Vegemite Kids

Well, we finally made it to Perth after a frantic 2 weeks back in Scotland saying goodbye to friends and Chris's relatives.

Flight was great, but thats cos we were flying business class (woohoo) courtesy of my ex-company who very nicely paid my relocation costs back to Australia !!!

Been in Perth 3 weeks now and spent 2 of those house hunting. Finally bought a computer yesterday so can get back on line and give you all an first impressions report.

Because we sent the cats down at the same time we went back to scotland it meant we only had 2 weeks to find a house before the cats came out of quarantine. Talk about pressure!!!! We must have been averaging about 5 viewings a day, just driving about constantly. We started with an initial list of suburbs but quickly narrowed it down to one specific suburb we were happy with. One thing we did find a bit strange was that everytime we spoke with an estate agent and mentioned that we didnt have children they seemed to visibly relax and give the impression that it would make finding a house easier. I dont know why that is and when we asked they wouldnt say anything - wierd. Also we found that having the cats did limit our options, but that was 70% from our side, saying because we have the cats we knew we didnt want an apartment, we didnt want a busy road, we didnt want this that and the next thing etc. Many properties say "Pets Negotiable" and what we found they meant by that was cats OK, small dogs probably OK, big dogs not OK. If you have pets you have to pay a $100 petbond up front to cover the costs of fumigation at the end of the rental period. The Australian system of renting a house is very different from other countries we've been in and you cant do anything, and I mean anything, even banging a nail in the wall for a picture hook or for putting up curtain rails without the property owners permission. Some of the properties we viewed for rent were in quite bad condition and we had said in one of our applications that we would be happy to paint and do minor repairs (cos it was potentially a great house), but were rejected because we hadnt been specific enough about what exactly we would do and it was too many special conditions for the owner, which seemed crazy given that the owner would would have got his house improved at no cost to himself. Anyway thats the Australian system (or WA system) and it worked out well cos we ended up with a much nicer house (and good condition) in a much nicer street.

For those needing suburb info here are our impressions of the suburbs we viewed houses in
North of the river
* Mt Lawley - nice but not really easy walking distance to grocers, pubs etc.
* Scarborough - yuech. very disappointing. felt like blackpool without the amusement park. mainly apartments.
* Doubleview - nice but expensive. not possible to walk to grocers etc..
* Cottlesloe - nice but expensive. great beach for visiting though. nightmare in the summer time cos of all the tourists but very nice at this time of year.
* Subiaco - very urban. mainly apartments posible to get great old houses but not very often on the market. Great for nightlife and shopping

South of the river
* Vicoria Park - nice older style houses and good walking distance to shops, restaurants & pubs (& crawling distance back home!) Have to be be very specific about streets though. Some are good and some are bad.
* Bentley - bit dodgy security wise.
* Carlise - bit like Bentley
* Karawara - nice, great for access to golf course. Nothing much on the market during the 2 weeks we were looking.
* Kensington - nice, relatively quiet but still within walking distance to shops and pubs. On a par with Como but not as expensive.
* Como - very nice, but more expensive than Kensington. Easy walking distance to shops etc...

(Hope I havent offended anybody living in any of the suburbs mentioned)

We ended up choosing Kensington as we felt it combined the best of doubleview and como but was better value for money. Plus it has great older federation style houses and is an easy 10 min walk to both shops and pubs an also parks and the river. Also great access onto 3 different Highways/Freeways so good access to all parts of Perth.

So we finally picked up the keys to our house the day before the cats came out of quarantine. I had great plans about going to visit the quarantine station each day, but because of the time constraints we were under we only managed to go 5 times in 2 weeks, but the cats were great, and extremely well looked after. The staff at Byford are tremendous and really look after all the animals very well. Cant praise them enough. I was really worried before the first visit but it took less than 2 mins in Byford to put all my worries to rest. Cats have been out of quarantine for a week now and have settled into their new life so well. They've been exploring the neighbourhood and making friends with all the other cats and neighbours. Our neighbours on both sides have cats as have 2 neighbours across the street, so plenty of new friends for them. The cats have been a great way for us to meet our neighbours. Everybody we've met have been really friedly and helpful.

We bought a small car in the first week and it really has been a godsend. We did rent a car for the first week from Bayswater Rentals. They were great. I know there have been some reports on here that said people have had problems with them but from our experience I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

We"ve sorted out our medicare and Tax File numbers but they will take 3-4 weeks to be fully issued.

Haven't applied for any jobs yet cos we are planning to take a couple of months hols first, but looking in the papers and talking to our neighbours, we should have no problems. One of our neighbours is in the same field as me, and said that I would walk into a job when I decided to go back to work, so fingers crossed he's right and the market doesnt change much in the next few months.

The weather has turned a bit colder in the last few days, and last night felt v.cold, but nothing in comparison to northern Germany in late autumn/early winter. Part of the problem is getting used to not having central heating, but we have a woodfire in the lounge, so that should see us though. Still possible to wear shorts and t-shirt during the daytime.

For those that are like me and very keen on gardening, the soil is VERY sandy and needs lots of soil improver worked in, so start saving your pennies, cos its not cheap, unless you go to somewhere like the perth hills and find a friendly farmer who will sell bags of manure. Found one the other day who is selling bags for $1 each, but he's about 25kms from where we live. Oh well, its still cheaper than the garden centre 2 mins down the road, plus we discovered there is a very nice vineyard not too far from his farm so its always a good excuse to stop there and sample some of the products - not that we need an excuse!

Havent had much time really to do many of the touristy exploring things yet, although we did have a day down in Mandurah which is very nice and a day visiting the Swan Valley Vineyards (yum). Also had a quick whizz around Freemantle and the central shopping area of Perth but really need more time to explore properly. Chris was starting to get twitchy cos he wasnt getting any beach days, so we're hoping the good weather will continue for a few more weeks now we've done all the boring settling in stuff. Our container apparently arrived at fremantle port last saturday and we should have our stuff delivered in about 10 days or so. Will finally feel fully settled in once our stuff is here.

Will post another update later to give some details of how much money we've spent and what things cost. Scared to add up all the invoices at the moment

swissfabs

Mairi&Chris

Thanks for taking the time to tell us your first experiences. I hope your cats have now settled well and I dindn't know you could actually visit your pets in quarantaine!

Can't wait for your next post!!!

ps: it is cold in switzerland too, and it's almost summer!!!!

bundy

Good to hear your news M&C - keep it coming. What's the one thing you wish you'd been told before you made the move?

EEL

Mairi&Chris

thanks for letting us know how you have been getting on. We are off to Perth in September and a little pre-knowledge never goes astray.

Phoenixuk2oz

Mairi&Chris

Good to have you back. You've been missed

Sounds like you're really organised, everything in order and puddy cats are also happy.

Welcome back to the forum ......keep us posted

Phoenixuk2oz

Vegemite Kids

ummmmm..... not sure really. Having made the move, so far, I would say things have been pretty much what we expected, maybe a bit more frantic, but that was our fault for sending the cats down early. Was definately more stressful at the german end of things though, trying to get everything sorted and planned for. I'm a bit of a control freak and need to be organised and in charge and actually doing things, so waiting to make the move was a nightmare for me.


One thing I would probably change if I had to do it again would be to sort out an australian bank account and send some money down to it before the actual move, cos every time I used my German credit card, I get hit with a 2-3% transaction charge. Can work out quite expensive if you do a lot of purchases in the first few weeks.

Certainly based on what we have done so far I would say we were quite well prepared for the move (big thanks to BE for that) and things have gone pretty much to schedule.

Teresa

Mairi&Chris


Good to hear from you both and that all going ok

Thanks for info on suburbs too, they are always a help, will be having a long holiday from work too when we arrive in June

Teresa

Vegemite Kids

Yep, you can visit Monday to Friday between 2pm and 4pm. But the Quarantine station is about 40km from the centre of Perth so you need to allow at least an hours travelling time each way. Speed limit for most of the journey is either 60kph or 80 kph.

I was on holiday in Switzerland last June and can remember snow still being in some of the gullies. In fact one of the roads we wanted to travel on was still closed due to snow

whisky

Nice post.

Whisky

jasper pentop

Great to hear back from you! Congrats on your new house and new life! It must be wonderful to finally get settled and explore you new life!

Larissa

Hiya Mairi and Chris, I was just wondering if you'd got there alright!
Thanks for the detailed post... its so useful to get all this info. Did you rent or buy the house? We will also be sending out our two kitcats, but will try and send them at the last minute.
Take care and enjoy yourselves!
Larissa

vicky o

Hi Mairi and Chris.

Nice to hear you are settling in well. Will be nice to meet up with you if we ever get out there!!

Go Banana's !!

Great info , keep it coming.

We only explored North Perth, so will have alot to do when we get there, house sorted for the initial period (Aunts house) - planning to build. Some indication on availability of land would be most helpful as it is a year ago since we were there.

Glad it seems to be going ok for you, hope that continues

Jill

Simone

Waahhheyyyy!!!

Finallllly!!!!!!!

Welcome back, and what a great post!!
Especially for us, sort of in the same situation(same sort of suburbs, though I think we'll go for cheap, so a unit)
Except, if I get the job I'm applying for at UWA!!!! (you can read about that in another thread I'll put up soon, though been saying that for 3 days)


Glad to hear the cats are ok!
Oh, and yes, we've used Bayswater before, and will use them again.
And how did you get from the airport to accomodation and to the hire car?

btw, our container is coming in 2 weeks already(26th) TIME FLYS!!!!
Then 6 weeks with the parents(in law) :scared:

Great to have you back, looking forward to more posts!

SuperSeagulls

Hi there,

Whata fantastic post.....its great hearing what its like "as it happens" form those a few months/years further down the line.

Great stuff

SS