PJK

To all heading for Perth I have just arrived back from a second fact finding mission this time with family attached as we are heading there in January 2005. I wanted to share my experince with anyone interested.

Perth airport was uncongested both ways and extremely clean the standard of which we found almost everywhere. The weather was a cool 21C most of the time being the middle of August but the sun still shone almost every day apart from last Wednesday when it rained 'cats and dogs'. We were advised to make sure we get aircon when we arrive in January however as the first summer is difficult for some Brits.

We looked at a lot of areas in the north this time (I looked as far south as the beautiful Mandurah back in April 2004) and were suitably impressed with house prices, quality of build, internal space and layout etc. A very nice new four bed two bathroom bungalow seemed to be priced between $250K - $400K but I was disappointed with the size of new build gardens. Rental in the north seemed to be averaging at about $250 - $300 per week for a 4 + 2.
St Hillary's and Mindarie harbours and nearby housing were lovely but expensive to live however just a few kms in land prices were more affordable. Joondalup seemed a good new town but too far north for one of the schools we had looked at (St Hilda's) but good for St Stephens school however this school could not accomodate all of our three daughters. Get your kids on a waiting list asap if you intend private schooling. Government schools may have to take you if you live in the catchment area I believe.

Perth CBD was pretty good for shopping and Kings Park beautiful especially in the early morning sun. Everwhere there are many shopping malls as good as you get in the UK and sometimes better and food was generally cheaper than the UK. A lot of the new areas in the north reminded me of Florida US rather than the Uk. We had a couple of lovely and reasonably priced dinners in the Northbridge restaurant area and a delightful lunch at the Blue Duck Cottesloe beach. At all the places we eat even beach side the prices were mainly very reasonable and the people were so so polite.

The early morning rush hour traffic seemed light compared to the UK and cars on all the roads were always moving. In most of the areas we saw the road system has been well thought out.

Did not actually see any crime but anti crime posters on the trains and bill boards being evident everywhere plus what all the locals we met told us meant it is there and probably as high a rate as in the UK.

Having left my driving licence in Singapore we thought we had a major disaster but instead of wasting time we used the public transport system. On the trains and buses it was fantastic compared to where we live (Bristol) and very cheap and indeed the central Perth buses are free, on time and operating all day (not sure about Sunday's). Taxis were normally priced at about a A$1 per km however we negotiated with a UK expat taxi driver we met at the airport to take us all over the place for 3 hours at about A$40 per hour.

Petrol is cheap but had just hit A$1 per litre in some garages. I hired a car last time I was in Perth and found the whole place both north and south of the river easy to navigate as the roads are usually of a high standard and traffic light.

Whilst we were there the local press advertised many properties both for sale and for rent as well as many cars and a lot of tradesmen type jobs plus sales, admin etc.

The thing that we found most impressive was not just the space, cleanliness, weather (most of the year) and optimism about the place but the people. We met many UK expats, locals, international expats and they all had one thing in common which was helpful and very friendly.

A land of milk and honey it is probably not and we know after a while missing the family and friends will be an issue and there are only so many beaches and barbies you can go to before that appeal drops off somewhat but overall I think if you make the very best of it, stick it out for at least a year if you can become employed and enjoy the lifestyle you will settle eventually.

Having been very lucky to have travelled all over the world and experince of the up rooting process and living overseas in the middle east and europe due to work committments I believe with adequate planning (not like the 2 months or so you often see on no going back) we can make it and I know the homesick feelings to expect. I would tell anyone contemplating a move to not expect the grass to be totally greener but if you like being outdoors for most of the year, friendly non materialistic people, optimism, lack of traffic, cheaper housing, more space etc. etc. then with plenty of planning behind you give it a try.

We arrived back into the UK after a streamlined experince through both Perth and Singapore airports to be delayed for 40 minutes on the ground as a stand was unavailable at Heathrow. When we eventually disembarked the first Heathrow toilets we used were blocked and filthy (I felt embarrassed being among a lot of Singaporean passengers) and you had to wait in a long line of of people for both passport control and unbelieveably a baggage trolley! Needless to say it took us nearly 2 hours from landing just to get out of Heathrow. Welcome back!

We are leaving not because we hate the UK but because we believe the UK is worn out and many systems like transport, health, etc are failing or are of poor quality due to bad planning, lack of repect and overcrowding.

I hope this has helped anyone to get a warm feeling for Perth and surrounding areas if you are intending relocating to WA.



PJK

denhim

you mentioned that the u.k transport is bad planning, i find that perth`s transport is just as bad. for instance if i want to go from joondalup to midland i will have to travel all the way into the city just to change trains where as if they had planned a rail network better it would take me straight there. also the mitchell freeway ends at joondalup but now they have built suburbs everywhere right up to quins rocks, so they are going to struggle to extend it.

i love perth to bits but this suburbia narks me. i miss having different towns and cities with there own town centre`s and night life. and the pubs here lack atmosphere. they are like them hill billie red neck bars you see on american tv shows.
but there is more stuff i like about perth than i dont like, so i will continue to live here untill i get bored

bonza69

I totally disagree wi u.......so because the train system doesnt take u straight to ur doorstep at work...u compare it to the uk......as if.......are u half asleep and if u look properly,ull find that after Quinns is Jindalee )and if u read more ud relise that Marmion is being extened along with future plans of a new city,Perth is growing all the time,every where u look theres new development,and thats a good thing.....rite????.....Perth is nowere near as congested as the UK...and the railway system is better and the roads are a breeze.......And have u been out on a nite ...the nite life may be not kicking every were...and ill admit some pubs are dire......but not all of them ,just the few......the city is good and the few other places ive been are fab..and after a few every thing always looks good anyway Im not dishing u,i just think u was a it harsh
Ps...its good to here ur story of ur visit...
tasha

MikeStanton

Lack of respect - for whom exactly?

Perth is an intensely thrilling place -the "Stepford Wives" of cities.

bonza69

Hi Mike....u dont mean me do........Lack of respect??????
Tasha

Vegemite Kids

Joondalup is north of the City.

Midland is east of the city.




Why do you find it surprising that you have to go ino the city to change trains ??????

Would you complain the same about London ????? Birmingham ???? Manchester ????? Glasgow ?????

My experience of the UK (and other countries) tells me its normal to go to the centre to change directions

jenp

Good post PJK,

Sounds very similar to what I have found in Perth. Hope the info is useful to others thinking of moving there.

Jenp.

Badge

[QUOTE=denhim] like them hill billie red neck bars you see on american tv shows.
QUOTE]

Any bar where I can turn up in my thongs and singlet gets my vote.

BM

PJK

When I talk of lack of respect I mean the lack of many people in the UK for each other and other people's property. A lot of people (not all) in the UK nowaday's seem to have have no pride in themselves so can hardly have any respect for other people. Those that do abide by the law are often shallow and let themselves down by being hell bent on thinking of the next new car or bigger television than next door. Just go to Bilbao or Berlin on an evening or on a Sunday and you will see people actually make an effort to look smart and go out for a walk with their families and enjoy the city using and looking after the amenities. I always remember a lady in a small town called Getxo north of Bilbao telling me of the day the English came for the 1982 world cup. The first thing they did was rip down all the palm trees along the sea front. I am not saying Aus is perfect as I have only visited a few times and am not qualified to really know the full story but during my visits I spoke to as many people as I could and they all seemed to have different attitudes toward fellow human beings.

PJK

PJK

Hi Denhim

The Perth taxi driver I met told me the rail system was being extended further north and when I drove south there were big signs up saying the railway would be extended south in 2006 I think and so keeping up with both north and south development.

I think I was impressed because I come from a city where there is just one two lane motorway into the city centre which everyone uses particularly during rush hour hence the system is grid locked for hours. Trams have been talked about for 30 years but nothing ever done. We have many railway lines into Bristol which have been disused for years which if they had developed trains running every 15 minutes would ease congestion (hence my comment bad planning), make the local government owners lots of money and keep the cars out of the city centre. Many other cities (because of a one Lord Beeching) are the same from my experience.

I agree with you about pubs and we do have great pubs in the UK but then you guys can socialise outside which we can only really do for about 2 months of the year especially on an evening

Cheers

PJK

G&J

PJ, you mentioned private schooling, did you find out how expensive this is.
We are in exactly the same boat - done 2 fact finding trips & hope to move Jan 2005 (start of the shool year)

jopaulss

PJK glad to hear you had a good trip
The sun is still shininh today a little chilly at 17 but still glorious especially for winter hey, cant be bad
Joanne

renth

Good post PJK, sums up my feelings pretty well, I've been here 18 months.

School fees. The "affordable" private scools are around $4000 a year and there are usually discounts for siblings. Unless you are really lucky you will have a long wait to get in to one of these schools.

The "elite" schools are about $10,000 a year for middle and high school years, quite a bit less for primary age. These schools also have waiting lists but, from experience, it's easire to get in with junior aged kids. Most parents who want their kids to go to an elite school wait untill high school age.

It seems to me it's harder for junior aged kids to get in to "affordable" schools but a bit easier for older kids. On the other hand it's easier for juniors to get in to "elite" schools but harder for older kids.

Go Banana's !!

An excellent post PJK. You certainly seem to have the right attitude to succeed.

Good luck when you finally depart these shores !

Best wishes

Warren

Sander

I've read quite a bit about private schools on this forum. Are they really that much better than the state schools? It might be me, but I think that paying $10.000 for a year of high school is A LOT. The whole concept of private schools is a bit strange to me, here in the Netherlands there hardly are any private schools and 99.9% goes to 'normal' schools which are just fine...
I guess my question is whether the education offered by private schools is significantly better than that offered by state schools?