Re: Perth.
 

You might be surprised to know that the WA Ed Dept and schools can and should do something about it. They obviously haven't adjusted the curriculum to allow for the fact that this year there will be teenagers at primary school. Parents can write to the Minister about it, and push for change. It might not work for the current Year 7s, but might help next year's. I found a way around the brick wall for my child and he went up a level last year and will go up again this year.

There's no way I would make my child stay at school while all his classmates went to the beach for 2 weeks - not exactly fair.

I know Perth very well indeed and perhaps mix with Australians from WA and elsewhere more than others. It's possible that some migrants are living in a happy bubble of existence about how wonderful it all is in Perth.

Life here can be good here, but it's only fair to provide potential migrants with accurate information. Perth does have a peculiar culture, probably due to being one of the most isolated cities in the world. There can be only one explanation for your ignorance or indifference: you've turned into one of them - a fully-paid up, head-in-the-sand Waussie :ohmy:.

Re: Perth.
 

Perth has problems, I realise that. I am neither ignorant nor indifferent. I also don't resort to insulting people that disagree with my view .

Re: Perth.
 

You need to read your posts. You are very defensive and dismissive when someone disagrees with you. You also live in a parallel universe where the northern train line in Perth is not crowded and where Joondalup Hospital is a great place to be treated :rofl:.

Re: Perth.
 

A city entirely of gossips? A little generalisation.

The WA state gallery caters for a major range of people, not just art lovers. Go look at it sometime, it is amazing.

I have thrice been to the art gallery with my school, which is 4 1/2 hour bus trip. It would be unfair to insinuate that no schools do trips.

Personally, I love Perth, but thats just my opinion ;)
If everyone reckoned Perth was amazing, there would be waaay too many people here!

Re: Perth.
 

I didn't say it wasn't crowded, I said it was a piece of cake compared to commuting in London. I also said that my experience of Joondalup Hospital was good. I was there again today at the Orthopedic Trauma Clinic. We were in and out including an xray in 45 minutes. I sometimes do wonder if I live in a parallel Perth to everyone else because none of what happens to others happens to me. It doesn't mean that other peoples experiences aren't valid just that there are always 2 sides to everything.

Re: Perth.
 

But that's the thing - where I came from the the NOR train isn't crowded and Joondalup Hospital is good. We had to travel for 30 minutes to the nearest cinema, a school excursion happened once a year in the summer and it was around 2.5 hours drive to see any big 'stars' in concert.

I like it in Perth, my OH and I are out every Thursday sampling any and every restaurant we can find. The kids are educated, entertained and exhausted at the end of every week. We've seen a number of big names in concert and been on some wonderful holidays to Asia. There are big, clean parks around every corner and we can waterski on the river at the weekends.

I don't depend on the school to take my children on days out, we do it ourselves: Maritime Museum in Freo (the boys loved the submarine), Perth mint, Perth Zoo (we take food and BBQ to make it a great day out), Caversham, Scitech, Fremantle Prison. When we lived in the UK we never had the same opportunities to spend so much quality time with the kids.

Life is what you make it - yours sounds miserable :p

Re: Perth.
 

I think this is a classic case of reading too much of the local newspaper. This is the picture they paint (to sell papers!!) but not one that I recognise as Perth.

If the local paper run front page stories of how well behaved punters were in Northbridge on Friday night (or how police, health or education services got things right), they'd sell less. Simple as.

And it is these largely negative media reports that form some peoples perceptions of what life must be like in Perth!! Even if they never experienced any of it themselves.

In my experience Perth is no different from any other large city. Sure things happen but it's nothing like the media would have you believe. I even got the bus home on few late night occasions and lived to tell the tale!!

Re: Perth.
 

Try living in London, someone was shot dead outside our flat, everywhere has its ugly side these days, you just have to be sensible and make the most of the pros.

Re: Perth.
 

I am going back to Oz but not Perth as I outgrew it in the 3 years I was there, I agree some people are suited to Perth but I was not one of them, I am used to getting a cheap trip to Madrid or Prague for a few days 4 or 5 times a year and I just found perth boring and restrictive, you can only do so much in Perth if you are not into sports or the beach etc...I suppose growing up in London did not help to be honest.

Re: Perth.
 

I did not say that the entire population of Perth were gossips, I realise that a few people are not. There are also issues of privacy, fairness, nepotism and cronyism.

I did not say that no schools run excursions. Obviously there are some creative and thoughtful teachers out there. I just haven't met any of them. Where did I say that it is entirely up to schools to take children on excursions?

People have to deal with with different circumstances and with different financial situations. In our case these have made it difficult to get outside WA. If you didn't have this simple freedom, you would probably have a different attitude. Some posters here are coming across as smug and mean-spirited :thumbdown:.

I lived in London for a long time, and this is a major factor in my reaction to Perth places such as Scitech and the WA Art Gallery.

Where have I said that there is nothing good about Perth? I think it is important to acknowledge the minuses as well.

I have just as much right as you do to write about my experiences. Why get so vicious about other people's views? It is interesting that so many migrants to Perth seem to think that any criticism of Perth is a attack on their personal decision to come and live in Perth.

Re: Perth.
 

I also lived in London for a long time. Did you seriously think that Scitech and the Art Gallery of WA would be anyway comparable to that of the Science Museum and some of the Galleries in London????? If someone moving from London comes to Perth thinking that just because it is a City that it will be in anyway like London then they deserve everything they get because they must be plain deluded.

Perth isn't for everyone, I am fully aware of that. Life would be exceptionally boring if we all liked the same thing.

Re: Perth.
 

If the point is to give potential migrants accurate information then this is very true. But maybe without the exaggerations, scaremongering and unfair comparisons to cities far bigger and high-profile than Perth.

Again if we are dishing out advice, then I simply feel that your perception is very different from mine and simply point that out (with all respect to your views and experiences).

I certainly don't deny the cons of Perth (which I think are in no way unique to a city this size) or feel that pointing them out is an attack against my personal decisions!!

Edit: Sorry for repeating some of the points from the post above!!

Re: Perth.
 

who wouldn't want to live there. My fav is Peppermint Grove, because the residents are not constantly moving. Dalkeith is really nice too, but a lot of Asian buy into the area for a shorter period of time, eg while kids are at school or uni. Nothing against them, you only have different neighbours more frequently.

Re: Perth.
 

Don't get involved in these pointless threads NB. I thought you would have learnt a lesson by now! ;)

Re: Perth.
 

Peppy Grove is to die for. :D !!

When comparing Perth and London, you have to take into consideration that we are a young, young, YOUNG country (especially compared to the UK). Arts are still developing, but more and more prominent and valued in our society. We don't have the Tate, but Australian art is now holding a place of its own in the world. Plus we have a number of emerging Theatre companies.
Arts are important to Australia, even in WA. (shocking ;) )

WA is a big state, thus Perth could be considered 'isolated'. But if you don't want that, don't move to Australia!! Its a big place!
These threads are sometimes pointless but I'm sure potential movers enjoy the opportunity get to see two very different opinions which is great, an informed choice.