jammy

HI All

First time on this forum, I am a 43 year old IT Professional of 23 years and have finally got my PR Visa, My wife Karen and I and 2 Kids 19 and 11 are planning on arriving in perth at the end of November. We have researched most of the areas and have chosen Mandurah to settle in as we both have fallen in love with it, We are just wondering what the schools are actually like and the areas around mandurah especially for my daughter. Any help is welcome.

verystormy

Hi. Afraid i cant help with schools as we have no children, but we live near Mandurah and give me a shout if you fancy a meet when you arrive. I am Chris, 40 year old geologist and my wife is a artist

dave99

IT guy here to, good luck on your journey out to perth. Are you sure you want to be that far south away from the city?. Most IT jobs here tend to be in the city center CBD so you would have a hell of a long commute each day.
I used to do a similier commute to clarkson everyday, and thats a lot closer to the city than mandurah, about 45mins by train. I was much happier when I moved closer.

Theres not much out here in perth and the further out you go the less there is really. Personally I would say aim closer to the city

squeezzii

my kids are both at mandurah baptist college and Im very happpy with it.

verystormy

I did the commute from Dawesville - so with walk and bus adds another hour and didnt bother me. Just read a paper or work on my lap top to save staying behind in the office. My guess is a guy in IT will be able to do the same.

halfcamoflauge

We used to live in Mandurah and i have to say the drive to the city was such a drag, we hated it. We then moved upto butler(north perth) and it's great. We also found that up north it seemed to be a lot more modern and a lot cleaner. Mandurah to us is an old place but the foreshore has been built up and is looking great. Our kids used to go to Halls Head primary and fredwick urwin secondary and they liked these schools but still prefer up north.
Good luck anyway.

jammy

Thank you all for your replies they are much appreciated, The traveling could be long but even here in the UK to get the better jobs i have had to travel which is usually an hour to an hour and half which i have been doing for the last ten years. some how it give me chance to unwind before i get home. so i dont think this would be an issue. Also we wanted to be away from the main city at least to start off. We plan on staying in a holiday home for a few weeks till we check out all the areas, schools and houses.
With regard to IT jobs am i best applying before or after i get there. the plan was to try a month or so before, My wife has some contacts lined up for when she gets there as her old company has a office in perth. I have never really had an issue in the UK but i am always cautious .
Lastly we would love to meet up chris and anyone else when we get there as this would certainly help us settle easier.

jammy

thanyou again all