dun laoghaire

Hi
We left dublin two years ago for Perth and there a lots of Irish here, we live north of the river in Woodvale ( near Joondalup) moved here because wife has sisters in the estate ( I left everyone behind). We left my mum who was up the road and while she is pleased we could find happiness here,she misses us like mad. My niece (10 years old) still cries when our names are mentioned however I would do it any day, the lifestyle is SO MUCH better for the kids and ourselves. We lived in a so called posh suburb but would meet drugies begging at the front door and on the way to school and the local park was full of perverts (local Garda said they had to see them harm a child before the could be removed from a public park !!)
Wife is a nurse and works agency as she chooses, kids in local state school and all doing well once they settled. Any and all trades in short supply here.

PM me if you would like any further info.

breezeboylan

I take it your from Dun Laoghaire I'm the other end of the DART line in Harmonstown! I'm a nurse as well and we are hoping to settle around the Joondalup area. We were thinking of Carramar but have noticed house prices have started to get higher and higher since we were out there last year. Just wondering what Woodvale is like in comparison to Carramar. Is it quite a new estate or older?
Cheers Tracie

Paul Fitz

Hi All

We are also from Dublin. Great to see some Irish heading down under. I thought there were not too many. Gidxg03 we did the 136 application without the use of an agent. We got positive assessment from TRA in November Electrician. It took only eight days. We submitted the Visa application early December. The whole process took a lot of work and I was certainly glad to see it gone. There was a lot of gathering and certifying of information. If you have any questions regaring any part of the application just ask and I will try and help. Before you know it yours will be on the way to Adelaide. The PCC took just over three weeks to receive back.

Did any of you attend the workingdownunder expo in the RDS. We had a chat with the people at the Western Australia Stand. It really made me think which would be better Perth or Brisbane. We have never set foot into Oz before. Mad I know but we felt from research that Oz is for us and the children. Dun Laoghaire or anybody else do you mind me asking what made you choose Perth. How did the children settle in. Are the facilities good for children. What are the schools like.

Best of luck to all those waiting.

MK

Scotty123

Hi we are from nothern Ireland which is the same island

YAFOLEY

This is great. We too taught we were a minority in Ireland! We went to the RDS show, we went to the one in November to and we couldn't get over the response. Both shows were really great. Mk - our final application was sent in January, we got TRA in oct. but got delayed cause our third baby was born in November and the problems we had trying to get passport pictures taken of him it took 5 weeks of going back and forth to passport office! ridiculous! Can you let me know where you got your meds done and the process behind it? ta.
Dunlaoghaire.... any comments on perth for us would be great. We have never been to OZ b4 all research done by internet and shows etc... Perth was our choice cause we love outdoors and anybody living in Ireland (esp Dublin) will know the disadvantages of having kids here as you never can do anything cause the weather and the crime rate !!!! we won't go there. We love the motorbikes and motorcross so hopefully we can find good tracks in perth! we've three kiddies - a boy of 5, girl of 2 and boy of 4 months. Were did you choose to live in Perth>
thanks Yvonne & Alan

JohnandMichelle

Hi everyone, havn't been on for a while as we have just moved from Galway to the Gold Coast!! Moved into a rental house six days ago and now have the beloved broadband so feel we're back in touch with the rest of the world, literally! Hubbie is electrician and we have two kids, 13 and 8. My older brother has been here years, which helps a great deal. I could go on and on and bore everyone to death, but if anyone wants to pm me about our visa process, getting here, etc, I'd be glad to help. We're just about to start the bureaucratic (or so I've heard) process of obtaining licence for hubbie, so I'll keep everyone posted. When I get more time later, I'll try and post a new thread of our experiences so far - its always good for everyone to read how other people of have got on, tips, do's and don't do's, etc. Not sure if there's much of an Irish community on the Gold Coast. My kids haven't come across any other Irish in their schools. Michelle

gidxg03

Were from Galway too. Great to see there is an Irish population on British expats too. It sounds like there are loads of Irish in Perth. What about Melbourne? How have you found the ozzies? Would you agree with a lot of the other posts here that it is difficult to make friends with them?

Paul Fitz

Yafoley we got the meds done in Morehampton Clinic, Donnybrook. They were excellent. Really good with the kids. Made them feel very at ease. Our children did not need to have blood or xrays done. The xrays were done at Blackrock Clinic. The radiologists then sent the xrays back to Morehampton. The clinic then sent them all by registered post. The forms to be filled are form 26 and 160.

MK

Paul Fitz

JohnandMichelle, it would be great to hear how you get on with the licensing. We will be in the same position shortly (hopefully) as hubby is Electrician. How did the children settle into school.

MK

YAFOLEY

Thanks Mk. One question did the doctors tell you that they were ok etc before sending off... thats great that kids didn't have to do bloods or xrays - does this apply to all as my kids are terrified of needles especially my 5 year old!
Cheers Yvonne

Paul Fitz

As far as I remember a child has to be over 11 or 12 to have xrays and bloods done. The doc said he would call to let know everything was ok, and sure thing he called a few days later to say everything was back and all was fine. What a relief.


MK

dun laoghaire

Hi All been meaning to do this for some time now, anyway here is a brief rundown on the Smiths in Perth.
Why Perth? We came on holidays to visit my in laws in 2000, had been here for honeymoon but that was in 1993, and really enjoyed the place although when we left we said nice place but I couldn’t live there. Then the idea of moving slowly started growing and one day I mentioned it to the boss and she had been thinking the same. I had called in to a Perth clinic while here to have a look at their way of doing things ( I repair radiation oncology equipment) and a week after agreeing we should embark on the biggest change, jobs lifestyle etc, the clinic I had called into advertised a job on the net ( hows that for good luck, it was however the end of the luck). I phoned them and they said they would be very interested and offered a short-term contract there and then. At this stage we had not told anyone as we were still thinking when my brother in law phoned to say his mate told him we were coming over, the clinic uses a plumbing firm owned by an Irish bloke and the guy in the clinic mentioned they had just agreed to employ an Irish bloke and it just happens we had met that plumber and he remembered the line of work I am in and put two and two together, so be careful there are no secrets. We then stuffed up our first application and had to wait for 18 months to find out it was no good , then went to an agent ( Liz O’Hagen from Shamrock Solutions Very Very good!) who put us on the right track and then finally got a visa in Oct 2003, sold house ( nightmare) and arrived in Perth on the 28 Jan 2004.


Kids etc…Got here on a Thursday and using sister in law’s address got kids into school on the Monday for the first day of the new school year, kids did not know what hit them ( ages then 7 and 9). They did settle in quickly as there were so many new kids with the start of the school year and all but their accent was what made them stand out along with the glow in the dark white Irish skin. They had a little bit of getting used to things and my son (7) settled quicker as he loved sport and plays soccer. We made a boo boo with my daughter and she went into a grade higher than she should have and she struggled with the work but not the other kids who mainly thought her accent was nice. Both well settled now.
House etc… we bought a house in a nice estate called Woodvale ( look at the reiwa.com website the suburb is in Joondalup) as this was where my sisters in law live, however my brother in law lives up the road in Carramar ( nice area with new school) he was the smarter of the two of us one can be too close to family. Then we went and bought two cars and that was pretty much the end of the easy money from the house sale back in Dun laoghaire.
I started work two weeks after getting here and am still there, my wife does a bit with a nursing agency and the money is pretty good. The whole Perth area is desperately short of tradesmen, in particular the construction area, you cannot get a builder as the have so much work and can’t get the trades people ( a friend we met here who is from Edinburgh has paid for a painter to come over from Scotland for a few weeks to paint his new house and it was quicker and cheaper than getting one of the locals).
Sorry rambling a bit
The area we live in is very nice but the kids don’t play on the street and when my two went out with a ball they were the only ones, we know there are other kids here as they meet in school but they are not allowed out, while a work colleague who lives in the same estate but a bit further up says her kids are never in, luck of the draw I guess, however two little girls across the road have become regulars on the street and our house so we are now friends with the parents.
Schools.. we sent ours to a state school .and it’s great, we have called into the principle to discuss things, usually without an appointment and he has always been very available to us and acted on anything we asked. Kids go to religion class in local catholic school for communion and confirmation classes
Day to day things…There are no decent spuds to be had but you get used to the watery things they have here. Grocery shopping is I think a bit expensive and fresh veggies are a thing of the past (article on the telly said our veggies come from the eastern states and are months old when the hit the shops here). When it’s hot it really is hot buy a house with air con. We also installed a pool, lots of work but very nice and the kids are like fish now. Clothes and household things are also expensive but you can shop around and there are plenty of shops and shopping centres to choose from all within a 15 min drive if you can afford the petrol ,$ 1:24 a litre this morning.

Pubs. NONE just barns where you can buy drink, but at weekends when they are full they are not to bad (or maybe I am just getting used to Aussie pubs)
Overall we are happy with the move, and when back in Ireland for a family wedding recently the kids asked when are we going back home !!! The lifestyle is what you make of it and we enjoy it and the kids are growing happy, tall and tanned.

I suppose we had it very easy as we had family to come to who introduced us to others and it takes the sting of leaving the rest back home, although I have none of my side here, and when feeling a bit homesick my wife can talk to her sisters.

Ok I have been in work for 12 hours today and am now going to the leaba.
I will try to post a more coherent post later in the week when work has calmed down.

cheri-pie

So are we - Belfast

gidxg03

Great post dun laoghaire. Really enjoyable read.

Paul Fitz

That was a brill post Dun Laoghaire. Thanks for taking the time to do it. Gives us some insight as to what is ahead of us.

Thanks again

MK