Julie

We found on moving back car insurance was a pain. Companies here don't accept your no claims and you have to start again from scratch, hence you are paying top whack car insurance. I think there is also a restriction if you need a mortgage, you have to be resident back in the UK again for two years for some lenders. No other problems though.

Yes I would agree, both my kids 15 and 12 play about the same amount of cricket when we lived in Australis as they do here in the UK. The 15 year old (14 at the time) played for the men's league in the afternoon as well as his own team in the morning. Always felt a bit sorry for him playing in the excessive heat though in Australia, can't tell you how much water he consumed in a day as he's a fast bowler!

White Hyundai i20 selling due to moving back to the uk. Only 5500 Kim's 5 door hatchback. Manual 6 gears. Bargain at 11500. Due to leave Perth 26th April. Bought new for 13995. Tinted windows. We are in padbury for our last week here. Please pm me if interested.

Possibly Mandurah as its on the train line into Perth which opens up a whole load of job opportunities. I see you are a chef, Bunbury town is small and the town never seems busy to me in the evening, however, Busselton is not far from here and there may be opportunities there. Keep an open mind and go where the jobs arise.

Hi GreigT We have been away from the UK for 11 years now, the majority of which was spent in New Zealand. My husband got an engineering job in Bunbury so we moved over, it was on a trial basis for 6 months as really I wanted to return to the UK if we had to leave NZ, but said we would give it 6 months. There are a few reasons as to why we never settled here, such as for me the summers are just too hot and uncomfortable, Bunbury is fairly small and my 15 year old son wants the big cities of the UK at his age, I was never lucky enough to get to any job interviews down here which, after 6 months around the house is enough for me to call it a day, also things seem to be slowing down in WA with the mining coming off the boil and the engineering work is picking up in the UK, my husband has been offered a few jobs there. Bunbury is great for small children I feel or retirees, but for the teenage years it is limiting. However, my 11 year old son loves it here as it has everything he wants at his age so we have had to weigh everything up very carefully. However, the people are lovely here and many people enjoy the beach lifestyle it has to offer.

Hi there, We are returning back to the UK the middle of April so for anyone who is arriving around this time I have a heap of stuff to sell as below. I would mention that we are down in Bunbury which is around an hour from Mandurah going South. Westinghouse fridge/freezer (large, suit family) $150 Fisher & paykel washing machine (large one, suit family) $150 Dark blue bed settee (very comfortable) $130 Cream 3 seater settee (purchased only 4 months ago) $500 2 kitchen stools dark wicker $50 small outdoor setting (glass round table and 2 chairs) $25 1 queen bed (wooden frame) $250 Bean bag $15 Kettle/toaster $25 hoover $30 1 bike (suit teenager - excellent condition) $150 2 x balanese chairs wooden frames $40 large pot and plant $30 and anything else I can think off. If you are interested please pm me, if you want photos I am happy to send. Some of the items to be collected the day we move out which will be 18/19 April. Thanks.

hey Elizabeth, Check out on the website meetup groups in Perth and you will find a selection of group you can join for movies, meals out etc, we joined one down here in Bunbury and its the best thing we did to meet new people.

If this is how you feel now and you are very close to your family, I'm sorry to say that you will find the move incredibly difficult. Once you get used to your 'new country' and the novalty wears off, its just another country but without your family around you so think very carefully before you make the move, people get carried away by the exitement the move entails but things soon settle down and you then wonder if you've done the right thing.

no Perth is not affordable for an unskilled/semi skilled worker, its highly expensive

Just a thought, if I were you I would keep a bank account open in the UK, who knows what the future may bring, also if you go back for holidays you can telegraph funds back to use.

Hi, Yes you can, it takes around 6 weeks to clear and they will charge you around $15.00

I'm with you on this one bugsyburrell, Perth is heavily dependent on China and only produces what it can dig out of the ground. China is also heavily investing in Africa, which has a lot of raw materials, I wonder how much an African worker will work for in comparison to WA, not to mention having no big unions to contend with. I get the feeling the mining boom here will be more or less over in the next few years.

Hi Deb There really isn't a lot you can do to help a 15 year old settle, it has to come from them, he will be ok if he is good at socialising and outgoing, however, if he's not he may struggle. We brought a 14 year old over a term ago and he is really struggling here even though he's in the cricket academy at school and will be joining a soccer team, his friends are new friends and until he feels comfortable with them which takes a while I feel he won't settle here, but he is not particularly outgoing. My 11 year old settled after the first week here and loves it, he has heaps of friends, but the difficulty is when they hit their teens. If I'd known then what I know now I wouldn't have moved from New Zealand, and left the kids to finish their schooling there. All the best with the move.

We have just moved to Dayellup, liking it here, the estate seems nice, although some people seem to have a downer on it, not sure why

Hi, We have just moved to Bunbury in the last couple of weeks. Kids seem to be settling into school, hubby settled into work, it always seems harder for the women so would love to meet anyone for get together/coffee as feeling at a bit of a loose end. Am late 40's with two boys one at High School, the other at Primary. If anyone new to area (or not) it would be great to meet some new friends.