Mr Kilt

Hi All,

Ok so after much will we won't we, the wife and I have decided to make the move to Perth when the 457 comes through. We went through all the usual...it is so far away...we will miss the folks etc however it is too good an opportunity to turn down so we are going to go for it.

I want to make sure that once we get settled we make the most of the new life in Perth and embrace all it has to offer.

So in short I would like to get an idea of what people tend to do at the weekends, holidays etc in Perth? We are pretty outdoors type people and we have a dog too. We love taking the car for days trips at weekends, going out on the bikes, walking the dog etc.

Anybody like to share how they spend their time in Perth and any suggestions of things to do/visit?

Cheers

Bibbs

In my limited exp of what my mates get up to.

Often :

Dog walk on beaches.
Surf on beaches.
House parties with friends.
4x4 trips.
Local parks.
Boating on the river.

Occasionally :

National Parks.
Day trips to Rottnest, Mandurah.
Weekend to Gero, Margaret River, Kalgoorlie.

Annually :

South East Asia for Holidays from cheap Bali, to weeks in China.

jimbo_d

As above, but add football, mostly of the AFL kind but there's a big soccer scene with all the immigrants living here, it's also the best place to watch the premiership and other leagues due to the time zones. Rugby union is also highly regarded as is cricket.

Pubs pubs pubs as well, you need to drink if you live in Perth as there's some cracking bars with a great live music scene.

I love it here but it's very much the outdoors beach lifestyle, barbies round mates houses, hanging out in the sun. If you like all of the above you'll get on just fine, even if you're looking for balet, theatre and the arts there are now and again a few things on offer, however cultured Europe it isn't, this is Australia's version of culture at its best.

Mr Kilt

Cheers sounds good to me. Nah not after the European culture. I have lived in Brussels for 2 years and have had all the European "culture" I can handle. Give me the beach and the great outdoors any day.

Like the sound of boating on the river and the football "soccer". Glad to hear I can still get my fix of the priemership. Hopefuuly might even catch an SPL game or two as well

bruce n sheila

Been here 3 weeks . Think u will be fine !! It's a culture shock but can't beat the outdoor life

Mr Kilt

Culture shock? Glad you are loving the outdoor lifestyle

kate h

hey mr kilt - like the name - as a scot who grew up in brussels, especially! we lived for perth for a year in 2005 and cannot over-emphasis what a gift the river is - we had so many fabulous days on its beaches watching dolphins with the kids paddling etc. if you can do try to live near the river, the beaches are great at day break and sunset but SO glarey and hot during the day that i far preferred the beauty and shade of the river myself. we also went to margaret river at weekends a lot, and the south west corner (albany, denmark) is fantastic. i agree - give me the outdoors over european culture anyday! good luck!

Dorothy

After 4 years in Perth here's our typical weekend...

Friday night get home from work at 6. Make dinner for the family, eat at 7, clean up the dinner dishes and put the feet up after a 50 hour week.

Saturday morning get up and go grocery shopping because everything closes at 6 during the week and otherwise there would be no food in the house for the next week. Get home around 10 or 10:30 from shopping and start on the laundry that has piled up over the week. Spend the day doing washing, housecleaning and maybe ironing. Oh, and take the dogs for a walk or two during the breaks from cleaning.

Sunday morning sleep in until 6 since the dogs don't know the difference between weekdays and weekends. Finish up any leftover cleaning in the morning so we can get meals made for the following week and into the freezer. If it's not too late we might go to the beach with the mutts or head out to see friends.

It's not much different here than it was before moving to Australia. Different country, same shit.

kate h

dorothy, i hear you (my day began at half five every day in perth because of child number two, and we never ever made it to see the sunset over cottesloe beach bcs we were giving the kids their tea/dealing with tantrums/putting another load of washing on!). plus, we lived in a horrendous rented brick 70s build which was the most depressing house i have ever lived in my 40 years of life, my husband was constantly on nights and it was all a Big Strain!!!
BUT remember that, if i remember correctly, mr kilt isn't (yet) immersed in full-on domesticity (i think you're pre-kids mr k?) and that the natural beauty of perth is quite simply a joy to behold, the cycling/windsurfing/kitesurfing is fantastic and the beaches at sunset really are glorious. To wake up each morning to sunshine is something that I never took for granted (not after living in Scotland and Belgium!) either.
however, of course you're right - much of life remains the same wherever you live, to a degree, and in the words of a famous Buddhist book, 'wherever you go, there you are' (J Kornfield)!

Mr Kilt

Cheers, funny I had not even considered the river really but now really looking forward to it. As you know Brussels does not have a river or the like and we really miss the water. The dog loves a swim as well so he will be happy.

Mr Kilt

Yip pre kids and the likes but the wife is breathing down my neck We will have a good bit of free time for the first wee while so hopefully take full advantage before parenthood.

Love that saying Kate

paulry

Sounds spookily like my life in the UK. But OH and I are determined to break the routine and we believe that better weather and more space will help us achieve that

mbike

Looking back (we left in May after 4 1/2 years) these were the things we loved doing:

Going to Little Creatures in Freo for pizza and fries at the Sunday session (dog bowl outside)
Going to John Forest National park for a walk (dogs on leads)
Going to Araluen for the summer microclimate and the european plants (not sure about the dogs)
Walking around Kings Park pretty much any summer's evening. (dogs on lead)
Chasing the waves back and forth at Swanbourne (dogs allowed - good dog exercise track in the oval behind the beach)
Paddling in the only bit of calm sea on the coast at Yanchep lagoon (don't know about dogs)
Rokeby Road (Subi) in the evening, Northbridge at night (no dogs - unless it's a weapon dog)

btw ditch the 457 as soon as you can. It's a temporary visa and you will feel temporary as long as you are on it. Do everything you can to convince your bosses you are worth an ENS 856. Then go for the quickest citizenship route.

Good luck

kate h

ah...fond memories of little creatures evoked by that last post we used to live near north freo at the bottom end of mosman park and went there now and again, also loved the beach cafe at south freo and the fabulous fremantle market too. happy days

mbike

I think it's good if you can leave a place while the good memories outweigh the negative ones. I don't think we will ever find chips/fries like those Little Creatures ones - even if every mouthful was a russian roulette to discover if you had got a bad 'un that the peeler had missed. I see from other posts that you were there in 2005. Well Creatures has doubled in size since then with a huge water frontage.