jopaulss

Well we see everything still the same on here. Havent been on now since we left the UK in september i think , have had a peep every now and then.
Have met alot of you guys who are out here and we have some really great friends and i we have to say , you really need your friends here. I am not going to moan moan moan , but hey its not a bed of roses out here. There really are some serious issues here and i think that you sometimes still need to remind yourselves of that. We are renting in Hillays , oh yes as i have read peoples posts on here, such a lovely place to live. Well yes it is most of the time like everywhere else , we have nights and nights of jerks speeding around in cars it can be very un nerving at times . We had our car smashed into outside the house in the first month!!! Good old hillarys hey . We have just had a child molester caught who has been prowling whitfords shopping centre since january caught , he was actually touching 6 and 9 yr old children in the toy department of big ws . Most of the time we are happy with our life here , we came very open minded , grass is not greener on the other side !!! but we where a little shocked i have to say and a little disapointed at times . We do miss home and people , you realize what you had when its gone , some of do anyway . Once you arrive and you get out of holiday mode it will sink in . In hillarys since xmas we have had two murders reckless no motives for either , very frightning at times. My son came across syringes on the floor in padbury , grub its not a bed of roses anywhere i have to say, he stays at his mates in padbury and he comes home and tells us about all the cars doing the burn outs at night , we all have it , padbury , hillarys , sorrento , kallaroo everywhere. We will plod on , but our daughter was exposed to something here in our first month in hillarys , and i have to say my expectations of perth hit the bottom , she is 10 , and this should not happen here or anywhere.Just come with an open mind , enjoy and we hope you all have perhaps better luck than we have had.
Joanne xxxxxx

andie

hope it all works out for you, lots of luck.

HowardB

Thanks for the info. We were looking at Hillarys, might have to change our views.

yvsie

Hi Jo,

Have you now got a computer or are you still using the internet cafe????

speak soon
ttfn

dotty

I dont think changing to any particular area is going to make a great deal of difference. Joanne is simply stating the realistic picture of OZ, probably similar in most suburbs, wealthy ones too, except in them you are even more likely to be robbed.

Joannes comments seem to be based as she says "after the holiday period has worn off". '

Enormous fun, when out spending the newly converted pounds car salesmen and realestate agents sucking up to you cause your throwing the money about, and the beach as exciting as if youve just hit Benidorm. Thats the holiday bit, she is speaking when the newness wears off.

I admire her for saying it, lets face it its not what people want to hear. If she had written a lot of crock about beaches sun paradise she would have got 20 replies by now.

Good luck Joanne and your family.

jopaulss

PLEASE DONT BE PUT OFF IN COMING TO HILLARYS , DONT CHANGE YOUR PLANS . IT IS ONE OF THE NICER SUBURBS , IT WAS JUST TO LET PEOPLE KNOW THAT YES ALL THE BAD STUFF CAN HAPPEN IN A GOOD AREA TO. THANKS FOR YOUR REPLYS , YVSIE , SORRY NO STILL NOT BACK ON LINE , STILL IN THE INTERNET CAFES !!!!!!!! THANKS DOTTY FOR YOUR WORDS SPOT ON AND EVERYONE ELSE CHINS UP EH !!!! JOANNE

footie chick

Thanks for your honesty. Hope it all works out for you and the family.

footie chick

Jacqui

We met up with Jo and her family a few weeks back for a bbq, lovely people, as were the other Poms we met up with from here. If any of you are thinking about meeting up with each other from this board sometime in the future once you make it over here, go ahead and make the effort - it's a good idea to meet up with others in the same boat, who understand just how much you miss certain things, and find other things peculiar!

Like Jo, we picked this particular part of Mandurah because it's one of the more expensive, well-respected areas. We also get the idiots driving around late at night leaving their skid marks in the nearby car park. Last week a woman using the toilets at the foreshore pricked her finger on discarded needles and now has to wait three months for the HIV results. The family that rents the house opposite us allows their Rottweiler to roam loose which is worrying for my kids, it also leaves its mark regularly on our front lawn. One of the first jobs we arranged when we bought this house was to have a security alarm installed, there are just too many break-ins reported each week. Two weeks ago my 8 year-old son was rather upset when I picked him up from school. In art class, an older boy had forcibly held his arm down on the table while another boy stabbed him in the hand with a very sharp pencil. My son screamed in pain and had to be comforted by the teacher. The two boys were sent to the principal and had to write lines. If we live in the "nice" area of Mandurah, I'd hate to think what's it's like for those living in the "rough" areas!

Ok, it's not paradise, and we didn't expect it to be, but we are enjoying living here all the same. Now that we've been here eight months the holiday phase has well and truly passed, and most days are pretty routine and boring to be honest - you know some things never change wherever you live, hubby works long hours, the kids have to be taken to school and clubs afterwards, and there is just us much housework as ever! But at least the weather is good most of the time (not counting the massive thunderstorms and deluge of rain last weekend!) We have no regrets and are glad we made the move. The first few months are definitely the hardest, but stick with it, and it won't be long before it feels like you've been here forever!

joebloggs

Rough luck for you guys. Hope things work out for you better in the future.

teresa.c

Hi Jopaulss

I think what you are experiencing is no different than if you went anywhere else in the world, and for anyone to think any differently is very naive.
People are people wherever you go and some behave badly, but for every bad there are a few good, so its all swings and roundabouts. Life is life and you have to make it what you can. We are all striving for something 'better', but what we often get is something 'different', and thats what shocks a lot of people.
Its a shame you have had some bad experiences but I hope they dont make you regret your move, and I hope they dont put people off too much.
Take it day by day and enjoy your time!
Take care and have fun!!!

dotty

Jacqui and Joanne take their time to report how they feel 6-12 months after arriving and they barely get a reply??

Wonder how many replies they would have got if they had raved on about big houses, sunny beaches, kids frolicking in the sand.?

I'm just waiting now for someone to call them whinging poms and put them on their ignore list.

Thanks girls I for one admire your honesty.

Ceri

I'm sorry to hear that.
And what you say is true. It's hard explaining yourself sometimes, I've been attacked on this forum for speaking my mind, if I list the bad points, people don't want to know, but if I list the good points - all is well.

People like to hear the good about Aus, when in truth it has heaps of problems like most countries around the world. I have never had my house broken into yet, touch wood, but I've had my car broken into. We also got nearly attacked by an Asian gang down the Gold coast. Long story, but I had to tell my Hubby - "back down" he was having an argument with an Asian guy who threatened to hit him (small guy at that - the Asian) , like I said long story - the Asian picked on hubby, but I do know from personal experience that they never mouth off when alone, they always have back up - I looked around to see a car full of his mates, which hubby never saw - hence I whispered to Hubby "back down - leave it" , and told him after about the car full of his mates.

We have had some murders in our small town here, every week there are break in's and crime - but I never post articles about this, because it looks as if I'm being sour. And as for the guns - ahh scary. I don't know which is worse the "crims" with guns or the police with the guns. You ought to see my local beach toilet - drug bins. And as for going to a rock concert here (actually it was in Newcastle, this concert) syringes on the floor - you had to watch where you sat.

Aus some great points, but it also has some very bad points, most people want to hear the good and none of the bad - too often some people will attack a person for listing , or talking about the bad - but I suppose that's human nature for you.

cheers

NinaU

Thanks all for posting the negative aspects/problems of living in Oz. I'd rather hear these, since it prepares us mentally of things to expect.

Having lived the past couple of years as an Expat in Dubai (love this place, the best time we've had so far) and Singapore before that, we have taken safety (and a lot of other things) for granted. Have to get used to keeping the doors locked, car locked when stepping out to the grocers for a quick buy, etc etc.
Life in Aus is definitely not going to be easy. But having travelled around so much, we thought it was time to grow roots now.

Aus was our choice because some of my husband's immediate family live in Melb and Sydney and we liked the place on our several trips there - but then we were on holiday. I guess reality will begin to hit us when we actually live our daily life there.

Things we need to get used to:

Safety - keep doors and windows of house and cars always locked.

Keep very very close eye on the kids (after hearing the horror stories of those poor kids in California and elsewhere in the US and now Aus) - I am getting very paranoid.

Do all my shopping before 5 p.m.(?)- stores close really early in Aus

No school buses/vans - so drop off and pick up kids from school

Get used to life without domestic help (no cook, maid, nanny). Do everything myself.

........and the list goes on and on.

Nina

bored_bean

Surely the problem is big city living. I've stayed with friends 2 hours from Melbourne who didn't have the lifestyle you mention. If you lived in a similar sized city in Europe would it be any better? There are selfish people everywhere and the more anonymous the society (ie the bigger) the more badly behaved they are. I would argue then, that given Australia's sparse population, that such problems exist in small areas and there are huge areas without these problems.

Fellow human beings, you can't live with 'em, you can't live without 'em!

NinaU

Have never lived in Europe - have lived in NY and intensely disliked it.

Nina