JustArrived

At the moment we're renting a house in Mindarie which is about 30 kms north of the city and takes about 1 hour by bus/train or 30 minutes by car to the city. I had been hoping to use public transport to work but at the moment I'm having to take a bus, then train, then bus, which is taking 75 minutes each way compared to 30 minutes if it was by car (though much longer in the rush hour). The railway route in Perth is basically in the shape of a cross (north/south/east/west) whilst the bus routes are punctual and frequent but quite limited in area. Perth seems to be the type of place where you really need to have a car or two. Saying all this, the train line and freeway is supposed to be extended towards Mindarie so hopefully the travel times will be reduced in the future.

Mindarie has a shopping centre within walking distance which has just about everything you need for weekly shopping but you'll need to go to at least Joondalup for non-essential items (e.g., clothes, household goods, etc.). Mindarie looks to be a really nice place to live with a mixture of lower priced (AU$200-250,000) and luxury (AU$1,000,000+) houses with the price mainly being dictated by how far you are from the sea. For a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom house on about 600 square metres of land and 10-15 minutes walk from the sea the price in Mindarie seems to be around the $200-250,000 mark.

I've heard that Mindarie is supposed to be a relatively up-market place to live and that the same sized houses and land can be had for $200,000 or less just across Marion Avenue in places such as Kinross and Currambine. In fact, I had initially crossed off Kinross as a place to live as I read there was a rubbish dump near there. There is a rubbish dump there but you can't see anything from the road and I was told the rubbish dump will finish in the next year or two and possibly be changed to a golf course. Anyway, I'd be happy to live in any of the northern suburbs apart from a few "usual suspects" (such as Craigie) that several people have mentioned aren't so great to live in. Saying that, I haven't yet had the chance to visit these places so can only go on what other people are telling me.

One thing I noticed when reading adverts in The Western Australia before coming here is that houses can be had for much cheaper than I had thought. I've seen quite a few newish 4 bedroom houses in estate agents and on internet sites in the $100-150,000 range. Again, they're supposed to be in relatively bad suburbs but I can't believe they would be any worse compared to many places in the UK. People seem to move houses quite often here as their salary hopefully improves so even living in a (relatively) bad area might only be a temporary measure.

One thing that I'm using as an indicator or where to live is the amount of graffiti. Travelling on the bus and train I noticed that a few places have quite a bit of graffiti (similar to central London), most places have the odd bit, and some places seem to have hardly any. From the people I've spoken with, many of the hooligans in the northern suburbs are children of couples from the UK who have imported their shell-suited yobbish culture.

Well, that's all I can think of at the moment. Overall I've been really impressed by how clean and sunny Perth appears to be. Although we're still in "holiday mode" and most likely haven't had time to realise any bad points, I couldn't imagine wanting to live in many other places. Certainly not in the UK which I was glad to leave many years ago and this view has been reinforced during occasional family visits there. Perth was recently voted the (I think) 3rd best city to live in the world and that sounds about right.

Let me know if you want any questions answered by a newbie in Perth. I had a job waiting for me here so unfortunately I don't know anything about the local job market. If you subscribe to The Western Australia for the Wednesday or Saturday edition then they have a large section for job vacancies.

Don

Great couple of posts.

pommie bastard

One thing that I'm using as an indicator or where to live is the amount of graffiti. Travelling on the bus and train I noticed that a few places have quite a bit of graffiti (similar to central London), most places have the odd bit, and some places seem to have hardly any. From the people I've spoken with, many of the hooligans in the northern suburbs are children of couples from the UK who have imported their shell-suited yobbish culture.


Have you meet the locals little darlings yet?sounds like some Aussie or half wit Brit with a chip on their shoulder has got at you already.The fact where you are has a lot of public housing opposite it in Clarkson , and a fair few Abbos has no barring.
One of the guys I know has the contract for removing graffiti , some of those caught are given to him and he makes them clean it off.
They are mostly Aussie kids trying to copy the Yanks, Perth is just like anywhere else same problems as anyother city.By the way it pissed down all weekend and Monday was cold and over cast today Tuesday is brighter but not great and most of us still have some heating on at night right now , should get a little warmer soon best weather not till late November lasts until end of April , also you have missed out that the wind chill on coast will make 25C feel like 15C.
I see you have not said anything about wages , though the fact it takes 75mins by public transport to form Mindarie to Perth is about right .
Mindarie is a good spot the harbour is great if you have $1.5 million to get a spot around it , there was a block of land up for $850,000 on the harbour is it still for sale, its not realy taken off because it is too far for most to bother with but like you say the train station at Clarkson will alter that.
The rubbish dump will attack your nose as soon as it warms up later as you travel passed Kinross I used to do that route everyday , watch out for the speed traps on the way home too the bastards always hide up there.
Good luck to you and your new life.

JustArrived

Hi PB,

Thanks for the reply.

I have met some of the local youths on the bus coming home from work in the evening. Would agree that some of them have a problem trying to string two words together without swearing. As you said, it's the same problem as (nearly) every other city in the world.

One thing I don't like about Australia is the level at which a lot of the television programmes and adverts are pitched at. I wouldn't want my children to watch some of the adverts nevermind the programmes. Some of them are on the wrong side of risque (sp?). If they were on at 10pm I wouldn't complain but some of them are on before 9pm.

Yes, the weekend wasn't very good weatherwise and neither is today although it's still much warmer (18-19 centigrade) than a UK spring day as I'm in work with the window open wearing only a polo shirt. I heard that tomorrow will be 24 centigrade which sounds much better.

I can't really speak about wages in general as I haven't needed to hunt for a job. I can only say that I took a 50% wage cut when coming here for a basically similar job. However, my quality of life here is still much better than where I was (Far East) with double the salary. I'm planning to stay long term in Australia so I have no reason to think about what my salary would be in the UK or elsewhere.

Australia seems to be relatively cheap compared to most other industrialised countries when it comes to essentials such as housing, transport, and food. Sure, friends and family in the UK think my salary is terrible but when they come here next year and see how we live then I'm sure they'll want to emigrate as well.

I guess it depends on what people want. If somebody wants to get a good job, work for a couple of years, and then return to the UK with plenty of money then Australia is the wrong country. Try the USA, Middle East, or Far East instead. For myself it's important to live in reasonably safe English speaking country with a 4 bedroom house within a few miles of the sea and excellent (compared to the UK) weather.

I wouldn't mind one of those million dollar houses next to Mindarie marina but they're way out of my league. Instead I'll be happy with a smaller 4 bedroom place within walking distance of the sea.

The point you made about the speed traps was also mentioned to me by other people. Now I know why everyone seems to obey the speed limits. People also seem to have their train tickets checked by inspectors quite often compared to the UK.

At least they have Guinness and Grolsch to keep me happy.

Grub

You just cant stand it can you? Someone else living in Perth who chooses to give their opinion. You have to piss all over there new found enthusiasm. Just F*** off PB and leave us alone. I have had just about enough of your utter drivel.

Thanks 'Just arrived'- i really enjoyed both your postings and hope that you wont allow tossers like PB to jade your positive outlook on life.

UDS

Generally people in Perth get up earlier, and go to bed earlier, than in the UK (to make the best use of daylight, and of the relatively cool morning hours in the summer) so the "watershed" for children's television is also earlier.

JustArrived

Hi UDS,

Thanks for the information about the watershed. That certainly explains a lot. Now I just need to persuade my children to go to bed earlier than they did before!

Grub, personally I don't really mind forum members such as PB giving their negative points of view about their experiences in Australia. Perhaps it's good that prospective immigrants know the good and bad points of Australian life. Having lived in other countries I know that during the first few months everything seems wonderful about the new place and that it's only later that we get a more balanced view of what it is like to live there.

Unfortunately PB seems to have had some bad experiences in Perth and I wish him well for the future. People have to weigh up PB's comments and then decide for themselves if they still want to go. If every single person on this forum said that Australia was heaven on earth then perhaps it would be even more worrying!

anthony

Yup, when it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Nick

Just read your Part 1 and replied but didn't notice Part 2.

Thanks once more for taking the time and trouble to post.

I suspect your observations are just what this forum (myself
included)need. I for one want to hear about warts of AU and Perth in
particular.

My only real concern is getting established in the "right" area for
us. Other than that, I know my son will be better off with the
lifestyle.

PB take note, if you feel charitable enough to contribute your views,
why don't you try taking a less confrontational approach! Maybe the
community would give your thoughts more credence.


Good luck to you and yours

Regards

Nick

mandandbri

Thanks for letting us know how you are getting on in Perth.
We are still waiting for our visa but when it does finally arrive we intend to move to Perth and its nice to hear how other people perceive the area.
Our in-laws used to own a house in Mindaria, which we thought was a very nice area and so we shall probably aim to start there or over the road in Kinross (a bit cheaper as you say).
Keep the updates coming and its good of you be so tolerant of Mr P.B.

pommie bastard

Of course they are , met loads like yourself come here heads full of crap most end up with broken marriages and taking tablets to get through the day keep dreaming and not reading between the lines.


PERTH gangs are waging war on buses, private cars and even security vehicles, using rocks, slingshots and petrol bombs as weapons.

Bus drivers are on the brink of refusing to enter the southern suburb of Leda after a string of attacks which resulted in one being injured after his bus swerved into a gutter in an attempt to avoid a rock attack which smashed the windscreen.

Transport Workers Union organiser Mick Knowles said if there were any more attacks drivers would refuse to operate bus services through Leda unless they had a police escort.

In the past week, three buses had been attacked, with windows smashed by gangs throwing rocks and using slingshots to fire debris.

In one case, a security vehicle being used to escort a bus through the area was also ambushed when a boulder was rolled on to the road and rocks were thrown through the windscreen.

Apart from attacks on buses and the security vehicles there to protect them, the violence had also spread to private cars.

"These gangs are using anything they can get their hands on," Mr Knowles said. "It's only a matter of time before there's a tragedy.

"The drivers have had a gutful of this. If there's one more incident they will stop outside Leda and radio in to say they want a police escort. If it's not provided they will not enter."

Mr Knowles said most of the problems were occurring as buses travelled through bush along Gilmore Road.

The level of attacks on buses throughout the whole network was unacceptable. In one case, a bus was damaged by a petrol bomb thrown as it travelled through Queens Park.

Southern Coast Transit general manager Ray Cochrane, whose company operates services through Leda, said the attacks were not as frequent or as serious as Mr Knowles claimed and procedures were in place for dealing with them.

Mr Cochrane said drivers already knew they could stop outside an area if the bus ahead of them had been attacked and wait until they had a police or security guard escort.

The problems were always worse during school holidays but the level of attacks was lower than it had been several years ago.

Mr Cochrane said he had discussed the problem with politicians and police but more needed to be done to curb the attacks.

pommie bastard

Good to hear you are finding your way round , have you tried the Boat Pub yet used we to used to use it when we lived on Quinns Beach Estate a bit too quiet at night though, more life and cheaper ale at Quinns Bowling Club . Or chance your arm down the Old Bailey in Joondalup who knows you run into to the dreaded Pommie Bastard plenty in there beware.Best Wishes PB

JustArrived

Thanks PB,

We're still waiting to buy a car so haven't been much outside Mindarie apart from work and shopping in Joondalup and Whitfords. Wouldn't mind visiting the Old Bailey but will wait until I've found something to grumble about so I won't feel left out

pommie bastard

No car yet? if you can get around without one thats good but you will be limited on getting your barings, could not live without ours.
The Old Bailey is the in place on Sunday 5-6pm happy hour , everyone gets very happy even Old Pom at $4.0 a pint for that hour best day of the week.Best Wishes PB