cakeychef

hi all,
we arrived in perth on saturday from bristol, living in mt,Lawley until 6th jan. feeling a little dazed as to where to live.
first we went to Butler & thought not much there, Mandurah seemed like an old town trying to tidy itself up. Secret harbour seemed nice even though it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere once you drove out of the estate.

today we are going to Joondalup, ocean reef area. what are your opinions of these areas. we want a nice house but with some garden not just a patch of grass with a corrigated wall to next to the house!

we are looking at around $500,000 give or take a bit (hopefully take quite a bit) & what the f*** is the stamp duty about $27000 i was quoted on 1 property! i also found out you dont pat stamp duty on new build properties, found a nice showroom yesterday in secret harbour for £225000, was very impressed. except i felt i dont want to live in a sandpit until all plots sold, also more importantly i want the feel of a community - any suggestions?

does any one know of a soap powder that works well & actually makes suds?

also,does anyone know of any pastry chef jobs- not many in the paper yesterday, and what do people do on xmas day - any nice family restaurants around that have good xmas lunch with brits in as feeling a little lost?

any meet ups in perth area coming up?

thanks

simon. julia, lewis & chelsie

Jacqui

There's an award-winning bakery here that always needs skilled people and I know the cake-shift needs a supervisor, but it's in Mandurah. They have just opened a shop in Melville too, but all the bread/cake/pastry is made here at their new bakehouse. Anyway it's called the Miami Bakehouse, I can PM you with further info if you want.

It will be our 5th Xmas here this year and once again it will be a quiet one, too quiet really. Getting together with family in the UK was stressful at times, but you miss it too. And because it will always be hot, somehow it will never feel right. If we wander down to the beach or Mandurah foreshore over Christmas or New Year, there are always huge family gatherings dotted about enjoying their picnics and bbq's. I'm looking forward to when my kids grow up and have their own kids, so we can have big family gatherings again!

lindseyden

"Mandurah seemed like an old town trying to tidy itself up."

Is this a bad thing? Mandurah is a beautiful town with lots of character trying to improve itself for the better for it's community. I've been here 2 years now and absolutely love it and have seen great improvements in that short time. I'm so looking forward to what Mandurah is going to be in the future and are glad we have such a forward thinking shire.

All the best with where you decide to stay.

Lindsey

northernbird

the poms in perth crew are having a get together between christmas and new year www.pomsinperth.com. Its in the discussion forum under socialising.

iPom

What's the threshold for stamp duty? Offer under that and don't pay any... or pay a bit in cash....

moneypenny20

I'm no expert - got better things to do , but soap powder is soap powder, all made by the same people. Just buy a small box of a different one each time until you come to one you like the smell of.

Sleeping Beauty

...well i havent found that. nothing to do with the smell, its the one that gets out stains that i try to go for. some are slightly better than the others. i am at the moment doing the trial and error bit, but for stain removing. i am however fighting a lost cause i fear .......


......to OP, sorry, went off thread a bit there. cant help you with perth, as in NSW.


sorry, loads of typo errors...must be the gin

moneypenny20

Oh look, whatever. It must be my parallel australia thing. I have no problem getting stuff clean with very little effort.

Santa

$500,000 isn't going to get you much in Ocean Reef, you maybe better looking at somewhere like Edgewater which is older but has good sized blocks. Get your self a copy of the reiwa paper, it list's all the home opens and times.
Didn't you know about Stamp Duty ??? ...... Just wait till you buy a car...lol
Good luck with everything.

Sleeping Beauty

.....no need to be rude..... must be the water in NSW then , or my lack of effort ..... i will courier my washing to you then, should i? then you can do a bit of parallel washing with your stuff. personally, i havent found a washing powder 'that does it for me', but thats me, not you.

with a brother in the uk that works in the labs testing soap powder, i can assure you that it all isnt the same.

iPom

I can wash our stuff in green eco washing stuff because it doesn't get very dirty and that's fine. The kids stuff however, is a diff matter. Currently working my way through un envrionmentally friendly powders to try to find one that will get the stains out. I
ve been doing a lot of on the spot spraying to try to sort it but no joy.

moneypenny20

I wasn't being rude, and I wasn't suggesting you don't make an effort - I wouldn't have a clue if you were clean or dirty I just get fed up to the eyebrows with people saying that the Australians apparently don't want their washing clean. I know you and others haven't actually said that but that's what it comes down to.

I have no problem with my washing - it comes out very clean and my youngest daughter is a mucky darling and I don't do anything major - that's me, not you.

iPom

What are you using Moneypen? I tried Omo matic last time and it's really v annoying to find oil spots on clothes as I'm about to iron them. Then I have to spray the things and rewash. Terrible really.

Ransi

I find Omo Matic to be one of the best around

Ransi

No,you wont pay stamp duty on a new build but you will on the land