Some realities of Perth.
Apr 17th 2007, 1:10 am
#76
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2006
Location: WA but NOT Perth!!!!!
Posts: 3,318
Re: Some realities of Perth.
I would point out that WA isnt just Perth, there are many other diverse and interesting places to live in WA than just its capital.....
Apr 17th 2007, 1:50 am
#77
The Godfather
Joined: Feb 2004
Location: South East Suburbs of Melbourne
Posts: 7,336
Re: Some realities of Perth.
I don't know of any other city in Aus that gets the extreme reactions Perth does. Seems you either love it or hate it.
Apr 17th 2007, 2:00 am
#78
(It's not my real name)
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Ilukapool. WA
Posts: 12,467
Apr 17th 2007, 2:00 am
#79
Account Closed
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 2,375
Re: Some realities of Perth.
Bordy,
Got to disagree there fella.
We think it's a great place to live but the city has it's limitations. I guess it's the same anywhere.
We shall soldier on for the time being.
Got to disagree there fella.
We think it's a great place to live but the city has it's limitations. I guess it's the same anywhere.
We shall soldier on for the time being.
Apr 17th 2007, 10:22 am
#80
Banned
Joined: Jan 2007
Location: Bournemouth, Dorset
Posts: 338
Re: Some realities of Perth.
....................
Apr 17th 2007, 10:47 am
#81
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: napier, NZ back to Freo in 2008!
Posts: 244
Re: Some realities of Perth.
I was really interested to hear your Perth Rant.. It reminds me of some of the things that used to frustrate us when we first arrived.
The internet - Try iinet. ADSL 2 I thought it was the dogs.
SHoes- It took me ages to get used to this, but actually I now find it indearing. Its just another thing that WAs dont need to bother with.
SUNDAY - Agree, it takes lots of time to adjus to no sunday shopping, you have to plan a little better to ensure you have the big things. However if you really want big shops on a sunday, most Shops in Fremantle (inc Coles, Myer, Target, Bunnings,) are open additionally there are the brilliant sunday markets (mainly toursit tatt, but great for fruit and veges late in the arvo (4pm +) as the traders call to sell off.
There are also many of the independant shops open. You get can the train every 30 mins. (additionally i think garden city may open sunday as well?/ although could be wrong)
There are some brilliant pubs in Freo as well, dont worry too much about what you hear from the North Siders about Freo being risky.. Trust me, its a lot safer than most UK towns on a Friday/Sat night as there is a big family focus.
Taxis can be a problem, but the trains are great on a weekend unless your clubbing and then, well, stay over with a mate?
The honeymoon period is over for you guys (if it ever begun) but take a little time to breath, get used to the slower pace (i think 1950s) and let the place grow on you..
Im over seas for a year and it has really confirmed for me that Perth rocks, the weather, the beaches, the parks.... Your right about property, but break down into GBP what your new build is costing in total and then have a look on property pages in Glasgow to see what you can actually buy, you still are a little better off.
As for Margaret River, thats just it, 10 mins to walk down the street, there is only 2 pubs and 4 bars, but thats nice isnt it? (try the colonial brewary & bootleg next time as well) The walks on the beach, the clean air? The need to do nothing except drink red wine, fill up on local cheese and chocolate (although its good but not as good as the stuff Im going to make one day) kick back, relax and gets some mates over...
Its all about creating the new life you want, not trying to create your old life in a new place.
Good Luck with it all,
next time your stuck in traffic take a look at the surroundings, or drive to the ocean at lunch time.
Cheers
The internet - Try iinet. ADSL 2 I thought it was the dogs.
SHoes- It took me ages to get used to this, but actually I now find it indearing. Its just another thing that WAs dont need to bother with.
SUNDAY - Agree, it takes lots of time to adjus to no sunday shopping, you have to plan a little better to ensure you have the big things. However if you really want big shops on a sunday, most Shops in Fremantle (inc Coles, Myer, Target, Bunnings,) are open additionally there are the brilliant sunday markets (mainly toursit tatt, but great for fruit and veges late in the arvo (4pm +) as the traders call to sell off.
There are also many of the independant shops open. You get can the train every 30 mins. (additionally i think garden city may open sunday as well?/ although could be wrong)
There are some brilliant pubs in Freo as well, dont worry too much about what you hear from the North Siders about Freo being risky.. Trust me, its a lot safer than most UK towns on a Friday/Sat night as there is a big family focus.
Taxis can be a problem, but the trains are great on a weekend unless your clubbing and then, well, stay over with a mate?
The honeymoon period is over for you guys (if it ever begun) but take a little time to breath, get used to the slower pace (i think 1950s) and let the place grow on you..
Im over seas for a year and it has really confirmed for me that Perth rocks, the weather, the beaches, the parks.... Your right about property, but break down into GBP what your new build is costing in total and then have a look on property pages in Glasgow to see what you can actually buy, you still are a little better off.
As for Margaret River, thats just it, 10 mins to walk down the street, there is only 2 pubs and 4 bars, but thats nice isnt it? (try the colonial brewary & bootleg next time as well) The walks on the beach, the clean air? The need to do nothing except drink red wine, fill up on local cheese and chocolate (although its good but not as good as the stuff Im going to make one day) kick back, relax and gets some mates over...
Its all about creating the new life you want, not trying to create your old life in a new place.
Good Luck with it all,
next time your stuck in traffic take a look at the surroundings, or drive to the ocean at lunch time.
Cheers
Apr 17th 2007, 12:12 pm
#82
happy to be here!
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Ellenbrook, WA
Posts: 2,732
Apr 17th 2007, 12:25 pm
#83
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 1,999
Re: Some realities of Perth.
£125 is cheap. Perth to Sydney is a greater distance than London to Moscow and not much less than London to Nova Scotia Canada, a return flight to which costs around £700.
Last edited by Tableland; Apr 17th 2007 at 12:28 pm.
Apr 17th 2007, 1:18 pm
#84
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 517
Re: Some realities of Perth.
My wife and i have now been in Perth for 6 months and all we can think about is when we can get out of it. Unfortunately we are in the process of building a house so we will be here for another year at least !!!! ( jumped into the market to quick ).
I am not writing this to scare people off from Perth however if you are in the UK and are dreaming of coming here then you may like to know of some of the harsh realities of life here.
First of all i would like to point out that most of the shops are closed on Sundays. There are many big shopping centres here and none are doing business on Sundays !!! Yes the city is open but the stores there are crap compared to the UK and it is so small. It may sound trivial but when you have come from a place where Sunday shopping is quite normal it is bloody hard to get your head around. Apparently WA is the only state in OZ where this happens ?
Lots of people walk about in their bare feet !!!! Let me tell you that this is weird to see when you are working in a University (like i am) and you see people walking to classes with no shoes ! Am i the only one who finds this disgusting ????
The freeways are just as busy as the roads were in Glasgow, so don't think that driving here is a pleasure, in fact it is one of the most frustrating things about Perth.
The people here just don't know how to drive. Drivers will sit at 90 ks in the outside lane and they don't move over for anyone so they overtake down the inside lane. It is real life wacky races.
They also love doing burnouts in their V8s. We live in Greenwood and it is a decent suburb however it seems to be the burnout capital of Perth.
Drivers here have no curtesy either. You will sit at a junction for ever and no one will let you out, they don't flash their lights here (to let you in /out at junctions) and a friendly wave of thanks is non existent.
The nearest pub is always miles away and the drink is expensive. $8 a pint in the Greenwood is considered good and $10 is normal in other bars.I have paid $15 for drink in Subiaco ! Getting a taxi from the city or Northbridge is almost impossible. There are no private taxi companies here so they are sparse to say the least. Never mind, you could always have a few pints then drive home. Drink driving here is rife, worse than Scotland.
The cost of living (for us) is roughly the same as it was in Scotland. House rental prices are high as are house prices, fruit and veg is pretty expensive, bills etc are similar to what we were used to. We got a bill from the water board for $84 for 2 months water at our plot of land !!!!!!!!!! It is just a big plot of dirt and have never seen any water in my time there ????
The one big difference though is the cost of petrol, much cheaper than UK prices, although it is going up all the time. It was $1.06 in December and it is now hitting $1.32 in some garages.
Banks are worse here than in the UK. You get charged for having an account with the banks ($5 a month) and if you use atm's make sure it is your own banks that you use, you get charged for using other atm's.
They don't hold any large amounts of cash either which made life difficult for us when we tried to buy a car. We went to the local branch to withdraw $7000 and were told that we would not be able to get this amount from the one branch, so we had to go to 2 banks to get this money out !!!
Internet connection is as slow as a week in the jail. Broadband is miles behind the UK and is such a problem that it features highly in the political stakes.
The topic is Perth and its isolation hits home when you get here too. I thought about a weekend in Sydney recently and it is $300 one way. Instead we chose to drive to Margaret River, one of WA's premier holiday destinations. We walked the length of the town in 10 minutes and had a drink in one of the 2 bars there. Not much happening there, except for wineries.
There are also a shortage of building materials which causes delays in house building.
The good things about Perth are it's beaches and weather, although it is raining heavy as i write this.
I know everyone will not agree with this thread , but these are only our thoughts and experiences of Perth.
Oh and if any of you guys are joiners / carpenters then be warned, they use gyproc over 5 metres long here !!!!!!!
I am not writing this to scare people off from Perth however if you are in the UK and are dreaming of coming here then you may like to know of some of the harsh realities of life here.
First of all i would like to point out that most of the shops are closed on Sundays. There are many big shopping centres here and none are doing business on Sundays !!! Yes the city is open but the stores there are crap compared to the UK and it is so small. It may sound trivial but when you have come from a place where Sunday shopping is quite normal it is bloody hard to get your head around. Apparently WA is the only state in OZ where this happens ?
Lots of people walk about in their bare feet !!!! Let me tell you that this is weird to see when you are working in a University (like i am) and you see people walking to classes with no shoes ! Am i the only one who finds this disgusting ????
The freeways are just as busy as the roads were in Glasgow, so don't think that driving here is a pleasure, in fact it is one of the most frustrating things about Perth.
The people here just don't know how to drive. Drivers will sit at 90 ks in the outside lane and they don't move over for anyone so they overtake down the inside lane. It is real life wacky races.
They also love doing burnouts in their V8s. We live in Greenwood and it is a decent suburb however it seems to be the burnout capital of Perth.
Drivers here have no curtesy either. You will sit at a junction for ever and no one will let you out, they don't flash their lights here (to let you in /out at junctions) and a friendly wave of thanks is non existent.
The nearest pub is always miles away and the drink is expensive. $8 a pint in the Greenwood is considered good and $10 is normal in other bars.I have paid $15 for drink in Subiaco ! Getting a taxi from the city or Northbridge is almost impossible. There are no private taxi companies here so they are sparse to say the least. Never mind, you could always have a few pints then drive home. Drink driving here is rife, worse than Scotland.
The cost of living (for us) is roughly the same as it was in Scotland. House rental prices are high as are house prices, fruit and veg is pretty expensive, bills etc are similar to what we were used to. We got a bill from the water board for $84 for 2 months water at our plot of land !!!!!!!!!! It is just a big plot of dirt and have never seen any water in my time there ????
The one big difference though is the cost of petrol, much cheaper than UK prices, although it is going up all the time. It was $1.06 in December and it is now hitting $1.32 in some garages.
Banks are worse here than in the UK. You get charged for having an account with the banks ($5 a month) and if you use atm's make sure it is your own banks that you use, you get charged for using other atm's.
They don't hold any large amounts of cash either which made life difficult for us when we tried to buy a car. We went to the local branch to withdraw $7000 and were told that we would not be able to get this amount from the one branch, so we had to go to 2 banks to get this money out !!!
Internet connection is as slow as a week in the jail. Broadband is miles behind the UK and is such a problem that it features highly in the political stakes.
The topic is Perth and its isolation hits home when you get here too. I thought about a weekend in Sydney recently and it is $300 one way. Instead we chose to drive to Margaret River, one of WA's premier holiday destinations. We walked the length of the town in 10 minutes and had a drink in one of the 2 bars there. Not much happening there, except for wineries.
There are also a shortage of building materials which causes delays in house building.
The good things about Perth are it's beaches and weather, although it is raining heavy as i write this.
I know everyone will not agree with this thread , but these are only our thoughts and experiences of Perth.
Oh and if any of you guys are joiners / carpenters then be warned, they use gyproc over 5 metres long here !!!!!!!
Works for me everytime;-)
Mark
Apr 17th 2007, 1:37 pm
#85
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2006
Location: Ocean reef
Posts: 545
Re: Some realities of Perth.
mmm hungry jacks oops sorry wrong picture lol
Apr 17th 2007, 3:06 pm
#86
www.perthcrest.com.au
Joined: May 2005
Location: Wonderful Carine, Perth
Posts: 454
Re: Some realities of Perth.
Stop for a minute. Look up at the sky. See how blue it is. And how picture perfect the clouds are. Now close your eyes. Breathe deeply. Smell the crisp clean air, with the subtle undercurrent of Eucalyptus and Rosemary. Listen carefully. Hear the birds singing. Beautiful, isn't it? Try remembering what it was that brought you half way around the world. The dream. Then open your eyes again.
Works for me everytime;-)
Mark
Works for me everytime;-)
Mark
Mark - I totally agree - The weather here, clean air and wildlife raises your spirit big time, some may not appreciate it though.
Sunday shopping - WHO CARES! We have thursday late night shopping and 6 days shopping. The malls (open during 6 days) are huge, Whitfords is one of the biggest in the southern hemesphere. There is Karrinyup (our favourite), morley, innaloo, joondalup in the northern suburbs. They are all modern malls and sell everything you can get in the UK. It is great that Sunday is closed for the big malls - so it should be (although I think it will change over time). We spend Sundays as a family, out at the parks, with friends, doing stuff around the house, at the beach or a bbq if its warm, watching sport, walking the dogs, out on the jet skis etc. etc. Plus, if you need them, a lot of local shopping centres and Bunnings (B & Q) are open.
Bare Shoes - I have been in business over here for a year and never see anyone in bare feet. Sometimes in the local shops you see some people, often kids have no shoes - WHO CARES!
Freeways - Yes agreed, they can be busy BUT the distances are much smaller than the UK and it does help to plan your trip at peek times. Unfortunately there are some nutters on the road who weave in and out of traffic. The police need to work on this.
Pubs - There are some Pubs here, usually connected to bottle shops otherwise plenty in the cities (Perth and Freo) - but if you think you are going to miss your local or want somewhere to walk down the road to, please dont bother moving. Everything is well planned and laid out due to land area and decent planning. We like it, lots of parks, large shopping malls, wide roads, decent size housing plots etc. Most people tend to have friends round to their house rather than meet down the pub.
Banks - Ok, they charge a monthly fee of $5, we knew this before we emigrated after some research, if $5 or £2 per month is going to get you down, please please stay in the UK. I am sure over time it will become more competitive - all it takes is for one of the banks to offer free no monthly fee banking.
Internet - We have bigpond broadband and it runs fast and fine. We have no problem with speed and I run a software business and use it all the time.
Isolation - If you think you are going to need to pop over to France, Austria, Spain or Italy etc on a regular basis then dont bother coming here. Once you are here, you have to get your head around other holiday destinations including many in WA as well as other states and asia. There is always plenty to do locally in Perth (Shopping - not on Sundays in the malls though
, National Parks, Cruise on the river, out to a restaurant, the beaches, parks, bbqs at home or the beach, boogie boarding, surfing, swimming, WA Museum is excellent, horse racing etc. etc.) Having kids, we find the number of sports they do is tenfold, almost something everyday after school and you can often allocate a day on Saturdays just to their current sport (Soccer, AFL, Tee-ball), whereas the UK - I froze my nuts off watching soccer on a Sunday. The weather makes a huge difference here, especially for our kids.
We love it here, we have met many friends through school and sports, however, I can understand how some people, especially those who don't have kids may find it a little difficult to integrate and make friends. But those pottential friends are not going to stand on your doorstep, you have to work hard to fit in with society and people around you.
Good luck with everyones plans, be it, going back to the UK or emigrating over here - it is all an experience, and if it does not work out just move on to your next dream and make it happen.
Cheers,
Andrew
Apr 17th 2007, 4:23 pm
#87
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2006
Location: Ocean reef
Posts: 545
Re: Some realities of Perth.
Best post have read in ages my friend couldnt agree with you more, as i have said before i wouldnt be sat on here whinging i would be doing somthing about it ie going back to uk. Yes oz does have its negative points but if you sat down and wrote all the negative things down and the positive the positive would far outweigh the negative. Personally i would rather holiday in oz than keep going back to the same hotel in majorca year after year.
My advice if you think perth is boring get out and see the real australia you could go somwhere different every holiday for rest of your life and still not scratch the surface, its a wonderful country! I can say this as i have driven all the way round it and would do it again tomorrow!
My advice if you think perth is boring get out and see the real australia you could go somwhere different every holiday for rest of your life and still not scratch the surface, its a wonderful country! I can say this as i have driven all the way round it and would do it again tomorrow!
Apr 17th 2007, 5:18 pm
#88
Fighting my corner
Joined: Aug 2005
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Posts: 11,948
Re: Some realities of Perth.
Wrong.
As a West Australian born and bred, I feel compelled to point out that WA has three major private taxi companies: Swan Taxis, Independent Taxis and Black & White Taxis.
They're all over the place; you can't miss them.
As a West Australian born and bred, I feel compelled to point out that WA has three major private taxi companies: Swan Taxis, Independent Taxis and Black & White Taxis.
They're all over the place; you can't miss them.
Apr 17th 2007, 7:26 pm
#89
Account Closed
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,693
Re: Some realities of Perth.
Right, Im going to put my two penneth in:
Mark - I totally agree - The weather here, clean air and wildlife raises your spirit big time, some may not appreciate it though.
Sunday shopping - WHO CARES! We have thursday late night shopping and 6 days shopping. The malls (open during 6 days) are huge, Whitfords is one of the biggest in the southern hemesphere. There is Karrinyup (our favourite), morley, innaloo, joondalup in the northern suburbs. They are all modern malls and sell everything you can get in the UK. It is great that Sunday is closed for the big malls - so it should be (although I think it will change over time). We spend Sundays as a family, out at the parks, with friends, doing stuff around the house, at the beach or a bbq if its warm, watching sport, walking the dogs, out on the jet skis etc. etc. Plus, if you need them, a lot of local shopping centres and Bunnings (B & Q) are open.
Bare Shoes - I have been in business over here for a year and never see anyone in bare feet. Sometimes in the local shops you see some people, often kids have no shoes - WHO CARES!
Freeways - Yes agreed, they can be busy BUT the distances are much smaller than the UK and it does help to plan your trip at peek times. Unfortunately there are some nutters on the road who weave in and out of traffic. The police need to work on this.
Pubs - There are some Pubs here, usually connected to bottle shops otherwise plenty in the cities (Perth and Freo) - but if you think you are going to miss your local or want somewhere to walk down the road to, please dont bother moving. Everything is well planned and laid out due to land area and decent planning. We like it, lots of parks, large shopping malls, wide roads, decent size housing plots etc. Most people tend to have friends round to their house rather than meet down the pub.
Banks - Ok, they charge a monthly fee of $5, we knew this before we emigrated after some research, if $5 or £2 per month is going to get you down, please please stay in the UK. I am sure over time it will become more competitive - all it takes is for one of the banks to offer free no monthly fee banking.
Internet - We have bigpond broadband and it runs fast and fine. We have no problem with speed and I run a software business and use it all the time.
Isolation - If you think you are going to need to pop over to France, Austria, Spain or Italy etc on a regular basis then dont bother coming here. Once you are here, you have to get your head around other holiday destinations including many in WA as well as other states and asia. There is always plenty to do locally in Perth (Shopping - not on Sundays in the malls though , National Parks, Cruise on the river, out to a restaurant, the beaches, parks, bbqs at home or the beach, boogie boarding, surfing, swimming, WA Museum is excellent, horse racing etc. etc.)
Having kids, we find the number of sports they do is tenfold, almost something everyday after school and you can often allocate a day on Saturdays just to their current sport (Soccer, AFL, Tee-ball), whereas the UK - I froze my nuts off watching soccer on a Sunday. The weather makes a huge difference here, especially for our kids.
We love it here, we have met many friends through school and sports, however, I can understand how some people, especially those who don't have kids may find it a little difficult to integrate and make friends. But those pottential friends are not going to stand on your doorstep, you have to work hard to fit in with society and people around you.
Good luck with everyones plans, be it, going back to the UK or emigrating over here - it is all an experience, and if it does not work out just move on to your next dream and make it happen.
Cheers,
Andrew
Mark - I totally agree - The weather here, clean air and wildlife raises your spirit big time, some may not appreciate it though.
Sunday shopping - WHO CARES! We have thursday late night shopping and 6 days shopping. The malls (open during 6 days) are huge, Whitfords is one of the biggest in the southern hemesphere. There is Karrinyup (our favourite), morley, innaloo, joondalup in the northern suburbs. They are all modern malls and sell everything you can get in the UK. It is great that Sunday is closed for the big malls - so it should be (although I think it will change over time). We spend Sundays as a family, out at the parks, with friends, doing stuff around the house, at the beach or a bbq if its warm, watching sport, walking the dogs, out on the jet skis etc. etc. Plus, if you need them, a lot of local shopping centres and Bunnings (B & Q) are open.
Bare Shoes - I have been in business over here for a year and never see anyone in bare feet. Sometimes in the local shops you see some people, often kids have no shoes - WHO CARES!
Freeways - Yes agreed, they can be busy BUT the distances are much smaller than the UK and it does help to plan your trip at peek times. Unfortunately there are some nutters on the road who weave in and out of traffic. The police need to work on this.
Pubs - There are some Pubs here, usually connected to bottle shops otherwise plenty in the cities (Perth and Freo) - but if you think you are going to miss your local or want somewhere to walk down the road to, please dont bother moving. Everything is well planned and laid out due to land area and decent planning. We like it, lots of parks, large shopping malls, wide roads, decent size housing plots etc. Most people tend to have friends round to their house rather than meet down the pub.
Banks - Ok, they charge a monthly fee of $5, we knew this before we emigrated after some research, if $5 or £2 per month is going to get you down, please please stay in the UK. I am sure over time it will become more competitive - all it takes is for one of the banks to offer free no monthly fee banking.
Internet - We have bigpond broadband and it runs fast and fine. We have no problem with speed and I run a software business and use it all the time.
Isolation - If you think you are going to need to pop over to France, Austria, Spain or Italy etc on a regular basis then dont bother coming here. Once you are here, you have to get your head around other holiday destinations including many in WA as well as other states and asia. There is always plenty to do locally in Perth (Shopping - not on Sundays in the malls though
, National Parks, Cruise on the river, out to a restaurant, the beaches, parks, bbqs at home or the beach, boogie boarding, surfing, swimming, WA Museum is excellent, horse racing etc. etc.) Having kids, we find the number of sports they do is tenfold, almost something everyday after school and you can often allocate a day on Saturdays just to their current sport (Soccer, AFL, Tee-ball), whereas the UK - I froze my nuts off watching soccer on a Sunday. The weather makes a huge difference here, especially for our kids.
We love it here, we have met many friends through school and sports, however, I can understand how some people, especially those who don't have kids may find it a little difficult to integrate and make friends. But those pottential friends are not going to stand on your doorstep, you have to work hard to fit in with society and people around you.
Good luck with everyones plans, be it, going back to the UK or emigrating over here - it is all an experience, and if it does not work out just move on to your next dream and make it happen.
Cheers,
Andrew
Apr 17th 2007, 7:36 pm
#90
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,991
Re: Some realities of Perth.
Boy was i glad of them last week
