I_Will_Freckle

DH is being sponsored as a factory manager. I work in IT but may change and do something completely different once we are there. Australia has been a very long, drawn-out project for us so we have been talking about it for ages. Our wee one is looking forward to it very much - not least because he expects to get all these huge toys when we arrive. For the last year or so whenever he has wanted something big we have told him that he'll get it once we are in Australia. He has quite a list of things now!!

leigh329

so we are not the only ones who have promised stuff to our kids then. Have you found it less stressful because of the sponsored job. i am starting to get really stressed because i cant seem to find that many carpentry jobs on the net and keep thinking it might of been easyier to go through a agent. would be great if when you get there just pass a good job link down to me.

thanks leigh

I_Will_Freckle

I don't think you'll have a problem. Have Pmd you.

midwife-mandy

Hi leigh, lucky you having sold your house, mine has just gone on the market. I was going to rent it out but after going to Perth I thought the best thing for me is to sell my house and try and make a new life in Perth. I live in Clacton on Sea! so very like your town. It is not a good place for teenagers and although i feel guilty saying it, as i grew up there, it is has a number of problems. It does make me feel better having a job to go to but i am sure you will be fine and if you ask on here loads of people with give you advice. I found my job on the internet. I kept searching every day and when i found one i liked the sound of i contacted them. They interviewed me in London and offered me the job at the interview. I have been to see the hospital and was blown away by how nice it is.

Have you seen any jobs online? There is a jobs section on here have you seen it? It took me ages to find all of the different areas on here but now i am addicted.

The house prices seem ok in Perth and i hope there is still some money to be made. I dont want a big mortgage either so i am going to be sensible because as you say you never know what is going to happen. Good luck and keep in touch

leigh329

hi mandy

thanks for getting back i would of pm but only found out how to read them not send them. I know clacton on sea and yes think its a lot like lowestoft. i have not seen the jobs section on here any chance you could send a link or something to help. good to hear you think the house price are ok in perth its always better to hear it from some one rather than just reading it, it must be great to know and seen where you will be working. i have been really lucking at selling my house as it only went on the market a month ago.

thanks and good luck selling

leigh

midwife-mandy

Hi Leigh, for job section go to discussion forum page and scroll down to working abroad section and you will see profession and job section. To pm click on members name on the top left of the page and a drop down bar comes up. Hope this helps

morley_sarah

Perth is far more laid back then Surfers & Brisbane but as it has been said, if your kids have been used to a busy social life it may take them a little while to adjust and settle down.

If you've been a site manager Leigh I can put you in contact with the construction company I used to work for as they are always looking for them

fiogle

Hi all - just thought I would stick my two penneth in for what it's worth. I have just moved to Perth with my hubby and 2 kids - been here for 6 weeks so far - spent the first two weeks on holiday/house hunting/car hunting/furniture hunting in Scarborough and within the first week, found and rented a lovely house in Seville Grove, near Armadale SOR. We had heard before hand that Armadam is a rough place to live and to avoid it - my hubby spoke to a guy in the UK before we left and he lived here for a year and loved it - all I can say - my personal opinion - it is a great place to live.

My experiences of Perth so far, lovely people, friendly, all go out of the way to help out where possible (eg: speaking to a neighbour I met for the first time the other day, explained that me and my eldest daughter are sharing a push bike until our stuff arrives from the UK, so she immediately got hers out of the shed and gave it to me!!! another eg: at the train station going to Perth for the first time, no idea how to use ticket machine, fella comes up to explain it to us, machine doesn't take notes, only coins, I am about a dollar short, said fella gave us the money - ended up spending the whole day with him and his wife and family, went round that same evening for beers, met them many times since and supposed to be having a girlie evening sometime soon with Mrs and friends), my kids are now attending primary school - the staff are fantastic, the teachers are exceptional with the kids, my kids have been accepted very quickly and even though they were educated in Italy (lived there for 3 years), the school has accepted this and accommodates their teaching methods to suit my kids rather than expect my kids to keep up with the rest of the class. High schools - my eldest starts high school next year and again, I have been very impressed with the standard of education and changes that the school are introducing for 2008 - will have to wait and see if this is "just talk" or not, but so far, I have no complaints. Finding a house was easy - went to all estate agents in area one day, drove round and had a look from the outside at the ones I was interested in, phoned for an appointment the next day, went to view the house the following day and got approval for rental 2 days later - house is gorgeous and massive compared to what I am used to!!!! Work - hubby found work before moving out here and we were sponsored for our 457 visa - since arriving here, I have been offered many jobs with hours to suit me (ie: around school hours) - have now decided to try and get back into admin at the local hospital, have e-mailed and received a response telling me that someone will be in touch soon. Can't comment too much on the cost of living - I admit we are finding it expensive at the moment, but we are still finding our way around and need to work out the cheapest supermarket etc, plus, we have had to start from scratch furniture-wise having left everything we owned in Italy (obivously some stuff is being sent over, but all the big items were left) - so we have had to spend quite a bit of money on buying new furniture/beds etc and a new car (which we spent more money on than we intended, but hey, we got a good one in the end!!). Utility bills-wise, we haven't received any yet - but there are re-connection fees on all utilities when you go into a new house - rented or bought).

Perth surrounds are gorgeous - we have been doing quite a bit of sightseeing in the South region - ended up having to buy a new GPS system cos we got lost driving through the bush one weekend, but the road just ended and we had no idea how we had managed to end up in the middle of the bush- great laugh though!!!! The whole area is clean and tidy, there are the odd bits where you will see some grafitti or something, but in general, it is a very clean place. Life is very laidback and if you want a party/go-getting lifestyle, forget it and try somewhere else in Australia - kids seem to be very polite and unthreatening (unlike some gangs of teens in the UK) and yes, it is true that loads of people walk around bare foot - even in the shopping centres!!!! My kids love that idea!!!!

Anyway, I will stop rambling now and I hope that this has given you guys a little insight into what life over here is like, feel free to drop me a line or whatever if you need any more info and I will help where I can - like I say, I am still a newcomer myself but, I will try!!!

TTFN
Fiona

I_Will_Freckle

Interesting post Fiona. We thought Armadale looked OK too when we were there last year.

midwife-mandy

Hi Fiona, I am glad your children have settled so well and you love Perth. It is so good to hear other peoples experiences and it makes me so excited when i think that it will be me soon. Good luck with everything

leigh329

hi there

thanks for letting me know perth is more laid back as that is what we are after i hope. it would be great to get a contact in a construction company if you dont mind.. where abouts are you uk or oz. thanks alot

leigh

midwife2be

Some great inspiring posts, thankyou

We land 7 weeks today and are getting very scared/excited/etc/etc!!! But your posts are reassuring me that what we're doing is right, you dont know till you try eh?!

midwife-mandy

Hi, good luck you are so lucky i wish i had my flights booked. Will you be working as a midwife in Perth?

janandjohn

Well the day is nearly here! I fly out Sunday - hubby landed yesterday in Perth. Its really dawning on me now that we are off on our big adventure. It really hit home on Saturday when we had our leaving party. I know we are doing the right thing it's just so hard saying goodbye to everyone. I have to keep saying to myself keep looking forward not back. It's strange packing everything up in the house - shipping company coming Friday to collect everything - then one last goodbye meal with my friends and off to the airport Sunday
Don't know what I would have done without this site it's been a great friend when I needed it even though I haven't posted much I've found it a great help.
Hope to meet up with some of you at the next King's Park meet up

Janice and John
xx

midwife2be

Hi again

yeah, I start work at king eddies 3 weeks after we arrive on a graduate midwifery program so have a busy few weeks finding rentals/suburbs/schools etc .

We've never been to Perth before so its a bit daunting but after the hassles of the last 12 months I'm sure we'll get by!!! We also arrive the monday before australia day so that will be a nice welcome for us