Nibbs

Better balance me last post.

In no particular order

Sense of space
Although the house we rent is on about 800 sq m we have more living space and better use of the outdoor area than we could ever have afforded in the UK even though both H and I were lucky enough to be paid well above the national avg.

House design (not necessarily build quality)
Initially we were swept away with the house design but now 4 bed 2 bath with multiple living areas is the norm. Watch out for 2 storey designs though. Adding a floor raises the price exponentially and can give you headaches with aircon installation.

Food
IMO the quality of meat in aussies supermarkets is far superior to the UK run of the mill (exceptions maybe Waitrose and certain food halls). If I wanted good quality meat in the UK I'd go to butcher and pay the premium! Obviously seafood is great although it can be quite pricey.

Tip for anyone not used to them. Buy a Webber (or similar) BBQ kettle. The best roasts I've ever had!

Officialdom.
My experience may be a bit limited here. Cars can be transferred and registered in your local shire office (equivalent to a county council). Theory test for driving licence can also be done there. Equivalent of tax discs and change of address (licence car reg everything) can be done over the net. Tax file number done over the net (takes about 2 weeks). You can even walk into your local nick and get a free copy of the road rules.

Places to go.
It ain't all about theme parks. From where we are (about 20 mins west of Perth for the cartographically challenged Mr Stanton) we can go to Hillary's for Ice cream, Fremantle for fish and chips (or anything else you fancy), the hills for a pint or two, Kings park for a picnic, beaches for a swim (N Cottesloe seems a bit dodgy at the mo) or Whiteman park for the animals. Further a field we have Margaret river for caves and surf and a whole host of other stop offs all down the west coast. Probably go up north when the small person is a bit older.

Knowledgeable sales staff.
When I first got here, the staff pouncing as soon as I walked in a store really got on my nerves. After a while I found that most (definitely not all!) were knowledgable that were quite happy to give info and then let you wander around. This does NOT apply to car dealers!!


People
Couldn't have been more helpful round here. On the flip side I've found people are not in your face either. (see previous note about car dealers!!)

Driving
Love it, easy, unfussed, predictable progress. Traffic jams exist but probably won't even register if you are used to London or Oxford for example. Some people say there is really bad driving here but to me they're pussycats. The exception was a guy driving a heavy combination yesterday and I didn't argue with him.

Free stuff
It could just be the season for it but we've been to a few freebie festivals recently plus there's a kids one at Freo next weekend.

Weather
Deliberately left this until last. This is a dry and hot state. Very hot. Understand that and you'll be right. You wouldn't live in the UK without heating so why live here without at least ceiling fans if not a/c. OK you need heating here as well, how about reverse cycle? Personally up to around 36 I'm OK after that I melt! It was 44 today. To me it's like a UK summer with rainy days. It happens.

All in all, I couldn't be happier. Miss curry's and that's about it.

Vegemite Kids

Just want to ask a quick question here.

When you say you miss curry is that because
- you cant get curry at all (I thought Perth had quite a few Indian restaurants)
- you can get curry but its not very good
- you can get curry but its really expensive


To be honest this was one of the things I was really looking forward to doing in our first few weeks in Perth - shallow arent I , but we currently have a 300km round trip to get to our nearest curry house, actually make that our nearest GOOD curry house. We do have one thats closer, only a 90km round trip, but the food is crap, very germanised and not spicy at all.

Larissa

Thanks for such an informative post... you've got all us wanabee Perthites positively salivating now!

Nibbs

Hi guys, (Not sure which one)

It depends on the sort of curry your used to.

I'm hooked on the english variety which I realise bears little relation to the food served in India.

There are quite a few indian places in Perth but from what I've heard they wouldn't be what a Pom was used to.

I find the food to be overly mild and in the same brown sauce no matter what you order.

We though we'd found a good one (by WA standards) last week until the missus saw the cockroach. :scared:

I told her he was there first but she just didn't want to share!

More new places seem to be cropping up all the time so who knows.

If someone knows better then please help us out!

*edit* BTW the thai food is excellent here!

steve & dee

I read somewhere about an indian resturant called the Red Turban ( i think thats the name), it sounded pretty good. We will be in Perth on 17th of July, so we hope to check it out ourselves then... Dee

Nibbs

Well you gotta let us all know. Hmm might start a curry house review thread.

BTW interesting that the "10 things I hate" thread has currently 50 less viewings than this one Hope we're not all dreaming out there

mandandbri

I've been to a few curry houses around Hillary's and Mindarie. If you avoid the buffet that they offer then the food is generally not too bad.

However, they do not serve poppadoms with a decent pickle tray and nan bread dripping in garlic and fat !!!!!!

I've eaten currys in several places around the world (Bali, Singapore, USA, Malaysia to mention a few) and you just can't beat a British one.

Its all about personal taste I suppose .....the last curry I had in the UK was from ASDA so what do I know?

Simone

See also:
6 months in and 10 things I hate



Oh, and I'm looking forward to curries!
Here, well, you don't get curry houses/restaurants (well, except for a few probably in AMs, Rott'dam, The Hague)

I've only really discovered curry after getting a Jamie Oliver book!

Here in Holland we have a lot of chinese (takeaways/restaurants) and pizzerias(italian kind, not american).
Though, they say most of the chinese is more indonesian food, and very 'dutched' (like your curry's are 'englished'!)

Dreamaway 10

Thanks Nibbs its really interesting to hear what you have to say.
We really want to go to Perth and there seems to be so many critical posts about Perth recently.
Glad to hear that the meat is by far superior to that back in the UK as my husband is a butcher and hopes to get work out here in the same trade.
Also its reasurring that you seem okay with the driving as again I have read al sorts of stuff One in particular that some of the worst driving in the world is in Perth ,personally I would have thought it would be Rome but there you go.
Hope all continues to go well keep us all informed as you have definately helped to brighten my day
Cheers

dugongs

when we were in perth (northbridge) we staggered out of the brass monkey into an indian restaurant which was fantastic. cannot remember the name but it was in northbridge and was long and thing with one room after another packed full of all types of people although a lot of students I seem to recall. It was the best curry experience I had in australia and the food was great.

Nibbs

Yeaaah, I knew I could get this into a curry thread

I got blasted once about mentioning curries but I was totally addicted. I used to go to the Diwan-I-Am just off Baker Street for lunch THREE times a week. And Ghandi's in Ispwich is great.

God I miss them.

Dugongs, I beg you, search the deepest recesses of your memory, I need to know!! It wasn't the Maya Masala was it? That's the one where she had to fight the coakroach for the papdams Personally I thought the food was OK but I wouldn't make it a regular (unlike myself after eating there!!).

Dreamaway 10

I just enjoy the meat much more here than I did in the UK. It could be personal taste as I know some don't think it's all that. Ask your husband to explain the concept of the Gammon joint to the Aussiesas they don't seem to have heard of it. In fact a lot of the cuts are different to the UK. Try driving around the Arc De Triomphe (sp?) any time, aged me 10 years!

Simone82

Don't they have the rice tables in Amsters? Lovely place and the only part of Euope I miss.

Mananbri

What's a good curry with the pops and chutneys?? Proper popadams not the DIY supermarket jobs. BTW Bruv was in Singa recently on business and hos contact took him out for a curry....for BREAKFAST!! When John said he wasn't sure the bloke told him "You velly spoilt Englishman"

Simone

I guess... Amsterdam is a big city, so I guess they have everything!
But we live in the east, in the country, in a small city/large town.
And yes, Holland is small, but it's still 1 and a half hours drive

For me, the biggest things that will change are big city- town things. Good points - more choice, more to do. Bad points - more crime, busy, full, traffic ...
We'll see how long we last (before moving back or moving to the southwest)