and most of the guys who commute to Oz never get home as flights are always full so if you have a block of 7 days off and it takes 2 to get home then allow 2 extra days to travel
Rubbish. I commute to Aus and don't have this problem. Like anywhere on the network there are times of the year that commuting can be a pain in the a**e but generally I have no problems. I will concede though that Adelaide will be more work due to the limited number of direct flights from HK but it like Cairns is do-able if plaaned correctly.