We at Newcastle have a very active club (probably the biggest event calendar and biggest single club in Australia) and a largish University. Not sure of it's exchange programs.
A lot of Sydneysiders will rubbish Newcastle, and Wollongong as well, but they are both reasonably sized without the traffic and hastle of the bigger cities. (and have better beaches than Sydney)
Canberra would have the best terrain close by and they are fairly active as a state, with lots of training stuff happening.
We generally slow up our bush events at the end of October but we do have a great summer street and park series.
Good luck with your plans, feel free to contact me if you want to know more about our club or region or go to
here