Perth - 6 week update!
May 5th 2006, 3:31 am
#1
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Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Hillarys, Perth
Posts: 555
Perth - 6 week update!
Hi All! I thought I would take this quiet 5 minutes to give you an update on our arrival in Perth (hopefully it won't ramble on too much!).
Arrived in Perth on Sunday 25th March to glorious sunshine. Had a really tiring flight as my youngest had a tummy bug and was sick constantly, was really glad to see Ian at the airport. We drove to our serviced apartment in Subiaco and went straight to bed. Ian's company had arranged for a relocator to find a rental for us, so at 8.30 the next morning she was waiting for us to take us to view 12 properties. The Perth rental market (as has been discussed many times) is absolutely MENTAL!! We had told the relocator that we wanted to live west of the Mitchell Freeway, North of the City (but no further north than Hillarys). We wanted at least a 3 bed (preferably with a pool) but our big restriction was the fact that we have dogs. Barely anyone wanted to rent to people with dogs. Anyway, we went to see these rentals, the first 7 of which were in such a shockingly disgusting state I am amazed that they hadn't been condemned. Sinks hanging off walls, holes in walls, floors, ceilings. Unsafe handrails, damp, bad smells, the list goes on. The rental price on these places was between $540 and $680 a week and were in lovely suburbs like City Beach, Karrinyup and Gwelup. The remaining 5 were further north in Hillarys, Marmion and Sorrento, which were MUCH nicer. We decided on one of the Hillarys ones (2 minutes walk from Coles and a 10-15 min walk to Hillarys Primary). It's a lovely house, 4x2 with study, formal and casual living areas, laundry, games room, outdoor entertaining area and pool. Our furniture still hasn't cleared customs so the big rooms feel even bigger because they're still empty. Hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer before it's delivered though. We put in our application for the house on the Tuesday and it was accepted on Wednesday. We were lucky that the house hadn't gone on the market yet (the relocator gets to know about them beforehand) so we weren't in competition with anyone. Using a relocator certainly took all the stress out of househunting for us and I would recommend anyone to use one if you can.
On Friday we visited the school, enrolled the girls and bought their uniforms. I also phoned a furniture rental company and ordered a fridge/freezer, 2 sofas, a dining table & chairs and a washing machine (to be delivered on Monday.)
Saturday was spent shopping for all the bits and pieces we needed as all our stuff is still in transit. So we went to Osborne Park and bought 3 beds in Beds Plus (fantastic service and price), bought a kitchen starter pack, dinner set, cutlery and wine glasses (of course!
) in IKEA and bought duvets/covers etc in Big W in Karrinyup.
Sunday was our day of rest
.
We got up really early on Monday to drive from Subi to Hillarys for the girls 1st day at school (very emotional - for me!). Left school and went to pick the keys up in Ocean Reef for the rental. Waited at 'home' for our bed and rental furniture deliveries (all on time) and went to Coles to do a BIG shop to fill the cupboards with all the essentials. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our shopping bill was only $240, which in addition to frozen and fresh food for a family of 4, included bug sprays, cleaning sprays/cloths, laundry detergent, all cupboard staples (salt, oil, sauces, spices etc), beer and wine and all the other bits and pieces you need to have in a kitchen. We picked the girls up from school (they had had a brilliant time!) and spent the rest of the day building beds. Slept very well (exhausted!) in our new beds, in our new home, in our new country
Bought 2 cars in the next couple of weeks, Ian got a 6 month old Subaru Liberty wagon (some super go-faster edition
) which was more than we were intending on spending, but he just couldn't resist. I'm still waiting for my little Hyundai Getz to be delivered to the garage (can't wait!). I can't believe that a brand new car (5 dr, 1.6 manual with metallic paint) cost us so little.
Since then it has been a flurry of buying things, arranging things, getting to know people and places, spending a lot of quality family time in gorgeous parks and beaches.
Staff and parents at the girls school have been unbelievably friendly. We've made a lot of friends already and have been made to feel welcome everywhere. For anyone concerned about meeting people (as I was) school is the ideal place. As soon as you speak and they notice your accent you're the centre of attention. So far we've been invited to barbeques, swim parties, birthday parties, out for coffee, and I've been out for meals with the mums from Rebecca and Emily's classes. I can honestly say it's been fantastic! None of us have felt any kind of homesickness and I'm hoping this continues. We're making the most of every day and enjoying it all. If this is classed as wearing rose-tinted glasses then I don't care. I love my rosy world . I could have written about the negative things but they're so trivial it's not worth it lol!
I've just realised how much I've written (sorry!). I'm sure I've missed out loads, everything's just been happening so quickly. Hopefully I'll get to the Hillarys meeting next week as I'd love to meet you all (Yvonne, thankyou for the lovely mail, I promise to get back to you asap.)
Arrived in Perth on Sunday 25th March to glorious sunshine. Had a really tiring flight as my youngest had a tummy bug and was sick constantly, was really glad to see Ian at the airport. We drove to our serviced apartment in Subiaco and went straight to bed. Ian's company had arranged for a relocator to find a rental for us, so at 8.30 the next morning she was waiting for us to take us to view 12 properties. The Perth rental market (as has been discussed many times) is absolutely MENTAL!! We had told the relocator that we wanted to live west of the Mitchell Freeway, North of the City (but no further north than Hillarys). We wanted at least a 3 bed (preferably with a pool) but our big restriction was the fact that we have dogs. Barely anyone wanted to rent to people with dogs. Anyway, we went to see these rentals, the first 7 of which were in such a shockingly disgusting state I am amazed that they hadn't been condemned. Sinks hanging off walls, holes in walls, floors, ceilings. Unsafe handrails, damp, bad smells, the list goes on. The rental price on these places was between $540 and $680 a week and were in lovely suburbs like City Beach, Karrinyup and Gwelup. The remaining 5 were further north in Hillarys, Marmion and Sorrento, which were MUCH nicer. We decided on one of the Hillarys ones (2 minutes walk from Coles and a 10-15 min walk to Hillarys Primary). It's a lovely house, 4x2 with study, formal and casual living areas, laundry, games room, outdoor entertaining area and pool. Our furniture still hasn't cleared customs so the big rooms feel even bigger because they're still empty. Hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer before it's delivered though. We put in our application for the house on the Tuesday and it was accepted on Wednesday. We were lucky that the house hadn't gone on the market yet (the relocator gets to know about them beforehand) so we weren't in competition with anyone. Using a relocator certainly took all the stress out of househunting for us and I would recommend anyone to use one if you can.
On Friday we visited the school, enrolled the girls and bought their uniforms. I also phoned a furniture rental company and ordered a fridge/freezer, 2 sofas, a dining table & chairs and a washing machine (to be delivered on Monday.)
Saturday was spent shopping for all the bits and pieces we needed as all our stuff is still in transit. So we went to Osborne Park and bought 3 beds in Beds Plus (fantastic service and price), bought a kitchen starter pack, dinner set, cutlery and wine glasses (of course!
) in IKEA and bought duvets/covers etc in Big W in Karrinyup.Sunday was our day of rest
.We got up really early on Monday to drive from Subi to Hillarys for the girls 1st day at school (very emotional - for me!). Left school and went to pick the keys up in Ocean Reef for the rental. Waited at 'home' for our bed and rental furniture deliveries (all on time) and went to Coles to do a BIG shop to fill the cupboards with all the essentials. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our shopping bill was only $240, which in addition to frozen and fresh food for a family of 4, included bug sprays, cleaning sprays/cloths, laundry detergent, all cupboard staples (salt, oil, sauces, spices etc), beer and wine and all the other bits and pieces you need to have in a kitchen. We picked the girls up from school (they had had a brilliant time!) and spent the rest of the day building beds. Slept very well (exhausted!) in our new beds, in our new home, in our new country
Bought 2 cars in the next couple of weeks, Ian got a 6 month old Subaru Liberty wagon (some super go-faster edition
) which was more than we were intending on spending, but he just couldn't resist. I'm still waiting for my little Hyundai Getz to be delivered to the garage (can't wait!). I can't believe that a brand new car (5 dr, 1.6 manual with metallic paint) cost us so little.Since then it has been a flurry of buying things, arranging things, getting to know people and places, spending a lot of quality family time in gorgeous parks and beaches.
Staff and parents at the girls school have been unbelievably friendly. We've made a lot of friends already and have been made to feel welcome everywhere. For anyone concerned about meeting people (as I was) school is the ideal place. As soon as you speak and they notice your accent you're the centre of attention. So far we've been invited to barbeques, swim parties, birthday parties, out for coffee, and I've been out for meals with the mums from Rebecca and Emily's classes. I can honestly say it's been fantastic! None of us have felt any kind of homesickness and I'm hoping this continues. We're making the most of every day and enjoying it all. If this is classed as wearing rose-tinted glasses then I don't care. I love my rosy world
. I could have written about the negative things but they're so trivial it's not worth it lol!I've just realised how much I've written (sorry!). I'm sure I've missed out loads, everything's just been happening so quickly. Hopefully I'll get to the Hillarys meeting next week as I'd love to meet you all (Yvonne, thankyou for the lovely mail, I promise to get back to you asap.)
May 5th 2006, 3:48 am
#2
Banned
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,551
Re: Perth - 6 week update!
Originally Posted by The Johnstons
Hi All! I thought I would take this quiet 5 minutes to give you an update on our arrival in Perth (hopefully it won't ramble on too much!).
Arrived in Perth on Sunday 25th March to glorious sunshine. Had a really tiring flight as my youngest had a tummy bug and was sick constantly, was really glad to see Ian at the airport. We drove to our serviced apartment in Subiaco and went straight to bed. Ian's company had arranged for a relocator to find a rental for us, so at 8.30 the next morning she was waiting for us to take us to view 12 properties. The Perth rental market (as has been discussed many times) is absolutely MENTAL!! We had told the relocator that we wanted to live west of the Mitchell Freeway, North of the City (but no further north than Hillarys). We wanted at least a 3 bed (preferably with a pool) but our big restriction was the fact that we have dogs. Barely anyone wanted to rent to people with dogs. Anyway, we went to see these rentals, the first 7 of which were in such a shockingly disgusting state I am amazed that they hadn't been condemned. Sinks hanging off walls, holes in walls, floors, ceilings. Unsafe handrails, damp, bad smells, the list goes on. The rental price on these places was between $540 and $680 a week and were in lovely suburbs like City Beach, Karrinyup and Gwelup. The remaining 5 were further north in Hillarys, Marmion and Sorrento, which were MUCH nicer. We decided on one of the Hillarys ones (2 minutes walk from Coles and a 10-15 min walk to Hillarys Primary). It's a lovely house, 4x2 with study, formal and casual living areas, laundry, games room, outdoor entertaining area and pool. Our furniture still hasn't cleared customs so the big rooms feel even bigger because they're still empty. Hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer before it's delivered though. We put in our application for the house on the Tuesday and it was accepted on Wednesday. We were lucky that the house hadn't gone on the market yet (the relocator gets to know about them beforehand) so we weren't in competition with anyone. Using a relocator certainly took all the stress out of househunting for us and I would recommend anyone to use one if you can.
On Friday we visited the school, enrolled the girls and bought their uniforms. I also phoned a furniture rental company and ordered a fridge/freezer, 2 sofas, a dining table & chairs and a washing machine (to be delivered on Monday.)
Saturday was spent shopping for all the bits and pieces we needed as all our stuff is still in transit. So we went to Osborne Park and bought 3 beds in Beds Plus (fantastic service and price), bought a kitchen starter pack, dinner set, cutlery and wine glasses (of course! ) in IKEA and bought duvets/covers etc in Big W in Karrinyup.
Sunday was our day of rest .
We got up really early on Monday to drive from Subi to Hillarys for the girls 1st day at school (very emotional - for me!). Left school and went to pick the keys up in Ocean Reef for the rental. Waited at 'home' for our bed and rental furniture deliveries (all on time) and went to Coles to do a BIG shop to fill the cupboards with all the essentials. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our shopping bill was only $240, which in addition to frozen and fresh food for a family of 4, included bug sprays, cleaning sprays/cloths, laundry detergent, all cupboard staples (salt, oil, sauces, spices etc), beer and wine and all the other bits and pieces you need to have in a kitchen. We picked the girls up from school (they had had a brilliant time!) and spent the rest of the day building beds. Slept very well (exhausted!) in our new beds, in our new home, in our new country
Bought 2 cars in the next couple of weeks, Ian got a 6 month old Subaru Liberty wagon (some super go-faster edition ) which was more than we were intending on spending, but he just couldn't resist. I'm still waiting for my little Hyundai Getz to be delivered to the garage (can't wait!). I can't believe that a brand new car (5 dr, 1.6 manual with metallic paint) cost us so little.
Since then it has been a flurry of buying things, arranging things, getting to know people and places, spending a lot of quality family time in gorgeous parks and beaches.
Staff and parents at the girls school have been unbelievably friendly. We've made a lot of friends already and have been made to feel welcome everywhere. For anyone concerned about meeting people (as I was) school is the ideal place. As soon as you speak and they notice your accent you're the centre of attention. So far we've been invited to barbeques, swim parties, birthday parties, out for coffee, and I've been out for meals with the mums from Rebecca and Emily's classes. I can honestly say it's been fantastic! None of us have felt any kind of homesickness and I'm hoping this continues. We're making the most of every day and enjoying it all. If this is classed as wearing rose-tinted glasses then I don't care. I love my rosy world . I could have written about the negative things but they're so trivial it's not worth it lol!
I've just realised how much I've written (sorry!). I'm sure I've missed out loads, everything's just been happening so quickly. Hopefully I'll get to the Hillarys meeting next week as I'd love to meet you all (Yvonne, thankyou for the lovely mail, I promise to get back to you asap.)
Arrived in Perth on Sunday 25th March to glorious sunshine. Had a really tiring flight as my youngest had a tummy bug and was sick constantly, was really glad to see Ian at the airport. We drove to our serviced apartment in Subiaco and went straight to bed. Ian's company had arranged for a relocator to find a rental for us, so at 8.30 the next morning she was waiting for us to take us to view 12 properties. The Perth rental market (as has been discussed many times) is absolutely MENTAL!! We had told the relocator that we wanted to live west of the Mitchell Freeway, North of the City (but no further north than Hillarys). We wanted at least a 3 bed (preferably with a pool) but our big restriction was the fact that we have dogs. Barely anyone wanted to rent to people with dogs. Anyway, we went to see these rentals, the first 7 of which were in such a shockingly disgusting state I am amazed that they hadn't been condemned. Sinks hanging off walls, holes in walls, floors, ceilings. Unsafe handrails, damp, bad smells, the list goes on. The rental price on these places was between $540 and $680 a week and were in lovely suburbs like City Beach, Karrinyup and Gwelup. The remaining 5 were further north in Hillarys, Marmion and Sorrento, which were MUCH nicer. We decided on one of the Hillarys ones (2 minutes walk from Coles and a 10-15 min walk to Hillarys Primary). It's a lovely house, 4x2 with study, formal and casual living areas, laundry, games room, outdoor entertaining area and pool. Our furniture still hasn't cleared customs so the big rooms feel even bigger because they're still empty. Hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer before it's delivered though. We put in our application for the house on the Tuesday and it was accepted on Wednesday. We were lucky that the house hadn't gone on the market yet (the relocator gets to know about them beforehand) so we weren't in competition with anyone. Using a relocator certainly took all the stress out of househunting for us and I would recommend anyone to use one if you can.
On Friday we visited the school, enrolled the girls and bought their uniforms. I also phoned a furniture rental company and ordered a fridge/freezer, 2 sofas, a dining table & chairs and a washing machine (to be delivered on Monday.)
Saturday was spent shopping for all the bits and pieces we needed as all our stuff is still in transit. So we went to Osborne Park and bought 3 beds in Beds Plus (fantastic service and price), bought a kitchen starter pack, dinner set, cutlery and wine glasses (of course!
) in IKEA and bought duvets/covers etc in Big W in Karrinyup.Sunday was our day of rest
.We got up really early on Monday to drive from Subi to Hillarys for the girls 1st day at school (very emotional - for me!). Left school and went to pick the keys up in Ocean Reef for the rental. Waited at 'home' for our bed and rental furniture deliveries (all on time) and went to Coles to do a BIG shop to fill the cupboards with all the essentials. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our shopping bill was only $240, which in addition to frozen and fresh food for a family of 4, included bug sprays, cleaning sprays/cloths, laundry detergent, all cupboard staples (salt, oil, sauces, spices etc), beer and wine and all the other bits and pieces you need to have in a kitchen. We picked the girls up from school (they had had a brilliant time!) and spent the rest of the day building beds. Slept very well (exhausted!) in our new beds, in our new home, in our new country
Bought 2 cars in the next couple of weeks, Ian got a 6 month old Subaru Liberty wagon (some super go-faster edition
) which was more than we were intending on spending, but he just couldn't resist. I'm still waiting for my little Hyundai Getz to be delivered to the garage (can't wait!). I can't believe that a brand new car (5 dr, 1.6 manual with metallic paint) cost us so little.Since then it has been a flurry of buying things, arranging things, getting to know people and places, spending a lot of quality family time in gorgeous parks and beaches.
Staff and parents at the girls school have been unbelievably friendly. We've made a lot of friends already and have been made to feel welcome everywhere. For anyone concerned about meeting people (as I was) school is the ideal place. As soon as you speak and they notice your accent you're the centre of attention. So far we've been invited to barbeques, swim parties, birthday parties, out for coffee, and I've been out for meals with the mums from Rebecca and Emily's classes. I can honestly say it's been fantastic! None of us have felt any kind of homesickness and I'm hoping this continues. We're making the most of every day and enjoying it all. If this is classed as wearing rose-tinted glasses then I don't care. I love my rosy world
. I could have written about the negative things but they're so trivial it's not worth it lol!I've just realised how much I've written (sorry!). I'm sure I've missed out loads, everything's just been happening so quickly. Hopefully I'll get to the Hillarys meeting next week as I'd love to meet you all (Yvonne, thankyou for the lovely mail, I promise to get back to you asap.)
May 5th 2006, 5:47 am
#3
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Lower Chittering, Perth
Posts: 4,646
Re: Perth - 6 week update!
Sounds like you have had a hectic few weeks............glad its going well!!!
May 5th 2006, 6:39 am
#4
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2005
Location: perth
Posts: 455
Re: Perth - 6 week update!
Originally Posted by The Johnstons
Hi All! I thought I would take this quiet 5 minutes to give you an update on our arrival in Perth (hopefully it won't ramble on too much!).
Arrived in Perth on Sunday 25th March to glorious sunshine. Had a really tiring flight as my youngest had a tummy bug and was sick constantly, was really glad to see Ian at the airport. We drove to our serviced apartment in Subiaco and went straight to bed. Ian's company had arranged for a relocator to find a rental for us, so at 8.30 the next morning she was waiting for us to take us to view 12 properties. The Perth rental market (as has been discussed many times) is absolutely MENTAL!! We had told the relocator that we wanted to live west of the Mitchell Freeway, North of the City (but no further north than Hillarys). We wanted at least a 3 bed (preferably with a pool) but our big restriction was the fact that we have dogs. Barely anyone wanted to rent to people with dogs. Anyway, we went to see these rentals, the first 7 of which were in such a shockingly disgusting state I am amazed that they hadn't been condemned. Sinks hanging off walls, holes in walls, floors, ceilings. Unsafe handrails, damp, bad smells, the list goes on. The rental price on these places was between $540 and $680 a week and were in lovely suburbs like City Beach, Karrinyup and Gwelup. The remaining 5 were further north in Hillarys, Marmion and Sorrento, which were MUCH nicer. We decided on one of the Hillarys ones (2 minutes walk from Coles and a 10-15 min walk to Hillarys Primary). It's a lovely house, 4x2 with study, formal and casual living areas, laundry, games room, outdoor entertaining area and pool. Our furniture still hasn't cleared customs so the big rooms feel even bigger because they're still empty. Hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer before it's delivered though. We put in our application for the house on the Tuesday and it was accepted on Wednesday. We were lucky that the house hadn't gone on the market yet (the relocator gets to know about them beforehand) so we weren't in competition with anyone. Using a relocator certainly took all the stress out of househunting for us and I would recommend anyone to use one if you can.
On Friday we visited the school, enrolled the girls and bought their uniforms. I also phoned a furniture rental company and ordered a fridge/freezer, 2 sofas, a dining table & chairs and a washing machine (to be delivered on Monday.)
Saturday was spent shopping for all the bits and pieces we needed as all our stuff is still in transit. So we went to Osborne Park and bought 3 beds in Beds Plus (fantastic service and price), bought a kitchen starter pack, dinner set, cutlery and wine glasses (of course! ) in IKEA and bought duvets/covers etc in Big W in Karrinyup.
Sunday was our day of rest .
We got up really early on Monday to drive from Subi to Hillarys for the girls 1st day at school (very emotional - for me!). Left school and went to pick the keys up in Ocean Reef for the rental. Waited at 'home' for our bed and rental furniture deliveries (all on time) and went to Coles to do a BIG shop to fill the cupboards with all the essentials. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our shopping bill was only $240, which in addition to frozen and fresh food for a family of 4, included bug sprays, cleaning sprays/cloths, laundry detergent, all cupboard staples (salt, oil, sauces, spices etc), beer and wine and all the other bits and pieces you need to have in a kitchen. We picked the girls up from school (they had had a brilliant time!) and spent the rest of the day building beds. Slept very well (exhausted!) in our new beds, in our new home, in our new country
Bought 2 cars in the next couple of weeks, Ian got a 6 month old Subaru Liberty wagon (some super go-faster edition ) which was more than we were intending on spending, but he just couldn't resist. I'm still waiting for my little Hyundai Getz to be delivered to the garage (can't wait!). I can't believe that a brand new car (5 dr, 1.6 manual with metallic paint) cost us so little.
Since then it has been a flurry of buying things, arranging things, getting to know people and places, spending a lot of quality family time in gorgeous parks and beaches.
Staff and parents at the girls school have been unbelievably friendly. We've made a lot of friends already and have been made to feel welcome everywhere. For anyone concerned about meeting people (as I was) school is the ideal place. As soon as you speak and they notice your accent you're the centre of attention. So far we've been invited to barbeques, swim parties, birthday parties, out for coffee, and I've been out for meals with the mums from Rebecca and Emily's classes. I can honestly say it's been fantastic! None of us have felt any kind of homesickness and I'm hoping this continues. We're making the most of every day and enjoying it all. If this is classed as wearing rose-tinted glasses then I don't care. I love my rosy world . I could have written about the negative things but they're so trivial it's not worth it lol!
I've just realised how much I've written (sorry!). I'm sure I've missed out loads, everything's just been happening so quickly. Hopefully I'll get to the Hillarys meeting next week as I'd love to meet you all (Yvonne, thankyou for the lovely mail, I promise to get back to you asap.)
Arrived in Perth on Sunday 25th March to glorious sunshine. Had a really tiring flight as my youngest had a tummy bug and was sick constantly, was really glad to see Ian at the airport. We drove to our serviced apartment in Subiaco and went straight to bed. Ian's company had arranged for a relocator to find a rental for us, so at 8.30 the next morning she was waiting for us to take us to view 12 properties. The Perth rental market (as has been discussed many times) is absolutely MENTAL!! We had told the relocator that we wanted to live west of the Mitchell Freeway, North of the City (but no further north than Hillarys). We wanted at least a 3 bed (preferably with a pool) but our big restriction was the fact that we have dogs. Barely anyone wanted to rent to people with dogs. Anyway, we went to see these rentals, the first 7 of which were in such a shockingly disgusting state I am amazed that they hadn't been condemned. Sinks hanging off walls, holes in walls, floors, ceilings. Unsafe handrails, damp, bad smells, the list goes on. The rental price on these places was between $540 and $680 a week and were in lovely suburbs like City Beach, Karrinyup and Gwelup. The remaining 5 were further north in Hillarys, Marmion and Sorrento, which were MUCH nicer. We decided on one of the Hillarys ones (2 minutes walk from Coles and a 10-15 min walk to Hillarys Primary). It's a lovely house, 4x2 with study, formal and casual living areas, laundry, games room, outdoor entertaining area and pool. Our furniture still hasn't cleared customs so the big rooms feel even bigger because they're still empty. Hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer before it's delivered though. We put in our application for the house on the Tuesday and it was accepted on Wednesday. We were lucky that the house hadn't gone on the market yet (the relocator gets to know about them beforehand) so we weren't in competition with anyone. Using a relocator certainly took all the stress out of househunting for us and I would recommend anyone to use one if you can.
On Friday we visited the school, enrolled the girls and bought their uniforms. I also phoned a furniture rental company and ordered a fridge/freezer, 2 sofas, a dining table & chairs and a washing machine (to be delivered on Monday.)
Saturday was spent shopping for all the bits and pieces we needed as all our stuff is still in transit. So we went to Osborne Park and bought 3 beds in Beds Plus (fantastic service and price), bought a kitchen starter pack, dinner set, cutlery and wine glasses (of course!
) in IKEA and bought duvets/covers etc in Big W in Karrinyup.Sunday was our day of rest
.We got up really early on Monday to drive from Subi to Hillarys for the girls 1st day at school (very emotional - for me!). Left school and went to pick the keys up in Ocean Reef for the rental. Waited at 'home' for our bed and rental furniture deliveries (all on time) and went to Coles to do a BIG shop to fill the cupboards with all the essentials. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our shopping bill was only $240, which in addition to frozen and fresh food for a family of 4, included bug sprays, cleaning sprays/cloths, laundry detergent, all cupboard staples (salt, oil, sauces, spices etc), beer and wine and all the other bits and pieces you need to have in a kitchen. We picked the girls up from school (they had had a brilliant time!) and spent the rest of the day building beds. Slept very well (exhausted!) in our new beds, in our new home, in our new country
Bought 2 cars in the next couple of weeks, Ian got a 6 month old Subaru Liberty wagon (some super go-faster edition
) which was more than we were intending on spending, but he just couldn't resist. I'm still waiting for my little Hyundai Getz to be delivered to the garage (can't wait!). I can't believe that a brand new car (5 dr, 1.6 manual with metallic paint) cost us so little.Since then it has been a flurry of buying things, arranging things, getting to know people and places, spending a lot of quality family time in gorgeous parks and beaches.
Staff and parents at the girls school have been unbelievably friendly. We've made a lot of friends already and have been made to feel welcome everywhere. For anyone concerned about meeting people (as I was) school is the ideal place. As soon as you speak and they notice your accent you're the centre of attention. So far we've been invited to barbeques, swim parties, birthday parties, out for coffee, and I've been out for meals with the mums from Rebecca and Emily's classes. I can honestly say it's been fantastic! None of us have felt any kind of homesickness and I'm hoping this continues. We're making the most of every day and enjoying it all. If this is classed as wearing rose-tinted glasses then I don't care. I love my rosy world
. I could have written about the negative things but they're so trivial it's not worth it lol!I've just realised how much I've written (sorry!). I'm sure I've missed out loads, everything's just been happening so quickly. Hopefully I'll get to the Hillarys meeting next week as I'd love to meet you all (Yvonne, thankyou for the lovely mail, I promise to get back to you asap.)
Its great to read how quickly it all falls into place.
Good luck
Sharon x
May 5th 2006, 11:56 am
#5
Forum Regular
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: Willetton, WA
Posts: 108
Re: Perth - 6 week update!
Lovely post. Thanks. We'll be arriving in Perth end of June and hope everythings works out for us too. Our biggest worry is finding jobs and buying a house we love that we can afford (stories of house prices and people camping out to try to bag land is quite scary)! My mother-in-law has already sorted out a school for my daughter so that's one less thing to think of!
Good luck and all the best for your new future!
Marina x
Good luck and all the best for your new future!
Marina x
May 5th 2006, 1:01 pm
#6
from Bristol to Perth
Joined: Feb 2006
Location: Bristol
Posts: 8
Re: Perth - 6 week update!
hi the Johnstons, dont know if you remember, but we wrote to each other before we both came over......... we arrived in perth from bristol on March the 12th with our two kids (josh 14 and abbi 8) found schools for both in the first week and jobs for ourselves in the 2nd week, the wife has a new getz and I m still looking for the right car!.....got a company van so that is sufficient for now. we found a house we like in Marangaroo (north perth) and move in on the 6th June....cant wait!, staying with rellies at mo and we all need space....know what I mean!as you say people are sooo friendly and helpful and most either pohms or at least related to one!
Glad to hear that all is going well for ya, maybe we'll bump into you one of these days...perhaps even get the wife to meet at Hilarys one of these days.........
well take care
John & michele.
May 5th 2006, 1:50 pm
#7
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: Wigan > Perth > Wigan
Posts: 1,233
Re: Perth - 6 week update!
Great post, glad to hear you've settled in to your new life so well.
I look forward to the same!
I look forward to the same!
May 5th 2006, 4:57 pm
#8
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 4,918
Re: Perth - 6 week update!
Originally Posted by The Johnstons
Hi All! I thought I would take this quiet 5 minutes to give you an update on our arrival in Perth (hopefully it won't ramble on too much!).
Arrived in Perth on Sunday 25th March to glorious sunshine. Had a really tiring flight as my youngest had a tummy bug and was sick constantly, was really glad to see Ian at the airport. We drove to our serviced apartment in Subiaco and went straight to bed. Ian's company had arranged for a relocator to find a rental for us, so at 8.30 the next morning she was waiting for us to take us to view 12 properties. The Perth rental market (as has been discussed many times) is absolutely MENTAL!! We had told the relocator that we wanted to live west of the Mitchell Freeway, North of the City (but no further north than Hillarys). We wanted at least a 3 bed (preferably with a pool) but our big restriction was the fact that we have dogs. Barely anyone wanted to rent to people with dogs. Anyway, we went to see these rentals, the first 7 of which were in such a shockingly disgusting state I am amazed that they hadn't been condemned. Sinks hanging off walls, holes in walls, floors, ceilings. Unsafe handrails, damp, bad smells, the list goes on. The rental price on these places was between $540 and $680 a week and were in lovely suburbs like City Beach, Karrinyup and Gwelup. The remaining 5 were further north in Hillarys, Marmion and Sorrento, which were MUCH nicer. We decided on one of the Hillarys ones (2 minutes walk from Coles and a 10-15 min walk to Hillarys Primary). It's a lovely house, 4x2 with study, formal and casual living areas, laundry, games room, outdoor entertaining area and pool. Our furniture still hasn't cleared customs so the big rooms feel even bigger because they're still empty. Hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer before it's delivered though. We put in our application for the house on the Tuesday and it was accepted on Wednesday. We were lucky that the house hadn't gone on the market yet (the relocator gets to know about them beforehand) so we weren't in competition with anyone. Using a relocator certainly took all the stress out of househunting for us and I would recommend anyone to use one if you can.
On Friday we visited the school, enrolled the girls and bought their uniforms. I also phoned a furniture rental company and ordered a fridge/freezer, 2 sofas, a dining table & chairs and a washing machine (to be delivered on Monday.)
Saturday was spent shopping for all the bits and pieces we needed as all our stuff is still in transit. So we went to Osborne Park and bought 3 beds in Beds Plus (fantastic service and price), bought a kitchen starter pack, dinner set, cutlery and wine glasses (of course! ) in IKEA and bought duvets/covers etc in Big W in Karrinyup.
Sunday was our day of rest .
We got up really early on Monday to drive from Subi to Hillarys for the girls 1st day at school (very emotional - for me!). Left school and went to pick the keys up in Ocean Reef for the rental. Waited at 'home' for our bed and rental furniture deliveries (all on time) and went to Coles to do a BIG shop to fill the cupboards with all the essentials. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our shopping bill was only $240, which in addition to frozen and fresh food for a family of 4, included bug sprays, cleaning sprays/cloths, laundry detergent, all cupboard staples (salt, oil, sauces, spices etc), beer and wine and all the other bits and pieces you need to have in a kitchen. We picked the girls up from school (they had had a brilliant time!) and spent the rest of the day building beds. Slept very well (exhausted!) in our new beds, in our new home, in our new country
Bought 2 cars in the next couple of weeks, Ian got a 6 month old Subaru Liberty wagon (some super go-faster edition ) which was more than we were intending on spending, but he just couldn't resist. I'm still waiting for my little Hyundai Getz to be delivered to the garage (can't wait!). I can't believe that a brand new car (5 dr, 1.6 manual with metallic paint) cost us so little.
Since then it has been a flurry of buying things, arranging things, getting to know people and places, spending a lot of quality family time in gorgeous parks and beaches.
Staff and parents at the girls school have been unbelievably friendly. We've made a lot of friends already and have been made to feel welcome everywhere. For anyone concerned about meeting people (as I was) school is the ideal place. As soon as you speak and they notice your accent you're the centre of attention. So far we've been invited to barbeques, swim parties, birthday parties, out for coffee, and I've been out for meals with the mums from Rebecca and Emily's classes. I can honestly say it's been fantastic! None of us have felt any kind of homesickness and I'm hoping this continues. We're making the most of every day and enjoying it all. If this is classed as wearing rose-tinted glasses then I don't care. I love my rosy world . I could have written about the negative things but they're so trivial it's not worth it lol!
I've just realised how much I've written (sorry!). I'm sure I've missed out loads, everything's just been happening so quickly. Hopefully I'll get to the Hillarys meeting next week as I'd love to meet you all (Yvonne, thankyou for the lovely mail, I promise to get back to you asap.)
Arrived in Perth on Sunday 25th March to glorious sunshine. Had a really tiring flight as my youngest had a tummy bug and was sick constantly, was really glad to see Ian at the airport. We drove to our serviced apartment in Subiaco and went straight to bed. Ian's company had arranged for a relocator to find a rental for us, so at 8.30 the next morning she was waiting for us to take us to view 12 properties. The Perth rental market (as has been discussed many times) is absolutely MENTAL!! We had told the relocator that we wanted to live west of the Mitchell Freeway, North of the City (but no further north than Hillarys). We wanted at least a 3 bed (preferably with a pool) but our big restriction was the fact that we have dogs. Barely anyone wanted to rent to people with dogs. Anyway, we went to see these rentals, the first 7 of which were in such a shockingly disgusting state I am amazed that they hadn't been condemned. Sinks hanging off walls, holes in walls, floors, ceilings. Unsafe handrails, damp, bad smells, the list goes on. The rental price on these places was between $540 and $680 a week and were in lovely suburbs like City Beach, Karrinyup and Gwelup. The remaining 5 were further north in Hillarys, Marmion and Sorrento, which were MUCH nicer. We decided on one of the Hillarys ones (2 minutes walk from Coles and a 10-15 min walk to Hillarys Primary). It's a lovely house, 4x2 with study, formal and casual living areas, laundry, games room, outdoor entertaining area and pool. Our furniture still hasn't cleared customs so the big rooms feel even bigger because they're still empty. Hopefully it shouldn't be too much longer before it's delivered though. We put in our application for the house on the Tuesday and it was accepted on Wednesday. We were lucky that the house hadn't gone on the market yet (the relocator gets to know about them beforehand) so we weren't in competition with anyone. Using a relocator certainly took all the stress out of househunting for us and I would recommend anyone to use one if you can.
On Friday we visited the school, enrolled the girls and bought their uniforms. I also phoned a furniture rental company and ordered a fridge/freezer, 2 sofas, a dining table & chairs and a washing machine (to be delivered on Monday.)
Saturday was spent shopping for all the bits and pieces we needed as all our stuff is still in transit. So we went to Osborne Park and bought 3 beds in Beds Plus (fantastic service and price), bought a kitchen starter pack, dinner set, cutlery and wine glasses (of course!
) in IKEA and bought duvets/covers etc in Big W in Karrinyup.Sunday was our day of rest
.We got up really early on Monday to drive from Subi to Hillarys for the girls 1st day at school (very emotional - for me!). Left school and went to pick the keys up in Ocean Reef for the rental. Waited at 'home' for our bed and rental furniture deliveries (all on time) and went to Coles to do a BIG shop to fill the cupboards with all the essentials. I was pleasantly surprised to find that our shopping bill was only $240, which in addition to frozen and fresh food for a family of 4, included bug sprays, cleaning sprays/cloths, laundry detergent, all cupboard staples (salt, oil, sauces, spices etc), beer and wine and all the other bits and pieces you need to have in a kitchen. We picked the girls up from school (they had had a brilliant time!) and spent the rest of the day building beds. Slept very well (exhausted!) in our new beds, in our new home, in our new country
Bought 2 cars in the next couple of weeks, Ian got a 6 month old Subaru Liberty wagon (some super go-faster edition
) which was more than we were intending on spending, but he just couldn't resist. I'm still waiting for my little Hyundai Getz to be delivered to the garage (can't wait!). I can't believe that a brand new car (5 dr, 1.6 manual with metallic paint) cost us so little.Since then it has been a flurry of buying things, arranging things, getting to know people and places, spending a lot of quality family time in gorgeous parks and beaches.
Staff and parents at the girls school have been unbelievably friendly. We've made a lot of friends already and have been made to feel welcome everywhere. For anyone concerned about meeting people (as I was) school is the ideal place. As soon as you speak and they notice your accent you're the centre of attention. So far we've been invited to barbeques, swim parties, birthday parties, out for coffee, and I've been out for meals with the mums from Rebecca and Emily's classes. I can honestly say it's been fantastic! None of us have felt any kind of homesickness and I'm hoping this continues. We're making the most of every day and enjoying it all. If this is classed as wearing rose-tinted glasses then I don't care. I love my rosy world
. I could have written about the negative things but they're so trivial it's not worth it lol!I've just realised how much I've written (sorry!). I'm sure I've missed out loads, everything's just been happening so quickly. Hopefully I'll get to the Hillarys meeting next week as I'd love to meet you all (Yvonne, thankyou for the lovely mail, I promise to get back to you asap.)
May 9th 2006, 2:42 am
#9
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Hillarys, Perth
Posts: 555
Re: Perth - 6 week update!
Thanks for all your lovely comments guys . We still can't believe we're here to be honest. It's so weird when you chat to strangers (at the beach, park, cafes etc.) and when they ask if we're on holiday we get to say "No, we live here!!" with a great big cheesy grin our our faces . I love it!
John & Michele, glad you're settling so well. Give us a shout if you fancy meeting up for a coffee/kids play sometime (you're only 10 mins down Hepburn )
Tracey
. We still can't believe we're here to be honest. It's so weird when you chat to strangers (at the beach, park, cafes etc.) and when they ask if we're on holiday we get to say "No, we live here!!" with a great big cheesy grin our our faces . I love it!John & Michele, glad you're settling so well. Give us a shout if you fancy meeting up for a coffee/kids play sometime (you're only 10 mins down Hepburn
)Tracey
