JoandStuV

Hi Everyone,

Hope it's ok to post this here as I couldn't find a specific intro forum.

We (me, my hubby and two cats) are emigrating to Perth this September, fly on the 20th :scared: , we have found this forum pretty late in the day as we are already visa'd up etc. but it is certainly a great place for info. Have been lurking for a few weeks so though it was time to show our faces and hopefully make some friends over in Oz/on their way to Oz!

Things are pretty much set (well as much as they can be)! The cats are booked in with Golden Arrow, am v pleased to see lots of good feedback about the company as I am more stressed about the cats than anything else!!! :scared:

We are going with F&N Shipping Co for the container as they seem very good and gave us a reasonable quote for a 40ft'er. We are now in the process of trying to be realistic about what should/shouldn't come with us! Hubby is a bit of a hoarder and also DJs so has a lot of BIG equipment and several million records!

We are in the process of trying to sort out the shipping permits for car and bike, we want the car to arrive when we do so we have wheels when we get there, waving bye bye to it mid-August is going to make the whole thing seem very real though!

Feeling stressed, excited, scared, insane, happy and lots of other things too!

Look forward to chatting and getting to know some fellow ex-pats! Any tips on what to do when we first arrive gratefully received! So far we know about tax numbers and Medicare, oh and finding house/jobs etc. you know all those little things!!!

Jo & Stu

Paul and Chloe

Hi Jo and Stu

Welcome to the forum! Sounds like you're very well organised, hope everything goes smoothly for you, if there are any specific questions you have about Perth then let Chloe and I know and we will happily do our best to help!

Cheers

Paul

PS If you're shipping you're car it would be worth researching the car insurance for when you are using it in Perth, can give you some numbers if you need them

h2oskineil

Hi Jo & Stu

Firstly.... WELCOME!

We used F&N also. Just a bit of advice, make sure of the route the container has gone. Not a fault of F&N, but it went to Rotterdam for nearly 1 month before heading off around the world taking months to get here!

Have you looked into the cost of shipping the car? Most find it too expensive to bring the car, we left behind an MX5 which broke the wife's heart, but it just wasn't cost effective. Do a search on here about importing cars, there are many threads.

What jobs are you looking for? If can you be more specific, there should be plenty of ideas flowing your way.

One bit of advice I'd offer, buy a Sat Nav before you leave, you can get the Aussie maps easily (I can send you a copy) it will save you loads of time finding your way around (my wife loves it!). Having said that though, it is easy to find your way about and driving is easy, just watch out for speed traps which they hide in the bushes!

Good luck and just shout if you think I can offer any help.
Regards
Neil.

JoandStuV

Thanks v much for the replies guys

Our car is a 4x4 Ford Maverick (think its called something else in Oz) after looking into it we decided that although it is expensive to bring it over, we would loose money selling it here and would have to shell out for a replacement in Oz anyway. F&N are putting the bike (a honda goldwing - should probably sell it but hubby can't bear to part with it!) in the container and they are shipping the car separately, at a cost of about £1,300. I am sure we will be hammered for extra costs once it arrives but we're going in with our eyes open! (I think)!

Paul - insurance contact details would be handy thanks, and if you know the correct procedure for registering it in Oz that would be great too. I seem to remember reading that some people have had problems with the order things have to be done? We're still looking into the finer details but will do a search for threads on here.

Neil - good advice re the sat nav, hubby will be glad of an excuse to buy another gadget!

Stu is a senior IT Manager, currently contracting here in the UK so he'll be looking for something IT based. I just do general office finance/admin so am hoping there will be a few options in Perth. We're not stressing too much about the job side as we want to have a couple of months break if possible! Although the reality of not having a wage coming in may change our minds on that front!

Thanks again for the advice, much appreciated.

TeresaG

It sounds like you are really organised.

Good luck with the move and I hope you settle in quickly.

noonard

Hey guys, good luck with it all, sounds like you've got it all sorted! See you in Perth - maybe we can arrange a meet up for fellow vinyl-nerds

JoandStuV

Hi all, Stu here, I think the ford is called an Escape over there, also the mazda Tribute, (same car but with a different badge on the front.)
We got a pretty good deal on it as everyone was buying up the baby landrovers, but still we have experienced over 50% depreciation in 2 years, so selling it again would be heartbreaking, and the equivalent car on red book (aus) is $20k - $24k, so even if we get done $6k in tax and duty we will be ok. Plus we know its a straight low mileage car with an honest history.... Just a bit worried about insurance....

As for my Goldwing.... he he he.... how much is too much to cruise up the coast, music playing, wind in your ears, sun on your back? Plus I don't see many GL1800's for sale in Perth, and it is cool to be a bit different

PS, I'm a house DJ in my spare time, how is the music scene over there? Are you all sick of Rock yet?!!!

I'll be looking for venues that let me do sneaky dance nights -Jo is the queen of Pop, so I do get coerced into playing loads of house bootlegs of current pop anthems (Grrrr ) , anyone out there interested / know of any dance collectives about? Also is there a festival scene over there, I can't believe that with all that sunshine and space, no-one has thought to start up "Glastonbury - down - under"!!!

37 working days left to liftoff starting to get excited now!!


Stu

JoandStuV

(I also do a meeeeean dub session the morning after the night before, you have been warned!!)

ub40fan

Hi Jo

Just to say welcome, we are also hoping to head to Perth in September, if ever we can sell the house that is!!!!

My OH Steve is in IT too, he's a senior IT Security Consultant.

Whereabouts are you hoping to settle? Why Perth (out of interest) and not the other side where there appears to be more IT stuff?

For us it's Perth as that is where Steve's sister is, and one of the reasons we are moving downunder!

Shirley

suzy

Hi there

We are hoping to go to Perth as well - sometime in the next year

What sort of dance nights are you planning and if you are looking for a soulmate to start up a Glastonbury Clippies (Kath) is well into that sort of music scene. She's heading for Perth as well.

suzy xxx

noonard

Hahaha - that's sure to be controversial! Still, look at Pendulum - they're from Perth, and they may well rock, but they ain't rock...

I've already been emailing DJ stores in Oz to find out how much I'll need to stump up for a new pair of Vestax 2300s

That's not strictly true - I've thought of it, because I'm really going to miss the UK festival season! I reckon Rottnest Island would be perfect... but I have a feeling they wouldn't go for the idea! Still, we're using Big Chill as our leaving party, so I still have one to look forward to!

I'm also an IT contractor so we'll have to let each other know how we get on. It's true what someone else said about there being much more work over east, but I guess I'll have to just see what happens. I'd sooner not go back to permanent if I don't have to... but who knows.

Anyway, all the best with it all, let us know how you get on!

Cheers,
Ed

JoandStuV

Hi Shirley - Stu again (loitering I'm afraid!)

We had a long honeymoon around Oz and originally thought it would be Sidney or melbourne, Sidney fro friends, melbourne for culture etc.

When we got there Sidney was just like any other metro City we had been to (I grew up in Southern Africa, and we are pretty well travelled generally), so we were a bit disappointed. We then hit Cairns for a week just for the honeymoon thing, wicked place to holiday, but waaaay to hot to live and work!!!!! so off we toddled to Melbourne.

Hmm, this one is tricky, because its such a well loved city, but we just didn't get on with it, didn't help that we had no wheels, money was tight by then and it kinda reminded us of Camden, but without the cool, if you know what I mean. any way by the time we left there the immigration plans were pretty much on ice, we only stopped off in Perth as our ticket was a 6 stop deal, (we did singapore both ways as well), and bam, little old perth blew us away.

I felt at home there straight away, it definitely has the same vibe as say Capt town, or Harare a decade ago, very laid back, friendly, a really good live work balance (Sidney seems hell bent on achieving full rat race status!)

Jo also loved it, so we pretty much made the decision then and there, we have been back a couple of times in the last few years while we extracated ourselves from the UK mire, and now, finally, are off!

Good luck in your house sale, the UK market is so unpredictable! We had a big house in Luton (great house, not so good location) and it took a year to out (and 3 price reductions ), but then a guy I worked with applied 2 months ago, got express approval as his partner is an A&E Nurse, has sold up and is gone already... Whoooosh!!!


Laters


Stu


(PS, who's the UB40 fan!!?)

JoandStuV

Wow, looks like we already have a collective here!!!

I play what I am asked to really, I'm a bit of a bootleg diva for obvious reasons, although when left to my own devices i'll go trrippy trance, react, Bonsai, Platypus etc, and I tend to hop in and out of four four, big beat, breaks and the like, more because I like putting reggae breakdowns in the mix, and they are normally much better in breaks or D&B mixes than house ones, though not always.

Growing up in Zim gave me a major reggae and Dub connection, and also really love chill and down tempo, all depends on the mood, and I am a closet Pink Floyd collector as well......

There really isn't much music out there I don't like, I can take or leave the gangsta rap stuff, especially the sexist and generally agressive tracks, I do like Eminems humour tho, I guess when you DJ you lose the ability to generalise based on Genre, I mean, how many different types of house are there these days?

I agree with Ed's comments, however i'll take it one step further, I don't want to go perm if I don't have to, and i don't really want to do IT if I don't have to either.

Selling Vodka jellies on the beach sounds like a good career move, anyone up to man the suncream application arm of the business?!!!

S

ub40fan

Me I'm afraid, Steve is more into madness, and he doesn't come on here. This is my liitle world

Paul and Chloe

Hi again...

I will dig out the contact details for the isnurance broker we use when I get home this evening and PM them to you. I also work as an IT Manager, currently for a financial services company in Perth, if you need any help/advice with IT roles here then let me know as I have got some good contacts in the agencies and consultancies here.

Cheers

Paul