rangersman

Hi there, my wife and I are thinking about a factfinding trip to perth in the summer and moving out there in autumn/winter time, has anyone done it and
found it useful, we have been to Sydney and Canberra so we have some sort an idea, but I estimate £3000-3500 it will cost and that is alot in anyones book, your comments are most welcome.

chrisg28

Hi,

We to are looking to go on a fact finding / validation trip although we are going to melbourne, as soon as we are granted our visa's. We to would like share other peoples experiences on such trips.

Do they prove usefull? and are they cost efective?

Thanks

Chris

wallabywannabies

Iya chris,
tracy and i returned from brisbane in January after spending a month.
firstly everybodys perception of oz is different.Ithink you should read through as much ,talk to as many and drive around as much as you possible can.
Our own experience went absolutely fantastic.I think theres still sand in my flip flops.We stayed with my mum so we realy did live australian,and apart from the odd barby were sober as a judge.We found there were lots of things blown out of proportion on our trip.Such as crawlies, if you want to find one you will in just the same place youd find one here.Tracy expected to find armies of 6" taranchullas marching around the bedroom."not a one mate".
Sharks! the gold coast was full of surfers swimmers and bathers all not giving a hoot.At the end of the day its there environment .you pay your money to take your choice.There are however protective shark nets and hooks right the way up the coast and a helicopter check every 15 minites or so.
We found petrol in riverhills 50% cheaper than here ,but only during the week.
This meens theres plenty of big motors knocking around.
As im a joiner work will be very impotant.I can tell you that at every bbq there was someone who new someone that needed something doing,or they new of a friend that was employing right then.I did look for work myself before leaving england via the internet and at all4 interviews was succesfull.
The aussies realy do love a tryer.All in all a beatifull country with some friendly folks who mean it when they say have a good day mate.


steve and tracy.
p.s. kids didnt want to leave and have picked the schools they wish to go.

Perthforme

We did a Hol/ reccie to perth last year and found it very useful for finding out latest prices, job, etc also to make sure that mrs perthforme likes oz ( and she did ) i've been before to live so know i like it.
Also had lots of fun chilling out at monkey mia, perth. and down to the south west area.
If your flush with cash then two trips in such a short time will be fine but not sure i would want to go in their winter but then i love the heat.If you have done oz before and like it you should like perth but it is quieter and more laid back than sydney. Going yourself is the only way to tell if you will like it.

baggie

we (me my wife and 2 daughters)are going on a reccie nxt friday (april 15th)
we havent even applied for visas or done a tra yet so we thought be best to go for a holiday/to see friends/and to see if we like it enough to move to the other side of the world

will tell all when we get back

3000-3500 where you thinking of staying m8 the ritz is that just for 2 of you?

Perthforme

I spent About that in wa last nov in 3 weeks (3 of us )
2k in florida the year b4 that in week & half (just me and a few mates they spent the same !)
2k in Sydney in 4 weeks and that was staying with a mate for free.( just me visiting mates )
Have a great time but take you credit/debit card

wombat42

l agree, one of the greatest misconceptions Poms have of OZ is that it is teeming with dangerous creatures. look at the statistics, No one has been killed by a spider bite since the 1950's , 2 or 3 people are killed by snakes a year, in almost all these case the people tried to either pick up the snake or kill it themseleves as snakes only bite in self-defence, 3 people are killed by sharks, mainly scuba divers deep out at sea and surfers at remote rural
beaches in SA and WA which are known areas for great white sharks, around 5 are killed by crocs and box jellyfish which are only in the far north of the country.
Thats around 10 people a year in total killed by all the dangerous creatues in OZ, out of a population of 20 million ,compare that to 600 people a year drowning, 2,000 people a year in road accidents.

BobbyDazzler

Hey Steve & Tracy

My Missus and I are looking to do exactly what you did apart from the fact we do not have family in Brisbane so have nowhere to stay (yet).

Can you recommend good places to visit particularly areas where we could reasonably expect to be able to settle (we currently live on the North Staffs/South Cheshire Border)

Also, any tips on where and where not to stay would be very useful

We're trying to draw up an intinerary so that we can start to get things booked - flights, accom, car hire etc etc

Thanks for the info

BobbyDazzler

elksa

Hi, We're going on a reccie trip to Gold Coast in June for 3 weeks. We're going to spend around 7 - 8 days with the kids enjoying a holiday and the rest of the stay looking around at different areas, schools, job options, etc...

We're then going to go back in early November permanently.

Hutch

We're going out there for all of December and January (web design work - you can take it anywhere!) with a view to moving out in summer (aus/winter) 2006. We're fortunate in that we have a pretty precise idea about where we want to live, so we plan to actually go and view some houses and stuff. I think it's an essential thing to do and would certainly help you feel less 'lost' when you make the big move.