Flowmountainbike.com is Aussie and has a few reviews.
As well as what's been suggested earlier, it's also worth checking the for sale section of rotorburn.com, though from memory you have to jump through a couple of hoops to get access. That might only be to post, and a lot of what's there is also on the Facebook MTB trading post.
If it's not overly technical then a good 29er is probably the go. I'm a fan of 26" wheels, but I also like tight and technical riding. There are bargains to be had in 26" gear as everyone moves to 27.5, but it's really not that much of an issue. Frame design is far more important than wheel size.
I'd be thinking about something with about 100-120mm of travel, minimum Deore kit but probably XT or Sram X9 or better, RS or Fox forks. You're probably looking at 10sp at the back, but don't overlook an older 9sp in good nick - the upgrade is reasonably cheap, and you could even got to 11sp if you felt like it. There are other possibilities, but that's going to be the basic spec. I'm guessing with what you've suggested you're looking at a budget of $1.5-2k.
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