Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

And how often does it get down to 2-3 degrees at night in Perth?

Once in a blue moon.

So let me get this straight: you built your own house an an area exposed to "howling westerly winds", yet somehow "surrounded by high flats" with "no direct sunlight." Exactly how a house can be simultaneously exposed to wind yet so closely surrounded that it receives no direct sunlight, I am at a loss to say. But even if such a strange arrangement exists, I would have thought that you would have put some thought towards insulation.

Is there any particular reason why you didn't?

Cold bathroom? Get yourself an IXL Tastic fan with heat lamps. (Click here.)

I agree with you that higher building standards should be enforced for the sake of lower enery consumption - but since most people in Perth spend their time cooling their houses rather than warming them, this shouldn't be too difficult.

The Aussie dream is to own your own home; not a huge mortgage.

Well, blind Freddy knows that if you pay to build a house, you can expect a lower spec unless you pay through the nose for something better. This is why many people prefer to buy a good quality house and spend a few quid doing it up. There's no need to grapple with "dreadfully dingy 80s houses that need a lot of work."

When I bought my own house in Midvale 2 bed one bath on a quarter ace block, which cost me $91,000) I did so because all the hard work was already done for me. $30,000 of renovation by the previous owner (the local council, no less) had brought it up to a standard that I could never afford here in the UK

Yes it does; but not as much as sitting at roundabouts, jostling for position with every other car in the West Midlands.

I never had these problems when I lived in WA. I can't imagine what's causing you trouble. Your description of the road system is nothing like my own experience, and I lieved in Perth for most of my life.

If anything, it sounds more like the almighty mess that I discovered when I moved to the UK.

I am of the opinion that life gets better the further you are from the city. I can't understand why anyone would want to live in a sea of traffic and ambient noise.

So most of this actually has everything to do with your personal choices, and nothing to do with Perth per se.

I hope I haven't come across too bluntly, but I must say that you seem to have made life unnecessarily difficult for yourself.

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

I don't think he built this one! It was a previous home.
I have been really cold since I got here. Can't wait for spring to come.

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

I agree with you on this one. Roundabout protocol is absolute madness, Aussies are taught to indicate left as they pass straight ahead through the roundabout, which always confuses the heck out of me.

I am of the view that if you're taking a left-hand exit, you indicate left; if you're driving straight on, you don't indicate at all; and if you're taking a right-hand exit, you indicate right.

Sadly, this is not how people do it.

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

He said:

It's August; that's winter for Australia.

Expect it to be cold.

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

Really?

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

Here's something I like about Perth - you're at a crossroads except you can't get right across because doing so would block the junction, so you wait until the car over the other side moves at least one car lenth so you can cross, easy.

In the UK it's everyman for himself, if you don't move in to the junction, regardless of the chevrons you've got some chav giving you the "wan*er" sign in your rear view. The lights change and the traffic can't cross because the junction is blocked. At this point the lights become meaninless.

Another one - two lanes merge in to one after a traffic light, I do it every morning on Mill Point road, going on the the northbound freeway. Without fail the two lanes merge effortlessly, car from left lane, car from right lane, car from left lane, car from right lane - no drama - everyone knows the game.

In the UK, the lights change and once again it's every man for himself, jostling for position, inching their bumper ahead of the guy next to you, the result - it takes a lot longer for everyone.

So perleeeze, don't give me the crap acout the traffic lights, most of them have those little IR sensors on them that can tell if there is no one waiting so you neve rhave to sit for ages at a red light if no one is there coming the other way.

my 2c

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

Yes.

Australian seasons run as follows:

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

Mate, I was joking.

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

I totally agree with you. Indeed, I couldn't have put it better myself.

I was not actually the one giving people crap about the traffic lights.

I was responding to the person who did.

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

D'oh...

It's not always easy to tell via text alone.

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

Yep, sorry to not be clear, lived in Scarborough for 6 months in said freezing unit, spent time in new homes, 80s homes, what have you over winter, all freezing cold, all moaning about it...after sweltering last summer, then just finished building our own.

Give up on traffic arguments. At least you get to go North/East to work Renth, Ocean Reef to ECU Joondalup if I remember. Yes it's my own personal impatience with goddamn lights, my problem no-elses.

And yes Vash, most of our issues are self imposed. My main and final point being that many things that irritated in the UK have the potential to be so much better and simpler down here...aren't. No big deal, just a little disappointing.

Enjoy West Brom. Frank Skinner rules. Did I mention how much we now appreciate how brilliant UK TV/entertainment is?

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

Almost anywhere's a great place to live if you can get a good paying job. What's shit about England are the unaffordable house prices and the weather (although that is improving with global warming!)

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

I don't think you're in an position to say this after admitting that most of your problems are self-imposed. All you've proved is that it could have been a lot better if you hadn't made certain decisions. I still can't understand why you decided to live north of the river (in Scarborough, no less!) if you were working south of the river.

West Brom is merely a half-way house for me while I wait for my wedding in October (when I'll be moving in with my fiance, who lives in Rushall.) By that time I will have spent a total of four months in West Brom.

West Brom is hardly the greatest suburb in the universe, but it's a considerable improvement on Acocks Green, which is where I lived before. And since I am living in a brand new flat with a plethora of fancy mod cons, I'm not complaining.

That is definitely something I will miss when I go home.

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

Sorry to keep this thread going but I am wondering about this insulation thing that has been mentioned. I *am* prepared to be told I am wrong, but surely insulaton works both ways - i.e. it keeps the temperature INSIDE the house at a more contstant level and stop heat exchanging between insdie and outside- regardless of whether it's hotter outside or colder outside. I mean, the laws of physics don't change so that in Australia heat only flows one way (out) and in the UK it only flows the other way (in). I mean that doesn't make sense?

In which case, theoretically, double glazing would be a brilliant idea for both the hot days to keep heat from coming in the windows and for cold nights to stop the heat going out the windows too?

Michelle

Re: Perth 18 months in...
 

Yes. But it's still a ridiculous amount of money to spend on your windows - especially when you consider the fact that Australian houses tend to more windows (and larger ones) than their UK counterparts.

Easy enough when you're double-glazing those tiny little portholes which pass for "windows" in Britain; quite another story when you're double-glazing a window the size of a door in Australia.

IMHO it is far more sensible - and economical - to use a different approach.