Hey Fud,
Thank you for your response (as well as everybody else who has contributed their thoughts to this thread).
$30K is a heap of dosh, to be sure, just to obtain regulatory blessing for what one already has. Flying in Australia is shockingly expensive and the regulatory environment as well as the "user pays" concept (i.e. airways/movement/landing fees) for what is/was public infrastructure is only making it worse. I better get a grip lest I digress into a political rant on these matters.
'Tis a shame that you couldn't find employment up north when you were looking. Maybe the shortage of pilots has changed things a bit now, but if it works for you in the US, best that you remain there: no one can say that the aviation scene here has improved. Well, maybe CASA will try to claim that safety (however they choose to define that) has improved. After all, there are fewer pilots engaging in that risky thing called flying. I guess they would call that a successful policy outcome. (Oops - I fell into a rant...)
Firmly domiciled in Sydney, I cannot go up north, so it looks like flying training will be the most likely position.
Flying training wasn't half bad, except that it was $9.00/hr commission-only then. At least now there are real jobs to be had once you hit 1500 hours even though the pay still stinks at all levels below A-scale captains (are there any left?)
Since we're talking costs, in the early 90''s my CFI cost me probably $2,500. Now the figures advertised in Australia are almost ten times that. Nevertheless, flying beats the corporate rat race, hands-down.
Regards,
ClippedWing