Hi there beebloke. Yes it is truly amazing how you find out people you know keep bees, or have kept bees. I was walking around the property of a good friend of mine, and discovered some bee hives. I enquired about them and she said "yeah, my mother and I keep those". I think its amazing the amount of people in my region who just keep one or two hives, without joining a club or a forum such as this, so you just don't know a lot of them exist.
Great to have another aussie onboard. I'm from Healesville, about 60 k's NE of Melbourne, VIC. I think this site is great for aussies to see how things are done around the world.
Have fun,
James.