acbenson

Hi, sorry for the slackness, lesson is down at the aqua jetty until 10ish I think, so we may come after. best if you pm me you number and we will call to see if still there.

Olly has some swimming lessons starting again on saturday morning, so would depend on the time.

yeah, they said in the place that was the way to do it, and it is definitely a mind set thing, and simply phoning for take out fish n chips is not in my mind set...

Perth is too expensive, it is full of cashed up bogans but rough?!!? not on your life. place to rise kids? absolutely - been here 5 months and I think we will definitely miss the beach if and when we have to move. just need to justify the windsurfing gear to myself and I am set! still not sure about the education system, the first day care we had the boys in was disappointing for the money spent, the new one is proving better but more expensive. There are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too many traffic lights for the volume of traffic. it is traffic management by numbers. this is a junction therefore must have set of lights. rubbish. Transport system? brilliant. I love the fact that when I am on the train in/out of Perth I rush past the cars. stroke of genius. went to the fringe last night, would never do that in london/manchester etc way too difficult to nip in and out of a city. not here. my lack of decent internet connectivity is an absolute travesty!! but you have to consider the size of the country and the cost of infrastructure. Do I think that employment agencies are the bane of my entire existence? yes - crap to a person, but there is work here, just need to keep plugging away at it. my last word on the subject is that really this is the republic of Perth and I am enjoying living here!!

I think when he says imported he means the frying equipment not the potatoes. it would be a marketing angle; australian potatoes, british (english?) style.. I live in safety bay and you know what truly annoys me about fish n chips shops here - the waiting and the size of the portions!! we waited 20 mins in one, specifically order a large portion of chips and it barely fed one of us, let alone 3. My vote is rockingham the problem with charging $15 for fish n chips is that for a family you are starting to look around the 50 bucks mark which means it is becoming more of an "event" purchase than impulse buy. By opening a "british" chippy, you are squarely aiming yourself at the migrant market and (after 6 months) I am still converting to £. so 35 quid for a family fish and chip meal doesnt look like great value. basically I wonder if you can get the volume of customer to support the usage of fresh potatoes. Frozen chips do spoil eventually but alot longer after fresh.

I sort of concur with the whole thread, it is difficult to recreate your social circle and you do have to put yourself out. I think I can say we are finding it tough but that is as much to do with our situation as anything. contract work for me, full time job for H and the kids in day care every day.

Hi all, we have been here for a few months now and have kind of dropped the ball around meeting people. We are in Safety Bay, Olly is pushing 3 and Alex is 9 months now. I think we need to start meeting other families again. Helen and Tony

will do thanks!

Does anyone know if there are any 5s teams, leagues, kick abouts around Perth? I am in need of some exercise and determined not to go do the gym route Thanks Tony

bizarre havent seen a single spider in our place, I guess we will have to wait for that pleasure!

hi Paula, I am not sure if you got the pm message I sent because I can find no track of it whatsoever! but we should be in kings park play ground tomorrow at lunch time (12, subject to weather) to meet up with another new couple if you fancy drop me a pm and I will send my mobile number Tony

Hi all, I have signed the wife and I up to spin tel (optus reseller) for their $20 month BYOD ($500 of calls/texts, 1GB data), free facebook/twitter package. As part of that we have a load of referrals we can give out. Both parties get to up $25 credit. pm if you want one, will need email address Tony

hi all, thought I would reply to this thread as well as my own I started, we (myself, Helen (both 36) olly (2) and Alex (4 months)) are in safety bay at the moment, and to avoid disrupting the kids too much again, we shall probably stay around the warnbro, PK, Baldivis axis. just wondering if there is a social "scene" for that area which would be good to join in with. thanks tony

thanks for messages and advice. funnily enough, did know about whiteman, just saving it for a real "day off" if you see what I mean

hi all, I have made a few posts over the last year or so as we prepared to come over and now that we are finally here....it is definitely tougher than we imagined. our eldest Olly (only 28 months) is really pulling the heart strings about wanting to go "home", so I wanted to ask if there is anyone else around with similar aged children to set up something of a "playdate". Hopefully we can nip this home stuff in the bud as soon as and not ruin his confidence too much. Also lets be honest, Helen and I need to meet some people as soon as possible we will go a little stir crazy and we only got here on Tuesday!! we are staying in safety bay at the moment but that is just a function of the initial rental, no worries about your location. Frankly the more we see of Perth the quicker we will know for sure which area to aim for. Please do get in touch - we dont have an aussie sim as yet, but we do have web access, so we will be able to get any messages. Many thanks Tony (36), Helen (36), Olly (28monthys) and Alex (4 months)

Hi all, Could someone recommend an accountant with a particular knowledge of immigrants and how to best set up? Have secured work for our move but it is contract based so want to find the best way to manage that. We will be in Perth from the 4th of September!!! cant wait. Thanks Tony

if it helps anyone, we have just had crown out to do a quote for us and they have come in at £5.42/m3 including 440 for AQIS cheshire to Perth

I am probably rehashing other older threads, so apologies if I am. That said, Does anyone know if any Bankwest/St.George accounts can be opened from the UK? I am pretty sure that Westpac, ANZ and commonwealth all offer that facility so was curious Ta muchly

as I am sure alot of people have found, there is something a time frame, when families arrive in Oz looking for accommodation but also have possessions being shipped at the same time so those families have a dilemma of renting furnished whilst waiting for possessions to arrive and then hope to coincide finding more unfurnished permanent digs when said possessions arrive. Either that or go straight to the preference longer term place and have to buy possessions again. there is lot to be said for either solution but I was wondering if there was anything like a furniture rental service? So you would go straight to the unfurnished, rent your furniture for a 2/3 months whilst waiting for your actuals and then just give your rented furniture back.

Hi all, Almost feel like I should reintroduce myself as its been a year since I posted but we are almost there now...just a few more weeks 10-12 and we will be there. That said, I was wondering what people thought about finding rental accommodation....specifically about how quick the process is? as there will be 4 of us coming over, I have pretty much decided that it makes sense for to come over first, find the place and then go back get OH and the cherubs. Do you think that would be possible? We are looking for 4 beds either clarkson way or Rockingham way. Do not have a preference for either NOR or SOR....frankly they are both close to the sea!! Thanks Tony

thank you all for the replies, for some reason, I was getting the thread updates. For those in the know, this is going to be a weird question, but wife isn't pregnant (as yet) and really did not enjoy whole labour experience (no bloke ever will) but having discussed it all with her. one of her major concerns would be family support post birth which I had already thought about but that she didnt believe she would be able to get an epi. She couldnt do the birth on gas and air alone, and the pithindin (sp?) sent her a bit loopy, it was only when we got the epi done that things progressed. she has the impression that she wouldnt be able to get this via medicare. If true, I figured just go with the insurance but as some one has pointed out that may take 12 months to kick in. So for those that have given birth via medicare, were you able to elect an epideral at all? Thanks Tony

we have a 176 so perm res, which entitles us to medicare plus have read advisable to get private medical as well. I guess it was more a question about peoples experiences of Australian health care, good bad or ugly.

Hi, recently been granted our visas, and one of the considerations as to when we get to Perth is regarding healthcare support available during pregnancy. the other half has it in her head that it would be better to have baby here rather than in situe. Not sure I wholly agree, so was hoping to get opinions about healthcare specifically regarding support etc that may be available to new arrivees. I am assuming that the standard of care available is the same if not better than the UK, but would be good to get real world opinions thanks Tony

thanks for the info

yeah unfortunately circumstances mean we probably wont actually go for about 18 months. real shame but cant really be helped. let me know how you get on!