fitz

hi there,my family and i are moving from scotland to perth next october ,we were in perth last year and had a look around,we've been told mandurah is lovely and thought of maybe setting up there,any info or opinions would be much appreciated,we also thought of port kennedy or secret harbour but didn't get to visit south of perth when we were there,thanks,martin

hannah1

Hi We live in mandurah and love it, wouldnt live any where else
you may like to look at this site

www.mandurahmigrant.com.au

whisky

We live in Mandurah too and like it here very much.

Whisky

melaniee

Nice area, beautiful to loom at but crime hgih (IMO) and commute to Perth a nightmare if you have to do that-would not recommend it!

A bit stuck out on a limb (according to perth people)-we can't even sell our cars as no-one will come down that far!!!!!!!

Florida_03

Why wouldnt you live any where else?

Jacqui

I don't think the crime rate is any higher than for any other parts of WA. All the worst things seem to happen around Perth itself if the tv news is anything to go by! Of course there are the more undesirable suburbs of Mandurah which you would do well to avoid living in, if you do a search on this forum you will find plenty of other posts talking about moving to Mandurah (I know because I've contributed to many of them!) and these will give you further info on the places to avoid etc.

How are you trying to sell your cars? If you put an ad in the West Australian for example then you can't expect to get much interest, it's mostly read by the Perth population. Have you tried an ad in the local paper?

Yes sometimes we do feel like we're stuck out on a limb, and I know my husband has had comments from people at work wondering why he commutes so far. But he's seen for himself on his travels around Perth how busy the place is all the time, it's so much better down here away from all the hustle and bustle. The journey to Perth is an easy run, almost a straight freeway all the way, can be done in less than an hour if you don't go at peak times. The railway will be completed in 2006 and the freeway is being extended all the way down to Bunbury. Mandurah is a rapidly growing city and in our short two years here, we have met loads of Poms who just love it here.

melaniee

As I said, the crime thing was My opinion but all the people we know there are obsessed with crime and burglaries and having a dog to guard the house. I see they have just got that 20 year old mandurah guy that did all those burglaries in the last few weeks-some most people were in when they were burgled. Yuk.

As for saying if you put an ad in the West Australian you won't get much luck-what a stupid thing to say. It is less than one hour away (according to yourself)-how narrow minded are people if they want to buya car? Yes, we have advertised locally and no the cars are not a pile of crap!

The journey to Perth is not an easy run-it had never ever taken me less than an hour but the way they drive here I am not surprised it takes some people that time-think they were on a rally track in and out of the cars all the time! It takes a while before you even get on the freeway.

Mandurah is beautiful but most things are centred around Perth. My work colleagues come to Mandurah for weekend breaks-they think I am mad doing the journey every day-plus it is expensive too!

As for port kennedy, Secret Harbour etc-they are all much the same-concrete jungles with small back yards and no character! But hey people seem happy there so there must be something!

yvsie

I dont normally get involved in discussions like this but I do feel that I should add my cent worth here!

Where did you come from originally Melaniee?...eutopia??
I presume that there was hardly any burglaries or 'concrete jungles' ??.Crime as you know is a problem everywhere ....

Yes I live in Port Kennedy and I really think its lovely. ...yes its a fairly new settlement so only housing and shops to see, little else... but some people choose to live in that kind of area, away from the hustle and bustle.
I have my bad days and good days..ie...my rosy tinted glasses are well and truly off now..although they werent on much anyway. If you come with realistic expectations then hopefully anyone would settle here...depends what happens to you here when you arrive. When things run smoothly everything is tickety boo..when things go wrong its worse than awful!!...

It really depends(for some people) on your age(imo) where the best place may be for someone to settle. We have a 19 yr old with us and yes the night life isnt what he is used to (from uk), but then again at the moment he is not bothered about that. My brother visited (he is 27) and he said he wouldnt want to live here cos its boring! and would want to live nearer the city..more to do there..ie night life etc!

We have friends who arrived in January and left to go back to uk 2 weeks ago..really couldnt settle for more than one reason. They say that they dont regret coming one bit and would rather have tried than not but are happy to be home!

I have been here for 8 months now and can see a much more 2 sided view of the migration process..pros and cons for doing it and not. I too didnt like to hear bad things said about coming because I wanted to find our for myself what its like here. Im glad I have and you really need to 'do' it to know whether its the right ting for you or not.
It took me 15 yrs to pluck up courage to come(2 attempts i chickened out during the process!!!)

good luck to people waitng to come and dont let anyone put you off!!!!...do it!...you can always return ..but its an expensive learnign surve if you dont settle...


rant over..off to work!

melaniee

Blimey love calm down! Hit a nerve I think!

Where I came from there was not much crime -I could not name one friend or relative that has been burlged but here I can name loads of people-it is a fact of life here although people get cross when I say that as they do not wish to know. I am being honest and realistic and can sit here and laugh my head off at all you lot that knock me for it as I know the truth!!

As for the concrete jungles-yes plenty of them but as I said I would not chose to live there.

Glad you are happy here but please don't stress and let the blood pressure get too high-it ain't worth it!

whisky

An hour from Perth straight down freeway.

Perhaps they aren't the cars that people are looking for.

Whisky

whisky

Well said Yvsie

Whisky

melaniee

Perhaps not! Perhaps they just can't be bothered to leave their busy city lives!

melaniee

Jacqui

Yes we've had an alarm system put in and now have two dogs, but we're not obsessed with crime, just being cautious. Oz is no different from the UK in this day and age, you have to accept that you can't go out of your front door and leave it unlocked. Just a sad matter of fact. Some people do seem to leave themselves open to crime around here though. Whenever we get invited to bbqs at different houses, we go politely knocking on the front door (we're so British!) but it's never heard because of course everyone's round the back, so we wander off round the back of the house and let ourselves in through the unlocked door, often unnoticed at first. The burglars must have a field day in bbq season. If I pop over to my neighbour's house for something and she's out the back gardening, I can always get in because she leaves the front door open and the flyscreen shut, but she never locks the flyscreen. I think people really need to take more care with their property nowadays.

I don't think it was that stupid and in no way did I suggest the cars were crap. People living in Perth do think Mandurah is a long way away. Too far to go car-hunting anyway. My friend couldn't sell his car that way either, ended up putting it on his driveway with a poster in the window.

OK, by easy-run I was really comparing it to what hubby used to commute in England. He had an hour's journey there too, but that was winding, single-carriageway roads with much heavier traffic, heaps of roundabouts and traffic lights and awful weather. He regularly travelled down to Berkshire via the M1 and M25 - enough said. Two weeks ago I travelled from south of Mandurah to Lake Monger which is north of Perth, on a Sunday and it took 59 minutes (we just happened to leave at exactly 2pm and noticed we arrived one minute before 3pm). The same journey leaving from the centre of Mandurah a few weeks previously was 5 minutes quicker. I don't speed, I have three little back-seat passengers who are quick to tell me if I go the teeniest bit over the speed limit by mistake! When we go to shows at Burswood it usually takes about 50 minutes to get there. I still think the journey from Mandurah to the freeway and beyond is an easy one, a pretty straight road heading north, the tricky bit is when you hit Perth and have to negotiate your way round.

Hmmm, sounds like you're not too happy here though........but I do agree, we don't like all these new houses with tiny gardens either, thinking of moving to a place on acreage.

melaniee

That's right-that is why we are leaving-yipppeee! So, ok I am biased!!!!!