Always so hard to find new and good lab partners (my cohort did this subject last year, i didn't, so everyone is a stranger!). Plus strangers are scary yo.
I find the Clayton campus to be so uninspiring.
I haven't really seen many campuses (wandered around UoM once or twice) but i somewhat agree. It feels like it's been cobbled together in stages (which it has historically) rather than have some grand overarching plan.
That said, everything has beauty in it if you look. I think it does have it's charms, i particularly enjoy the areas more "off the beaten path", they seem to be more quite and nicer. It's making great strides as well, i've been here for 4 years now and i can say its definitely improved. Particularly the new large paths near S1, actual street signs now (like UoM) and the Menzies rennovations/informal study areas.
Maybe I just don't much like the (social) uni environment in general, and I associate Clayton with that environment.
If you're disappointed with how its going for you, try really putting yourself out there. When i first started Monash i was disappointed about the social scene too, i felt like i met heaps of people (as you always do) but never bonded with any of them. I thought it was the uni, turns out it was me, i wasn't really trying. Join clubs, go to heaps of events, etc.