Jen_PFR

Yep, the smoke smell woke me up at 6am this morning - I'm near Karrinyup. One of the annoying things about it is that if you hang any washing out, it ends up smelling of smoke!

Hopefully no-one is at any risk from it. The windy weather won't be helping the firefighters' efforts to get it under control.

There's a guy in our neighbourhood who drives a 'Jim's Tax Accounting' car - obviously part of the same franchise. I giggle whenever I see it - I wonder if he wears his hat while he does the tax returns?

Hi Anthony,

Try www.ozhouserental.com - Tracey has a large number of holiday lets NOR, and many of her properties are pet friendly.

Good luck with the move!

Regards

Jen

To be honest, it felt a bit like choosing between Dumb and Dumber

I'm traditionally a rusted-on Labor voter, but did what Peanuts did and voted for the Greens for the first time ever.

Oooh, I've just remembered, there's Clarke's of North Beach as well. However they only do a degustation menu on Saturdays: http://www.clarkesofnorthbeach.com.au/

Very nice food.

Shame you're limiting it to northern suburbs. Bistro Guillaume at Crown Casino is lovely: http://bistroguillaumeperth.com.au/

Had lunch there with our closest friends and it was really nice. It's perfect for a special dinner.

Hi CandyCoo! Welcome to PP. I'm sure that your husband will sit up and take notice as it gets closer to the time... at least I hope so

Don't panic, it will all work out in the end. Feel free to ask questions here, we're a friendly group and happy to help out

Just kick back and enjoy... that way you will have a brilliant memory, without getting caught up in the farewells.

The only way I could see you getting your daughter enrolled is to have put her in a private school? This actually frees you up a bit, as private schools don't require you to live in a particular area or suburb - you can live anywhere. This makes things a bit easier with respect to finding a longer term rental or property to purchase - you can look at areas surrounding Claremont as well (eg Karakatta, Swanbourne, Cottesloe etc).

To get an idea of rental prices and also purchase prices, go to www.realestate.com.au and put in these suburbs, and make sure the box which says 'Include surrounding suburbs' is ticked - this will give you an idea of pricing and availability. (Just be aware that searching for rental properties and properties for sale will be two different searches - check the tabs up at the top left to make sure you're searching the correct section.)

Welcome to Perth! At least the weather's nice for you at the moment

Basically just assume everything bites. This includes plants as well (eg. oleanders). I worked with a lady from India who used to walk to work. Anyhow, one day she came in and she was eating some berries she'd just picked off a shrub on the way to work!! She didn't understand when everybody in the office just about had conniptions. It was a native plant which I couldn't identify, but trust me - don't eat random stuff!

Typically the private schools in WA have a broad range of criteria when looking at school enrolments. Things like whether the child is the same religion (proof of baptism, first holy communion, confirmation etc required), whether either of the child's parents are an 'old boy' or 'old girl' of the school, how long the child's name has been on the waiting list, etc. If I were you I'd email the schools you're interested in and ask - alternatively, check their websites (if they have them - most private schools do) to see if this info is on there.

Give Tracey at www.ozhouserental.com a go - she has lots of properties both NOR and SOR, and they tend to be further out as well, so she will probably have something suitable.

We use these guys quite a bit: http://www.theelectricdiscounter.com.au/

Very easy to deal with and good pricing.

Here's the govt dept's website which covers such things (a subsection of Consumer Protection):

http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/ConsumerProtection/Content/Property_renting/Renting/NewRTALaws.html

Try iinet's Naked DSL packages - these are internet & phone combos. http://www.iinet.net.au/internet/broadband/naked-dsl/

Try having a look at the website www.carsales.com.au for some idea around prices etc.

Hang in there! If you're not successful in applying for a govt job, the absolute best thing you can do is ring up for feedback. This is where you can take away from the process things you could maybe do differently next time.

Hi Andy, I'm an old fogey and my dancing days are past me, but have you considered meeting up with any of the people staying in backpackers' accommodation in the Perth CBD? They're usually around your kind of age and are also typically over here for a good time, not so much a long time - might be right up your alley in terms of going out and having big ones

Just an idea!!

Jen

Vic Park is a well known area south of the city. It has a bit of a mixed past but is probably fine, in terms of renting. Don't know if I'd want to live there though..... Kensington (the suburb next to it) is a much nicer area with a better local school.

Keep an eye out for jobs on the state government website, they periodically advertise for project mgmt. roles in regional areas. Make sure you look broadly across the different departments, as most of the departments would have a call for these kinds of roles, but only the larger ones would tend to need them in regional areas (think Dept of Health, Education, Corrective Services etc). The web address is www.jobs.wa.gov.au

Just an addition to Bibbs' post - the other spelling you may see is 'ocker' (rather than okka). Someone who's ocker will wear short footy shorts and will have a broad Australian drawl, and use terms like 'she's lower than a snake's belly' and 'yous' as the plural of 'you' ('Do yous guys want another beer?'). Mick Dundee is a good example

The chances of you securing a rental when you're not in the country are as likely as someone knocking on the door this very second to tell me I'm a distant descendent of Rockefeller and they've just found a warehouse full of cash, a time machine and an envelope that contains the identity of the author of the Voynich manuscript and it all belongs to me.

As we're giving out awards, can I just say that this cracked me up. Thanks for the giggle portlaunay

LD, portlaunay is correct - finding a furnished apt in Freo is difficult. If you do find one, maybe you could post the details so others know somewhere to start their search in the future?

Any fees for inspection are always paid by the landlord, not the tenant.... the property manager is appointed (and working on behalf of) the landlord. If I were renting and the PM tried to charge me a final inspection fee I'd be kicking up about it to the Dept of Commerce (which has the section dealing with fair trade in it).

It's always good to hear people's success stories. Glad to hear you found somewhere so quickly, and for a reasonable price