sunchaser

Hello everyone!

We’re finally back on-line at last! Yipppeeeee!!!
I thought I’d tell you about our life here in Perth and what we’ve been up to. Now firstly I want to say this is not going to detract from Jill’s, (aka Go Bananas), diary. Her diary is fab and I’m seriously hooked on hers. This is just a little bit of what we’ve experienced and hopefully will give those that are coming over another perspective of life down under.

Just have to quickly say… I’ve met the Perth Pole Dancing girls, and wow!!!! They are fab and serious fun! They’ve also made me feel right at home and not like an outsider. Thanks girls, if you’re reading this!!

Ok, the shortened version…
Arrived in Perth 1st of September 2004.
Furniture arrived on time – 2nd of September 2004 – (used PSS and would strongly recommend them!!)
Bought 2 cars within 3 days.
Found a suitable rental after 7 days and moved in a week later.
Furniture delivered 2 days later after moving in. Fridge arrived too and is proudly standing in the kitchen.
Got a job 22 days after arriving. Wasn’t really looking and didn’t even really go for an interview…!

Right, if you’re easily bored you can stop reading now. For those of you that want all the gory details then read on. Actually get a cuppa or glass of wine as this is going to take a while… I’ve got so much to tell you!! I’m going to do this in stages, as there is just so much to tell…

We flew direct to Perth from Heathrow on the 31st of August. We arrived at Heathrow bright and early to ensure we would hopefully have no complications… Mmmmm, life’s never that easy is it? We got the Singapore Airline check-in employee from hell who was seriously not happy to be at work after the bank holiday weekend. As we had validated our visas in May and not used our migration baggage allowance we appealed to Singapore Airlines to get the extra baggage allowance which was granted. (So for those of you that have validated your visas and are immigrating at a later date – it can be done!) The lady who dealt with our appeal sent us a letter to grant the extra baggage allowance but said it was unnecessary to take the letter as it will all be entered on the computer. We had 4 suitcases, each weighing 20 kgs. The employee from hell wasn’t in the mood to be nice and after weighing the 3rd suitcase realized it was more than 40kg, yes he could add! He told us we were overweight! I told him we weren’t as we had 40kg each, therefore 80kg in total. He wasn’t having it and told us we would have to pay for the extra weight! As always, being prepared, I politely showed him the letter to which he showed no interest whatsoever!!! It was on original Singapore letterheaded paper but nope, he was just not interested. After some persuasion he read it and with a long face took it to his supervisor. Eventually he agreed that we could have the 80kg as if he was doing me a huge favour! I, of course, smiled politely and thanked the miserable so and so. Then he asked to weigh our hand luggage! Now that was not a good move, as I knew mine was overweight as I had my scuba diving regulator, which weighs 2.5kg. (It was supposed to be on our container but was unfortunately left behind.)
So, some quick thinking… Paul put his hand luggage on the scale whilst I started removing all heavy items from mine and put them on the floor between my legs! So, when my hand luggage was weighed… it was fine! It was pretty funny when I had to pick it up and walk away… I’m amazed the guy that directs you to the counters didn’t say anything! Anyway, desperate measures had to be taken and we took them!
The flights to Singapore and then onwards to Perth were fine and pretty uneventful. Service, food and on demand videos were excellent. This is the second time we flew with Singapore Airlines and I’d still recommend them.

Day 1: Wednesday, 1st September 2004
We arrived in Perth. The sun was shining, blue skies, temperature nice and warm. That evening as we walked to the beach we couldn’t believe we were finally here and it seemed quite strange that we now live in Australia! Pretty wild feeling! We visited some friends and had take-away pizzas and drank loads of wine. A good start to our life down under!

Day 2: Thursday, 2nd September 2004
We went to view a few properties. It was quite unusual as we just paid a deposit and collected the keys from the agent to view the properties on our own at our leisure. Not all agencies do that. Unfortunately none of the properties we saw were suitable.
We passed a Toyota dealership and went in to inquire on the vehicles that we were interested in. We knew what we wanted which is a really big help. We took one of the vehicles for a test drive and afterwards were introduced to the Manager to talk figures. As it happened he is also British and has been here for 10 years. We started chatting and he offered me a job to sell cars! How wild is that!! Anyway, we went away to think about the car deal.

Day 3: Friday, 3rd September 2004
Viewed more properties, none of which were even vaguely suitable. Now I have to warn you, many of the rental houses are not of great standard. What I mean is the inside is a bit old and some of the houses are a bit odd to say the least. We did view one, which was almost an insult to even think we’d like it. It smelt awful inside and was absolutely horrible. I couldn’t believe the agent had the cheek to even give me the keys and think I’d like it! The house hunting was frustrating, as anything that was good had already been taken. You really need to be persistent and just keep trying. The other thing that no one told us was that when you like a property you have to fill in an application and pay a deposit. That sounds okay but what they don’t tell you is that if there are other viewers they also fill in an application form and pay deposits. The landlord then decides which applicant he would like to rent his/her property. The unsuccessful applicants get their deposits returned but if you have applied and paid the deposit and decide to pull out you lose your deposit. So, what that means is that possibly you may not be successful but you can’t really continue to look around either.

Day 4: Saturday, 4th September 2004
Viewed a few more properties. Returned to the Toyota dealership and bought 2 cars. Paul’s had a small dent, which they had to repair. Mine they would buy at an auction but we’d agreed a price that we would pay for it. We felt we got an excellent deal. We wanted to pick up both vehicles together so agreed to wait until mine arrived from Melbourne.
Weather, rained on and off all day. When it rained it really threw it down and when it stopped there were blue skies!
In the evening I went to meet the Perth Pole Dancing girls for Teresa’s saucy party. They are a fabulous bunch of girls and made me feel right at home, it was a great evening!

Day 5: Sunday, 5th September 2004
We went to 2 barbeques! The social diary is seriously starting to fill up with invites. I love it and feel we’re definitely going to like it here!!

Day 6: Monday, 6th September 2004
Viewed more properties. Getting frustrated now as still haven’t seen anything we like!
It rained in the evening.

Day 7: Tuesday, 7th September 2004
In the morning we went shopping for a few groceries in Coles before setting of to go house hunting. Paul took a folder with all our important documents, bank statements, references, new car sale forms etc. with him, as he didn’t want to leave it in the car. He put it at the bottom of the shopping basket and well, you can guess the rest… yes he left it there. We viewed properties all day and finally at about 4:30pm saw one that we decided to take. It doesn’t have air-conditioning but has a pool, which we really wanted. We decided to apply, thought we’d left the folder at the self catering apartment and then realized that he’d left it at Coles early that morning. Fearing the worst we raced to Coles as they close at 5pm AND we still wanted to get our application in asap. We got to Coles and our folder was returned to us, nothing misplaced or missing. Good to know there are still genuine, honest people around isn’t it! Anyway, we raced to the agent to get our application form in and were told we’d have to wait 48 hours for a decision. Very unnerving when the market is so buoyant.

Day 8: Wednesday, 8th September 2004
Went to Kent to sort out paper work for our furniture. Got Bankers Draft for our cars.
Rained on and off all day.
At dusk we went to Pinnaroo cemetery to see wild kangaroos. They go to the cemetery to eat the flowers that people leave. It’s not your usual cemetery with tombstones but instead has plaques on the ground. There was a lady hand feeding them, some of them as tall as she was! We also saw one with a Joey in her pouch! We sat on bench to watch and there were brightly parrots walking around our feet expecting us to feed them! Unfortunately we didn’t have anything but next time we will !!

Day 9: Thursday, 9th September 2004
We got confirmation that we’d got the house!! Yippeeeeeee!!!!
Not much else interesting happened. We did take a long walk along the beach, which was fabulous. In fact we do the walk most nights.

Day 10: Friday, 10th September 2004
We were hoping to collect our cars but mine was still somewhere between Melbourne and Perth. We went to Neil Hawkins Park to see more wild kangaroos. It was actually quite warm and we spotted a few in the bush. I took a few photos and will post them once I collect the photos. We then went to chill out in the park where there are many parrots, cockatoos, galahs, ducks etc. If you have seeds they will eat out of your hands! We lay on the grass and were surrounded by the birds. The cockatoos are really entertaining and lie on their backs with their legs in the air squawking away!
We also went to some camping and kayak shops. Starting to check out what toys we want to buy! Where ever we seem to go the staff are always friendly and a quick 10 minute look around turns into an hour or two chat! So far, so good and we’ve found out loads of interesting things to do, places to go etc.
In the evening we went to visit some more friends and again had a fab time.

Ok guys and gals, I think that’s enough for now. If you’re finding this informative and helpful I’ll continue so just let me know if you want to know the rest.
Colleen and Paul

Simone

Keep going!!!!!!! I want to know about the job!!!!!!


Btw, are most of the houses you were looking at with pools?
Cause I keep telling people(well, Larissa), that it's not to hard to find a reasonably decent rental, Unless you want a pool, then there's less choice...
And of course it probably depends on the area as well...
Well, and the price you're willing to pay..
Oh, never mind!


Psst, change your location!!

artep

Wow!! Great post!! Keep it coming!!

Sounds like you're thoroughly enjoying yourselves so far!!

Good to hear about the baggage allowance with Singapore Airlines....we validated last year and I thought we were stuffed concerning the allowance when we finally leave...I shall def push for the extra allowance when we go....cheers for that!!

Hope everything continues to go well for you....good luck!

Petra

pockygoes

Oh God yes - more more!!!

Glad you have made a good start - sounds like you knew people there anyway - where abouts have you decided to rent?

Can I ask who did you approach for the migrant baggage allowance. We validated in January this year & are flying out 3/1. Could you let us know the contact details & in what form your begging took - ie over the phone or by email & we will give it a go!!!!

Did you use john masons? we have shortlisted to john masons & Crown.

Keep the diaries coming - hurry up!!!

All the best

pockygoes

lindseyden

Definately more please........

We are hoping to be there beginning of Dec. It's really interesting to see how everyone gets on in their first few days. Keep it comong

Lindsey

Salli

Colleen....great post! Could you let me know the rental agencies/real estate agents you went to, and also which garage you went to for the cars? We're moving to Perth in November and have a short time frame (2/3 weeks) to find a rental property. Any advice/info would be gratefully received.

sunchaser

Hi Simone!

We missed you at the Perth’s pole dancing coffee morning today! I’m going on 2 weeks holiday to Sydney next week and then return to start my course in real estate. I’m going to miss the girls and all the fun that goes with the weekly meets so as I said to them it’s good news that I got a job but bad news that I’m missing out on all the fun! Maybe I’ll just have to copy Maggy and drop the job!!
No, not all the houses were with pools. I think we had a tough time as many Brits had come out on the 1st of September. It’s the beginning of spring and apparently there was a huge influx of folk trying to rent so the good houses were just flying out.
Larissa, don’t worry, you will find a place! They are there. It also depends how fussy you are, where you want to live and what your budget is.
Thanks Simone, remembered to change my location!!!! That was great doing it!! Silly pleasure I know but I enjoyed it!

See you soon,
Colleen
xxx


Hi Petra,
Yep, sure are having a fab time!!

Hi Pockygoes!
How are you? Actually we didn’t know a soul in Perth! Our new friends are either people we’ve met on the internet or people we’ve met in daily living. People are just so friendly here and somehow we just keep getting invited to socials! Bloody fantastic!
BTW, gotta tell you, our fridge got through customs and is now proudly standing in the kitchen next to it's new big brother and when I say new big brother I mean new BIG brother!! Our UK fridge has become our drinks fridge and it’s jammed to the limit. Have to keep those beverages cool and ready! Oh yes, live is good, real good!
We used PSS and I’d definitely recommend them. They were fantastic!
As for the Singapore Airline begging… Paul phoned their customer services and they passed him onto a lady. I’ll dig her info. out and pm it to you. Anyway, he phoned her and did it over the phone. If you get it, which you should, I would stress to take the documentation with you. You can just never be sure if you have the employee from hell !!

Hi Salli,
I just went through the yellow pages and phoned every estate agent in the areas I was interested in. If you want I’ll pm my list to you. The thing is some of the properties are not listed yet so it is still better to chat to them on the phone. We had only given ourselves 2 weeks to find a rental property and achieved it so it is do-able.
If you want to know anything else just shout.
Oh yes, the cars… We went to Grand Toyota on Wannaroo road in Wangara. If you are interested just let me know and I’ll pm you on who to contact. Just mention my name and you’ll be looked after! Obviously it’ll only be new Toyota’s but if you’re looking for second hand they can pretty much sort you out on any make of car even though they’re a Toyota dealership. I must say I’m not mad about car salesmen but the guys there are really nice and have become personal friends.

Take care!
Colleen

elliet

your so lucky, it's good to know that your wait is now over and your now living the dream. how long did it take you from start to finish,
we are just getting started with trying to emigrate
sorting out an agent etc. It feels as though it's going to take ages.....

sunchaser

And so our adventure continues…

Day 11: Saturday, 11th September 2004
We took a walk along the beach to Trigg and watched the surfers for quite a long time. The sun was really heating up and it was very pleasant. Did a bit of shopping and then went to some friends for a barbie in the afternoon. We had a great time and the food was very yummy!! We left at about 7pm to go to Christina’s birthday party which turned out to be a fab evening and we ended up getting home at about 2am! I have to warn you about the taxis here in Perth. We ordered a taxi to collect us but the collection time came and went… no taxi. Fortunately we were enjoying ourselves so it wasn’t a problem. I phoned an hour later to be told a taxi would be coming, they just can’t give me an exact time. Mmmmm, interesting! Anyway I phoned twice again only to be told the same thing. Finally at 1:30am Mairi and Chris offered us a lift home. A good thing really as I have no idea how we would’ve got home besides walking and with my heels that would not have been fun! So the moral of the story is we will try another taxi company next time and if that fails I guess we’ll have to take turns in not drinking when we go out. Not great I know.

Day 12: Sunday, 12th September 2004
The weather was just fabulous so we went to Sorrento beach to read the newspaper. There were people in their cozies and some were even swimming!
In the afternoon we went to a champagne opening of a hairdressing salon that we’d been invited to. It was a fun afternoon and we met some more ex-pats! They’re just everywhere! We were then invited to join them for a barbie the following Saturday but as we were already busy they postponed it a week! How nice is that! I tell you our social diary has gone mad and is just jam-packed. It’s actually nice being so busy and we certainly are having fun!

Day 13: Monday, 13th September 2004
This was a busy day as we had to do some on-line banking. We went to the library and could do our UK banking but it didn’t support the OZ banking software! How do you understand that? Anyway we had to go to an internet café, which costs double the price of the library, but we got it done. We also popped into Perth to get a bankers draft for our cars.
We went to look at some canoe/cross trainers. We want them to go paddling in the sea, like to Rottnest and back or up and down the coast. The staff in these places are so friendly and always have so much to tell you. Not just about the actual item you may be buying but where to go and what to do etc. Very useful ! Anyway, we ended up being there for 2 hours!!
I also contacted Telstra to organize a connection for our rental. They gave me our new telephone number and we agreed a day for the installation that was suitable to me. Although they quoted a time from 8am to 5pm, which didn’t impress me, I guessed we’d be home all day moving in so it wouldn’t be a problem.

Day 14: Tuesday, 14th September 2004
We moved out of our self-catering accommodation and had a few hours to waste before moving into our rental. After running a few errands we went to chill out on Trigg beach and watch the surfers. The few hours that we had to wait just flew by and before we knew it, it was time to go to the estate agents office to sort out our rental. It all went pretty smoothly and we had to pay a deposit and 2 weeks rent, so not the full 6 months rental amount as some people have had to pay. When we were signing all the documents the estate agent asked us if we’d like her to contact the gas company to connect our gas. Ermmmmmm yes, OBVIOUSLY!!! Normally this is done automatically in the UK and Ireland but not here, so be warned to get these things connected before you move in. She then just gave us the keys and that was it! Whenever we’ve rented in the UK and Ireland we’ve always had to go through an inventory with the agent when we moved in, even an empty house. All marks, scratches, damage etc. are noted on the inventory and everyone agrees or makes changes to the document and then signs it. Not here! We still don’t have an inventory although we should be getting one. Will phone her again tomorrow.
Anyway, we moved in with our 4 suitcases. It was nice and sunny and Paul decided to dive into the pool, as it looked so inviting. It was so cold he just bounced straight out again. That was actually really fortunate, as you should never just swim in a pool that has not been tested yet. As it’s a rental the pool had been standing for a while and a bunch of chemicals had been thrown in to get it back up to scratch. Some tests need to be done to ensure it’s safe for swimming. We didn’t know this but apparently Paul could’ve got meningitis! Anyway he didn’t and he’s fine but just for you guys that have kids keep that in mind.
That evening we decided to check the gas stove but it wasn’t connected yet. Fortunately we were having salad and tuna for supper so it wasn’t an issue.
For our bed that evening we had our inflatable mattress and sleeping bags, but we froze! It was so cold we ended up wearing tracksuits, socks and fleeces! I was curled up in a ball the whole night!

Day 15: Wednesday, 15th September 2004
In the morning I had a very luke warm shower which wasn’t great, as it’s so bloody cold! The gas had still not been connected, urrrgggghhhhhh!!!!
We had a 10am appointment at Kent, (PSS’s other half), as customs were going to be checking our container. We didn't have to be there but as we had some diving knives the girl thought it would be beneficial to us if we were. We had no problem with that and agreed it would be good to be there in case there were any questions. As it happened we also wanted to pick up a duvet as we had froze our buns off the previous night. The guy arrived a little late and we proceeded to our marked off section of the warehouse. It’s actually pretty interesting to see everyones belongings all in big marked areas. Some of other peoples shipments were not in a good state and there were some badly crushed boxes. The boxes were marked SPL but I have no idea who they are. It was quite funny to see all our stuff and all the boxes looked fine, no obvious damage anywhere. The customs guy spot checked a few boxes, including shoes, wellies, bicycles, outdoor sports equipment etc. Everything was spotless and Paul’s hard work paid off. The guy then checked our Weber barbie which was sparkling like brand new! He saw it had the grill, (which you could see your reflection in!!), and said it really should be cleaned again because the UK had foot and mouth. Paul told him he had cleaned it with Virkon. The guy then said he’d let it go as he could tell everything had been cleaned professionally! He did say he would normally insist on it being cleaned and would not recommend people bringing them in. It was obviously our lucky day and he allowed it through! Our fridge, which is free from the controlled substances listed in the ozone protection act 1989, and uses cyclopentane insulation gas was also allowed in. We were told that they will be tightening regulations but all the documentation which we’d stuck on the front of the fridge and inside was enough for him to allow it to pass customs. We were also allowed to take one of the boxes that contained our duvets so it was a very successful trip. Fan-bloody-tastic!!
We returned home in the afternoon to find there was still no gas so Paul decided to take matters into his own hands and contacted the gas company. They still had not even received the application. It was obviously NOT a priority with the estate agent! Anyway, it was connected 5 minutes later. Amazing what can be achieved by picking up the phone!
Later that afternoon we were contacted to inform us that our cars were ready to be picked up. We got our bankers draft and headed off to the Toyota dealer. There were our new cars, (okay not new but nearly new! just under a year old). We drove off, each in our new cars, to Hillarys Marina where we went for fish and chips at Sharkeys. The fish and chips were fantastic and after we’d finished eating and walked back out to the marina, the stars shining brightly, I said to Paul how happy I was. It was just such a happy moment for me and I felt everything was coming together. I know that probably sounds really silly and sad but it was just a very happy moment for me. We returned to our new home and at least it was warmer under our duvet.

Okay guys, that’s enough for now. It’s been another busy day except I had a relaxing time with the Perth pole dancing girls which was fun as always! I’m gonna miss them as I’m going to Sydney for 2 weeks and then I’m on a course for 4 weeks! How am I going to cope????

We're off for our nightly walk along the beach under the stars. God I love this place!
Colleen
... to be continued….

Go Banana's !!

Just wanted to say that much as I love my wifey's thread, I have really enjoyed reading this and as many have said before if you have the right attitude, which you clearly have, then you will make a success of the move.

Good to hear things are going well, the cold nights were a shock to me as well.

Look forward to meeting you when I get over at one of the do's that seem to be oh-so-frequent !!

Best wishes and good luck !!

Warren
Perth in 5 weeks..............

Badge

[QUOTE=sunchaser]Hello everyone!

So, some quick thinking… Paul put his hand luggage on the scale whilst I started removing all heavy items from mine and put them on the floor between my legs!/QUOTE]

nice one - been doing this for as long as I can remember -they never seem to check the stuff in front of their desk.

I sometimes also have 2-3 carry bags in my hands covered over by a coat. I've also been known to stuff my pockets with heavy stuff like cameras etc.

BM

scutterUK

colleen! glad you got there in one peice and it all sounds like it's been exciting for you!

keep us posted with the rest of it ok?

leigh

(sorry it's a short one, i'm typing in the dark and you'd be amazed how many times i hit delete to get this far!! good luck!)

joveazey

Hi Colleen,

Really enjoyed your story so far and wanted to ask a couple of questions if you don't mind ...

Whereabouts is your rental and how much was is (PM me if you don't want to divulge prices)

I would also be interested to know what cars you got and what prices as we are coming out in Jan to live and I want a Rav.

Jo

mand8002

great reading.
it is so useful to find out how people are doing. i should be coming to perth next summer as i will be studying at curtin uni.
my main problem at the mo is finding suburbs near enought he uni but not far from the beach..........any suggestions

DIMO8

Geat post Colleen. Keep it coming, it great to hear how people are adjusting to thier life in Oz, it give us in sight to what to expect when we take the plunge.... Thank you