We made it!!
Feb 11th 2007, 12:33 pm
#1
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 484
We made it!!
Well after all the ups and downs of thinking we would never get here, here we are, in Perth at last! Arrived 1st Feb.
Haven't posted for awhile because we had no access to the internet for a month before leaving the UK, so here's our update!
Before we left
We never sold our house in the end, got a tenant who wanted to move in after new year so we stayed at my moms for 4 weeks before leaving.
We weren't going to have a leaving party but as time grew nearer there wasn't enough time to have a night out with everyone separately so we ended up organising a party at very short notice. So glad we did, it was a great night.
For those with little ones who keep asking 'are we going tomorrow?' & it's another month away, make a calendar (like an advent calendar where you can count down the days). My little girl loved this and it really helped her to see what was happening before we went and how many more days etc.
The goodbyes were hard to say the least. The hardest part was hearing my little girl sob when she cuddled nanny goodbye.
On Our Way
We flew from Heathrow - Singapore - Perth with Singapore Airlines. We were only entitled to 20kg each because we have temp 457 visas. I tried to get SA to increase the limit when we booked the flights but they only agreed to go upto 25kg each, a total of 75kg. We were way over & getting worried in the queue to checking in
We had 4 suitcases, a total weight of 120kg!! They said nothing. The only thing they did say was that one case was 33kg, 1kg over the max weight for 1 piece of luggage so we had to take a few items out & move them to a lighter case. We did not get charged for excess baggage.
SA were great to fly with, no problems. I was dreading flying for that long with our DD but she slept for most part of the 1st flight (12 hrs) It was a night flight so this helped, then we kept her active whilst at Singapore for 6 hrs and she slept for 2 hours of the last flight (5 hrs). The time she was awake she watched a film, played with some sticker books & toys & was no problem.
We had nothing to declare on arrival so we got through quite quickly.
1st week in Perth
We are renting a fully furnished house in Warnbro/Port Kennedy at the moment, for 4 weeks. We'd never been to Perth before so we thought we'd just get a short term furnished rental whilst waiting for our stuff to arrive & go exploring to see where we'd like to rent long term.
When back in the UK, doing our research as you do, we really liked the sound of Rockingham & surrounding suburbs (SOR). Unfortunately it hasn't lived upto our expectations, whereas NOR has. We went for a drive around Marmion, Sorrento, Padbury, Duncraig & surrounding suburbs & just loved it. Yes it is alot more expensive but then once the train is completed south I'm sure prices will soar.
Around here there seems to be alot of graffiti, shopping trolleys left lying around, broken glass & cans on local parks. It's such a shame. I don't mean to offend anyone, don't get me wrong some parts SOR are very nice but not for us. Saying that we've had a fantastic day on Rockingham beach today! You really don't know until you're here. Not everyone is looking for the same thing & you just get a feel for a place. All I can advise is if you've never been and you're not sure where you'd like to settle, stay somewhere quite central initially. It is costing us a fortune travelling north everyday to view rentals! We are still using hire car, allowance is 100km a day, after this its 20c a km & we're way over!
We've looked at a few cars & are hoping to buy tomorrow.
As far as viewing rentals, it's been a nightmare
They do it very differently here. You phone EA to ask to view a property you've seen advertised, you then have to wait until they arrange an open viewing. They take your no. but DON'T call you back
We missed out on one I really liked. Called Mon, said they'd call back when they had arranged a viewing date. Heard nothing, called again Wed, said viewing was yesterday & they'd already taken 3 applications
Because there are so many Brits arriving at the mo there are just not enough 'decent' rentals to go around, each viewing is getting roughly 3 or more applications & people are offering more $ per week than is being asked & offering months rent in advance. This is putting alot of pressure on us at the moment, worrying we're not going to get something decent soon. Our stuff has arrived, & they want an address to deliver it to!
Anyway abit of moaning there but we do love it here & are looking forward to starting our new life.
Good luck to everyone waiting for visas/house sales etc!
Leigh
Haven't posted for awhile because we had no access to the internet for a month before leaving the UK, so here's our update!
Before we left
We never sold our house in the end, got a tenant who wanted to move in after new year so we stayed at my moms for 4 weeks before leaving.
We weren't going to have a leaving party but as time grew nearer there wasn't enough time to have a night out with everyone separately so we ended up organising a party at very short notice. So glad we did, it was a great night.
For those with little ones who keep asking 'are we going tomorrow?' & it's another month away, make a calendar (like an advent calendar where you can count down the days). My little girl loved this and it really helped her to see what was happening before we went and how many more days etc.
The goodbyes were hard to say the least. The hardest part was hearing my little girl sob when she cuddled nanny goodbye.
On Our Way
We flew from Heathrow - Singapore - Perth with Singapore Airlines. We were only entitled to 20kg each because we have temp 457 visas. I tried to get SA to increase the limit when we booked the flights but they only agreed to go upto 25kg each, a total of 75kg. We were way over & getting worried in the queue to checking in
We had 4 suitcases, a total weight of 120kg!! They said nothing. The only thing they did say was that one case was 33kg, 1kg over the max weight for 1 piece of luggage so we had to take a few items out & move them to a lighter case. We did not get charged for excess baggage.
SA were great to fly with, no problems. I was dreading flying for that long with our DD but she slept for most part of the 1st flight (12 hrs) It was a night flight so this helped, then we kept her active whilst at Singapore for 6 hrs and she slept for 2 hours of the last flight (5 hrs). The time she was awake she watched a film, played with some sticker books & toys & was no problem.
We had nothing to declare on arrival so we got through quite quickly.
1st week in Perth
We are renting a fully furnished house in Warnbro/Port Kennedy at the moment, for 4 weeks. We'd never been to Perth before so we thought we'd just get a short term furnished rental whilst waiting for our stuff to arrive & go exploring to see where we'd like to rent long term.
When back in the UK, doing our research as you do, we really liked the sound of Rockingham & surrounding suburbs (SOR). Unfortunately it hasn't lived upto our expectations, whereas NOR has. We went for a drive around Marmion, Sorrento, Padbury, Duncraig & surrounding suburbs & just loved it. Yes it is alot more expensive but then once the train is completed south I'm sure prices will soar.
Around here there seems to be alot of graffiti, shopping trolleys left lying around, broken glass & cans on local parks. It's such a shame. I don't mean to offend anyone, don't get me wrong some parts SOR are very nice but not for us. Saying that we've had a fantastic day on Rockingham beach today! You really don't know until you're here. Not everyone is looking for the same thing & you just get a feel for a place. All I can advise is if you've never been and you're not sure where you'd like to settle, stay somewhere quite central initially. It is costing us a fortune travelling north everyday to view rentals! We are still using hire car, allowance is 100km a day, after this its 20c a km & we're way over!
We've looked at a few cars & are hoping to buy tomorrow.
As far as viewing rentals, it's been a nightmare
They do it very differently here. You phone EA to ask to view a property you've seen advertised, you then have to wait until they arrange an open viewing. They take your no. but DON'T call you back
We missed out on one I really liked. Called Mon, said they'd call back when they had arranged a viewing date. Heard nothing, called again Wed, said viewing was yesterday & they'd already taken 3 applications
Because there are so many Brits arriving at the mo there are just not enough 'decent' rentals to go around, each viewing is getting roughly 3 or more applications & people are offering more $ per week than is being asked & offering months rent in advance. This is putting alot of pressure on us at the moment, worrying we're not going to get something decent soon. Our stuff has arrived, & they want an address to deliver it to!
Anyway abit of moaning there but we do love it here & are looking forward to starting our new life.
Good luck to everyone waiting for visas/house sales etc!
Leigh
Feb 11th 2007, 3:53 pm
#2
Happy migrant
Joined: Oct 2006
Location: Newcastle , NSW
Posts: 6,756
Re: We made it!!
Great post Leigh. Keep us updated especially on the rental situation.
Feb 11th 2007, 5:05 pm
#3
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2006
Location: Gold Coast
Posts: 25,277
Re: We made it!!
I love reading these update posts, great to hear how you're getting on 
keep us posted in the future!
Feb 11th 2007, 5:35 pm
#4
visa holder
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Thornlands, Bayside
Posts: 1,964
Re: We made it!!
Great post, hope you get something sorted soon. Good luck with car buying too.
Joex
Joex
Feb 11th 2007, 7:52 pm
#5
Account Closed
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,693
Re: We made it!!
Well after all the ups and downs of thinking we would never get here, here we are, in Perth at last! Arrived 1st Feb.
Haven't posted for awhile because we had no access to the internet for a month before leaving the UK, so here's our update!
Before we left
We never sold our house in the end, got a tenant who wanted to move in after new year so we stayed at my moms for 4 weeks before leaving.
We weren't going to have a leaving party but as time grew nearer there wasn't enough time to have a night out with everyone separately so we ended up organising a party at very short notice. So glad we did, it was a great night.
For those with little ones who keep asking 'are we going tomorrow?' & it's another month away, make a calendar (like an advent calendar where you can count down the days). My little girl loved this and it really helped her to see what was happening before we went and how many more days etc.
The goodbyes were hard to say the least. The hardest part was hearing my little girl sob when she cuddled nanny goodbye.
On Our Way
We flew from Heathrow - Singapore - Perth with Singapore Airlines. We were only entitled to 20kg each because we have temp 457 visas. I tried to get SA to increase the limit when we booked the flights but they only agreed to go upto 25kg each, a total of 75kg. We were way over & getting worried in the queue to checking in
We had 4 suitcases, a total weight of 120kg!! They said nothing. The only thing they did say was that one case was 33kg, 1kg over the max weight for 1 piece of luggage so we had to take a few items out & move them to a lighter case. We did not get charged for excess baggage.
SA were great to fly with, no problems. I was dreading flying for that long with our DD but she slept for most part of the 1st flight (12 hrs) It was a night flight so this helped, then we kept her active whilst at Singapore for 6 hrs and she slept for 2 hours of the last flight (5 hrs). The time she was awake she watched a film, played with some sticker books & toys & was no problem.
We had nothing to declare on arrival so we got through quite quickly.
1st week in Perth
We are renting a fully furnished house in Warnbro/Port Kennedy at the moment, for 4 weeks. We'd never been to Perth before so we thought we'd just get a short term furnished rental whilst waiting for our stuff to arrive & go exploring to see where we'd like to rent long term.
When back in the UK, doing our research as you do, we really liked the sound of Rockingham & surrounding suburbs (SOR). Unfortunately it hasn't lived upto our expectations, whereas NOR has. We went for a drive around Marmion, Sorrento, Padbury, Duncraig & surrounding suburbs & just loved it. Yes it is alot more expensive but then once the train is completed south I'm sure prices will soar.
Around here there seems to be alot of graffiti, shopping trolleys left lying around, broken glass & cans on local parks. It's such a shame. I don't mean to offend anyone, don't get me wrong some parts SOR are very nice but not for us. Saying that we've had a fantastic day on Rockingham beach today! You really don't know until you're here. Not everyone is looking for the same thing & you just get a feel for a place. All I can advise is if you've never been and you're not sure where you'd like to settle, stay somewhere quite central initially. It is costing us a fortune travelling north everyday to view rentals! We are still using hire car, allowance is 100km a day, after this its 20c a km & we're way over!
We've looked at a few cars & are hoping to buy tomorrow.
As far as viewing rentals, it's been a nightmare
They do it very differently here. You phone EA to ask to view a property you've seen advertised, you then have to wait until they arrange an open viewing. They take your no. but DON'T call you back
We missed out on one I really liked. Called Mon, said they'd call back when they had arranged a viewing date. Heard nothing, called again Wed, said viewing was yesterday & they'd already taken 3 applications
Because there are so many Brits arriving at the mo there are just not enough 'decent' rentals to go around, each viewing is getting roughly 3 or more applications & people are offering more $ per week than is being asked & offering months rent in advance. This is putting alot of pressure on us at the moment, worrying we're not going to get something decent soon. Our stuff has arrived, & they want an address to deliver it to!
Anyway abit of moaning there but we do love it here & are looking forward to starting our new life.
Good luck to everyone waiting for visas/house sales etc!
Leigh
Haven't posted for awhile because we had no access to the internet for a month before leaving the UK, so here's our update!
Before we left
We never sold our house in the end, got a tenant who wanted to move in after new year so we stayed at my moms for 4 weeks before leaving.
We weren't going to have a leaving party but as time grew nearer there wasn't enough time to have a night out with everyone separately so we ended up organising a party at very short notice. So glad we did, it was a great night.
For those with little ones who keep asking 'are we going tomorrow?' & it's another month away, make a calendar (like an advent calendar where you can count down the days). My little girl loved this and it really helped her to see what was happening before we went and how many more days etc.
The goodbyes were hard to say the least. The hardest part was hearing my little girl sob when she cuddled nanny goodbye.
On Our Way
We flew from Heathrow - Singapore - Perth with Singapore Airlines. We were only entitled to 20kg each because we have temp 457 visas. I tried to get SA to increase the limit when we booked the flights but they only agreed to go upto 25kg each, a total of 75kg. We were way over & getting worried in the queue to checking in
We had 4 suitcases, a total weight of 120kg!! They said nothing. The only thing they did say was that one case was 33kg, 1kg over the max weight for 1 piece of luggage so we had to take a few items out & move them to a lighter case. We did not get charged for excess baggage.
SA were great to fly with, no problems. I was dreading flying for that long with our DD but she slept for most part of the 1st flight (12 hrs) It was a night flight so this helped, then we kept her active whilst at Singapore for 6 hrs and she slept for 2 hours of the last flight (5 hrs). The time she was awake she watched a film, played with some sticker books & toys & was no problem.
We had nothing to declare on arrival so we got through quite quickly.
1st week in Perth
We are renting a fully furnished house in Warnbro/Port Kennedy at the moment, for 4 weeks. We'd never been to Perth before so we thought we'd just get a short term furnished rental whilst waiting for our stuff to arrive & go exploring to see where we'd like to rent long term.
When back in the UK, doing our research as you do, we really liked the sound of Rockingham & surrounding suburbs (SOR). Unfortunately it hasn't lived upto our expectations, whereas NOR has. We went for a drive around Marmion, Sorrento, Padbury, Duncraig & surrounding suburbs & just loved it. Yes it is alot more expensive but then once the train is completed south I'm sure prices will soar.
Around here there seems to be alot of graffiti, shopping trolleys left lying around, broken glass & cans on local parks. It's such a shame. I don't mean to offend anyone, don't get me wrong some parts SOR are very nice but not for us. Saying that we've had a fantastic day on Rockingham beach today! You really don't know until you're here. Not everyone is looking for the same thing & you just get a feel for a place. All I can advise is if you've never been and you're not sure where you'd like to settle, stay somewhere quite central initially. It is costing us a fortune travelling north everyday to view rentals! We are still using hire car, allowance is 100km a day, after this its 20c a km & we're way over!
We've looked at a few cars & are hoping to buy tomorrow.
As far as viewing rentals, it's been a nightmare
They do it very differently here. You phone EA to ask to view a property you've seen advertised, you then have to wait until they arrange an open viewing. They take your no. but DON'T call you back
We missed out on one I really liked. Called Mon, said they'd call back when they had arranged a viewing date. Heard nothing, called again Wed, said viewing was yesterday & they'd already taken 3 applications
Because there are so many Brits arriving at the mo there are just not enough 'decent' rentals to go around, each viewing is getting roughly 3 or more applications & people are offering more $ per week than is being asked & offering months rent in advance. This is putting alot of pressure on us at the moment, worrying we're not going to get something decent soon. Our stuff has arrived, & they want an address to deliver it to!
Anyway abit of moaning there but we do love it here & are looking forward to starting our new life.
Good luck to everyone waiting for visas/house sales etc!
Leigh
Dave
Feb 12th 2007, 6:37 am
#6
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Ellenbrook WA
Posts: 809
Re: We made it!!
Hi, fantastic post. We too are hoping to be arriving in Perth within the next two months (if the visa ever arrives!!) We are planning on doing the same as yourselves, getting a holiday rental while we look for a longer term rental. It is looking a bit of a nightmare finding a rental. We are also looking at the areas you are looking at too. When we were there 3 years ago we loved the northern subs more so than the southern subs, however we loved Freemantle. Good luck with finding a rental and I am sure life will start to settle for you when you get into something longer term.
All the best,
Nicky x
All the best,
Nicky x
