Matt (44) Rachael (39) n Ollie (13). I have read many updates over the last three years on BritshExpats and many times have thought should I write one, or will I never get the chance. So here goes for my stab at things.

We had applied in 2007 for our visa and were trapped in the investment bond fiasco which put our lives on hold for 18 months in which time we had sold our house bought another and eventually sold that one ... Like I said it was never going to be easy.

Our Visa was granted in late 2009 and validated the same year with plans to move out in Dec 2010. Dorree Bonner shipped our stuff and the container duly arrived on the exact date we were quoted on which was fab as it was as many have already said like Christmas all over again discovering stuff we had bought and never used etc. Well done the Shippers, highly recommended even when a few breakages needed to be claimed for there was no issue in paying out.

Perth from Day One has been amazing to us with far more ups for the few downs to affect family life.

Schools in the Northern suburbs always create lively debate on the BE forum so we had studied our options and were on waiting lists 12 months before arriving. This was due to our lad previously attending a Grammar school in the UK so we didn’t want to send him just anywhere. We opted for Duncraig as the three private schools we had been waiting for couldn’t offer places so we decked the lad out in uniform and he went to school on the 3rd Feb .... First amazing day .... I took a call from one of the privates schools, two hours after Ollie went to school, who wanted to meet us that evening with a view to a place being made available at short notice! I picked Ollie up and we went straight to the new place. All our heads spun as he had changed schools in little more than eight hours, however he thrives at the new school and is very happy.

On the work front I picked up a job in my former profession in a few days and was offered a Bakery Managers job right away. I must stress I hadn’t baked for over 10 years and ideally wanted work in my chosen profession of OHS but this didn’t materialise.

The job was at one of the main supermarkets and at first seemed ok the training was a month then my own store....Looking back this was the most TERRIBLE job I’ve ever had the misfortune to have taken and I hated every minute of my short 3 months with these guys. They expected the lack of staff shortfall due to cutbacks to be covered by the manager so eighty hour weeks across all hours were driving me to exhaustion....I Quit!

I picked up a bakers job on the same day on the same salary it was really a gap fill until we were up and running, I wanted a safety position and I wanted it badly....The next 3 months I baked and to be fair it was an ok job but an 80k round trip wasn’t what the doctor ordered.

In the meantime my wife, Rachael a qualified hairdresser, was finding salons were being a bit clicky, and as she hadn’t full time worked in a salon for ten years found herself left out in the cold. She tried all manners of work, as in the UK she worked for a mortgage company (Britannia), and decided to roll the dice with the big banks as well as many others. She actually had a spreadsheet with 116 applications before finally finding success in May.

She is now very settled working as a teller in Australia’s first bank and loves it. To prove good things do come to those who wait I was nearing the end of 3 months baking when I got serious and started applying for safety positions that I felt I had a good chance with.....Bingo, four interviews in three weeks which resulted in three job offers in three days at the end...Fantastico. I’ve never been in a position of having to choose before so I did just that and am still here six months later in a job I love and am making the most of.

Home Life