Jacko1

Hi Folks,

At last we are in our own house and have just had Broadband connected and its up and running.

So here it is, what we have been up to for the last few weeks;

We left UK on the 21 of October and had a one week stopover in Singapore, Sentosa Raj hotel brilliant for a chill out and great for the kids.

On leaving Singapore first obstacle, although three of us had migration visa's etc and all had been OK at Heathrow (apart from some weight redistribution, between cases) Singapore Airlines refused to allow excess baggage as our tickets were not "migration tickets" after alot of hoo haa with the local management it was authorised!!

Arrived in Perth 28 October, our meet and greet lady (PM for details) picked us up and took us to our furnished rental.
Rental was absolutely first class, everything was there. Also our meet and greet lady was/is first class.

After a week of nipping around in hire car, we bought a Mitsubishi Nimbus people mover and became more independant. Sorted Medicare, Tax file numbers etc.
We got our oldest son straight into local pre-primary, which he loves, and the school seems very good and very laid back.

Now the original plan was to rent for six months and then buy, however, we struggled to find a rental in a reasonable condition locally. So we had a look at a few properties on the "home open" days, and promptly fell for a very large 4 X 2 in Ellenbrook fairly close to school and shops etc. So we put in offer and lo and behold three weeks later we were moved in!! Settlement will not be sorted for another week but the owners moved out and have rented the property to us until settlement!

Once the offer was accepted we charged around sorting various items of furniture that we have not brought over, major problem two; container held up for two weeks its here in Perth now but we won't have our things until the 23 December (perfect timing LOL)

Bought a second vehicle, lets just call it the beast (very old and tired Pajero)

On the employment front had three interviews and got three jobs!! so picked the closest one for the time being, going in for a couple of days next week prior to starting on the 4th January 2005.

We have been in new house for a week and already it is starting to feel like home, the area we are in is great and the Swan Vally (just down the road) is fantastic, overall it has been a good experiance, although very stressful, and taxing at times.

In hindsight should have rented furnished place for a few weeks more, and perhaps given our container more time to get here, by staying elsewhere, otherwise just the usual stumbling blocks, to numerous to put down and no real way to get over in advance THE VISAS ARE THE EASY BIT!!!.

Might make the Perth meet up tomorrow with a bit of luck

Will add bits as we recall them

Be Lucky

Paul, Helen, Kieran & Connor

ABCDiamond

Sounds like you are doing well, hope everything keeps going the right way for you all.

I quoted the above, as I thought it was worth mentioning that this type of thing can happen quite often, so if people are buying houses, don't be afraid to ask if you can move in early, as tenants, while the sale is going through.

Jacko1

Its a great idea

SunshineGirl

Well done! What is it you do for a living?

hevs

Congratulations!! Ellenbrook is lovely and excellent news on the employment front too.

Just think of your furniture arrival as the best xmas prezzies ever. (we were sat on the floor all over the festive season last year having moved in on the 22nd Dec and the kind people at Pickfords packing up early and not being stuffed to sort our container which had been sat there for 3 weeks )

Hope your happiness continues

Simone

Sounds good, congrats!

Seeyou tomorrow then hopefully!

Jacko1

I work in the Air Conditioning industry, contract management & design. Started out "on the tools" but the local companies are crying out for skilled/qualified managers etc

Good luck

Paul J