Elaine,
Not only are the rates high, you will get to fly 30+ year old aircraft for the priviledge of handing over your money
I personally don't think looking on pprune will find you the best hour sharing partners. I'd suggest that finding the school you are most comfortable with then telling them what you want. They will have students/PPL's in a similar position to yourself and go from there
Oh, and Class E airspace as you know it is not exactly Class E in Australia, be careful of that, you might find yourself on the end of an ESIR