rules the game is Melbourne: until 1987, every team in what was then the Victorian Football League was based in Melbourne or Geelong, and even today 10 of 18 teams in the AFL hail from the city. The season runs through winter from late March to late September, with big matches drawing up to 100,000 spectators.
For the first-time spectator, the "footy" looks like untrammeled mayhem, with the oval rugby-style ball carried, kicked, bounced or even punched — but never thrown — across the oval pitch while the opposing team's players tried to grab it or pummel its holder into submission. The objective is simple enough: to kick the ball between the two tall goalposts scoring 6 points, or barring that at least between a goal post and the shorter post next to it a behind, scoring 1 point. No protective equipment of any kind is used and almost anything goes when tackling, although traditionalists bemoan the recent banning of moves like grabbing a player's arms from behind and ramming them into the ground head first!
All that said, footy fans are a surprisingly well-behaved lot and hooliganism is nearly unknown, with plenty of families and little old ladies attending matches. Tickets can be booked in advance from Ticketek (http://www.ticketek.com.au/), but for most games you can simply show up at the stadium before the match, with general admission tickets starting from $20.
Alternately, visit the Cinema Nova on Lygon Street tram 1 or 8 on a Monday for $6 films before 4PM.
Suga
Watch the mesmerising process of personalised hard candy being hand-made at Suga (http://www.suga.com.au/). Around lunch time is a good time to see and sample!. There is a store at Queen Victoria Market, but if you visit the Royal Arcade location, you can also watch chocolate making next door at Koko Black (http://www.kokoblack.com/).
AFL football
Watch a game of AFL football (http://www.afl.com.au) at the MCG or Etihad Stadium during the winter, or a Cricket Match (http://www.cricket.com.au) during the summer.
cafes
Kick back at one of Melbourne's fantastic cafes in the CBD Degraves St, The Causeway, and other laneways are fantastic for this, South Yarra Chapel Street or Fitzroy Brunswick Street, Smith Street.
The most popular industry for a working holiday is to work in hospitality jobs around the St. Kilda area. The wages in all other industries are usually much better than working in hospitality but require more specific skills. At the moment there are a lot of job offers for nurses and craftsmen.
Fruit picking is a possible source of income but in the greater Melbourne area there are not many jobs are offered. You will find better chances are in the dairy business but you should have some basic experience. Grape vine tending is another possibility in the near by Yarra Valley.
You can take language classes, join a cafe book group, learn to draw, sign up for historical or foodie walks, study for your Victorian Certificate of Education or take computer or business classes at the Council of Adult Education CAE (http://www.cae.edu.au/). The CAE is also home to the City Library (http://www.citylibrary.org.au/) where you can sign up to borrow books or just read magazines in their cafe.