Jo Cousins

Hi All

Well having been in sunny Perth for just approx 7 months now, thought I would post a bit of feedback on the site, as I found this very useful prior to our arrival here.

Just some things to think of;

JOBS – Do NOT expect to be able to walk straight into a job, and certainly if you have a high flying career in the UK, do not expect that you will be able to establish that same status here, without a lot of hard work and competition. Although I know this will not apply for everyone, for people such as myself (secretaries/admin/PA) just be prewarned that it is not as simple as just walking into an agency and landing a job the next day. I found the attitude a bit negative from some agencies and kind of got the impression that Australian applicants would be looked at first (fair enough I guess) , and was even told by one ‘to take what you are given seeing as are in Australia’!! Charming I am sure! Also be pre warned that Perth is quite small in comparison to places such as London, Leeds etc, and although you are moving here for that, the fact that the high flying jobs are not as readily available may be frustrating for some.

COMMUNICATIONS – As mentioned above, Perth is relatively small in comparison to UK cities, and along with this goes the hand in hand fact that a lot of people know a lot of people!! I have only been in 2 jobs here, but already have the impression that it is not necessarily always what u know but who you know..could be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on how you look at it!

FRIENDS – A lot of people on this forum, seem to have mentioned how easy it is to make friends…perhaps we are just looking in the wrong places if that is the case!! Altho the Ozzies are generally on the whole very friendly, we have not as yet encountered any invites for barbies, or parties!! However..no doubt this will come with time…

PETS – for all those with pets who are considering or are actually bringing them over with you, just to let u know that we brought our 3 moggies with us. They arrived all fit and well and have fit into the Ozzie lifestyle relatively quickly – although I guess sleeping, eating and sleeping is the same the world over!! It is true however that Ozzies are not the greatest fans of cats so remember to try to keep them in at night and get them tagged and collared and away from trouble as much as possible!

DRIVING – please be prewarned that Perth drivers are ALL lunatics. A little while ago I read a posting on the site about a couple who had visited Perth and were saying about the roads and freeways being so great to drive on and the drivers being so courteous...all I can say is that they obviously were not around in rush hour…and in fact were obviously not in Perth at all!! When I first hit the roads out here I was absolutely petrified…there are no gaps in any traffic and u literally take ur life in ur hands when changing lanes!! I have got used to it now, but just thought I would mention it for the fearful of driving!! Not that I am trying to scare you or anything!!

Not much else for now..oh unless of course I forgot to mention the sun (although not at the mo!), the beach, Kings Park, and the great exchange rate coming over from the UK!

DianeOZ

Dont feel bad Jo, I have been here 18 months and have only just received my first invite to a "Crafty Kids" party by an aussie. The aussies all have their own lives and circles of friends and I think it takes a while to break into those groups.

Diane

mlbonner

Hi Jo,

Great post, always good to get some feedback from people who've been here a while, but still moved recent enough to get a good comparison.

Hopefully the summer'll bring lots of barbie invites for you

itsasecret

Hi Jo,

So are you enjoying it, and how does it compare to Bratford?

Jo Cousins

Hi

Thanks for all ur replies and in response to 'its a secret'..yes we are enjoying it altho i would be lying if i said it has been all rosy cos it hasnt. Then again, having said that, we came out here with quite an open mind as to the ups and downs and didnt paint a picture in our heads that it would be perfect and i think that is a good attitude to come out here with.

I dont think we will go back to the UK,....but never say never i guess!

Jo

pompeywill

Hi Jo,
whereabouts are you in Perth?
It may be difficult to get invited to a bonified Aussie barbie but im sure there are a lot of expats in the same boat as you.
When we (eventually) get there you can come round to ours.

NedKelly63

As regard friends and invites, don't wait to be asked. Invite them round to a traditional UK barbeque and no doubt afterwards, you will be flooded with invites from your Australian guests who will be wanting to show you how to do it properly.

warwick road

we have found the people here to be a lot more friendly than some other aussie cities on the east coast, and have made plenty of aussie and english pals here in 8 months.....in the main everyone is more chilled out here than back home

Siren & Brian

You're more than welcome to come round to coffee mornings with us, Jo!
We even have two bonafide aussies in our ladys guild.

Send me a PM... we'll talk


Siren

Siren & Brian

Do you live on Warwick Road? Cos we r in Duncraig

numbers

Hi if anyone has any feedback from life in Perth i would be very grateful. Im an Accountant and my partner is a Nurse. Im fully aware that i wont be on the same level im on here, but its the experience were after. ANy general advice or feedback on Perth would be great. Cheers Tony

renth

Your partner will find work instantly. Perth is a great place to live, especially for families.

The weather is fantastic although chilly and wet for about 3 or 4 months in winter which suprises a lot of newbies.

It's ideal if you are an "outdoors" type. If you like sailing, swimming, surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, SCUBA, snorkelling, camping, fishing, hiking, wildflowers etc... you'll LOVE it here.

I think the biggest challeng we have had was me getting a good job, (which happened quickly) and finding a decent school, which has only just happened after 2 years.

cyclemark

Got to agree with this - although wet is an understatement! Annual rainfall is not too much different from Manchester, except in Perth it all falls in 4 months rather than all year round.

From a British point of view, I reckon that in Perth you could say 3 or 4 months are very hot, 3 or 4 months are very wet and 3 or 4 months are just right.

zerocash

Well.. 60 degrees in the dead of winter is not bad, the problem is that it was 100 degrees all summer. You get nearly 8 months of good weather compared to our 8 days.

If your keen on outside activities its great and if your not.. best not go.

I have been in Perth several times and it still has that great relaxed feeling about it, considering that 20 odd years ago Subiaco's main street had one pub and one cinema, Perth has grown hugely but it is still a cool place to live.

Xgeminix

As one half of the couple who posted recently about driving on our visit to Perth, I was just wondering how you cope with weaving in and out of parked cars all day... getting stuck behind tractors and lorries......... being tailed by drivers with their bumpers an inch away from yours........ drunk drivers who hit you side on..... winding roads non stop for 40 miles........ oh and spending at least 20 minutes driving round and round trying to find a parking space at the shopping centre.