Kapri

Having set my heart on Melbourne we are now going to Perth as it's the only place in Australia that offers the course my OH wants to do

All my research had been for Melbourne and I know very little about Perth.
I have read threads on here referring to Pomburbs, isolation etc. Is this something I need to worry about or is it just rubbish spouted by people who have never lived there?

Yes I can use the search facility and I will - but I've noticed that perthies have given up defending their city.


Come on Perthies - Tell me it's a great place to live!

nightnurse2

I would think most of us in Perth are in bed now. I'm just about to go
I'll catch this thread in the morning but would like to say that my family and I love it here, it's not perfect or paradise, but for us it's about as close as we're gonna get in this world

northernbird

K
I am not going to reply on this thread but will PM you as agreed.
Cx

JPSUPERHOOPER

i'm coming!

sinlk

Hi I live in Melbourne and my Brother lives in Perth. I have been to Perth a couple of times and, although they are very different cities they both have their charm. Melbourne is famous for its culture and excellent nightlife. Perth is famous for its laid back feel and wonderful weather. Both have great points as well as not so great ones (which we won't dwell on).
The only other city I have been to is Sydney, which I found to be like London (love to visit but not live there). All in all, either city will leave you more than satisfied (for very different reasons).
Both have great beaches.
Perth sea is lovely and warm, Melbourne a bit chilly.
Perth sea is quite rough, In Melbourne you can have calm as a lake or surfing, the best of both worlds.
Melbourne has a European feel to it, Perth is very modern.
Both cities have a winter, Perths winter is milder and shorter.
More Brits live in Perth than Melbourne (that aint a bad thing).
Melbourne is a sports lovers paradise.
Melbourne is only 2hrs from the ski slopes.

I could go on and on. You will love both places. Trust me.

Perthforme

It's a great place to live!

GinaUK

We've been here just over six months now and love it. Haven't noticed "Pomburbs". Statistically speaking 33% of the Perth population were born somewhere other than Perth. But you have to ask yourself whether it matters where someone was born. I mean are only those born in Perth allowed to be called "Perthites" and only those born in Australia are "Australians"?

As to the isolation: Perth has a population of 1.6 million, so you're not exactly alone. But if you're used to flying off every other weekend to Paris, Rome, Prague etc etc then you'd best not come here.

Perth also covers a large area: I personally wouldn't enjoy living in the hills or south of the river. The thing to do is to drive around a bit when you first arrive.

There is lots to do here. There is obviously the beach. But in the six months we've been here we've only made it to the beach twice . Instead we've done lots of other things. I won't bore you with a list as you may have different interests. Just think back to that 1.6 million number: whatever it is you're into, there are bound to be others here who like doing that as well.

If you love rain, cold and grey skies you might not like it here. But I love the sun and love the weather here. Yesterday it was 27 degrees and sunny all day (remember it's effectively the end of "November" here). What I also love is that only the European trees drop their leaves (and where we live the only ones are around the library). All native trees and shrubs keep their leaves. So, although it's "November" everything is green. I love the green colours around me and personally much prefer it to the brown and grey of a UK winter. But each to their own.
To get information about the Perth climate have a look here: www.bom.gov.au Then click on WA at the top (in the blue bit).

As I hate the cold I was concerned reading about how the houses in Perth are hot in summer and cold in winter. We currently live in a brand-new rented house and so far it's fine. I haven't had the heating on at all, in fact I have the door to the alfresco open all day (it's north-west facing and gets warmed by the sun nicely). So, I think it depends where in Perth you live (hills are hotter in summer, colder in winter), which direction your house is facing and whether it's one of the older ones (no insulation).

Some people on BE complain about the shopping and the lack of Tesco, Asda, M&S etc. I haven't hankered after any UK shops so far. I've had no difficulty getting the groceries, veg and fruit I want in my local shopping centre and the quality has been excellent. Another shopping centre a couple of suburbs south has a Myers and David Evans department store as well as a large range of clothes shops.

I like the fact that shop assistants, check-out staff, library staff, council staff are generally so cheerful. I also like it that they seem less rushed: as well as packing my bags, supermarket check-out staff will generally strike up a conversation even if there's a queue.

You said your husband will be doing a course here. Perth has several universities. If he'll be studying at the UWA, their grounds are gorgeous (have not been to the other unis).

Finally: you wrote that "Perthites have given up defending Perth." I don't quite see it like that. For me it's more of a case that it gets pointless: (a)Perth-haters usually spout some fairly daft generalisations and pointing that out time and again gets a bit wearying, and (b) People who hate Perth will go on hating it whatever anyone says.

Whether you'll enjoy Perth will depend on a number of factors: You need to like the climate, your husband needs to enjoy his course, you presumably need a job. Once those "basics" have been met, it will depend on you: A lot of things here are a little different to the UK and you can't help notice that. You can then either go ahead and conclude that as it's different it has to be worse and bemoan that fact (wishing you could shop in Tesco for example). Or you can go a bit French - vive la différence - and enjoy that it's different. It's part of the adventure of living in Australia. And before long it won't seem different but become normal.

I hope you'll enjoy living in Perth.

Gina

nightnurse2

I agree with everything Gina says (apart from the hills bit )

TheCrone

What course will your husband do and where?
I studied at Murdoch; its Chinese garden, moon gate and pavilion on the lake have to be one of Perth's best-kept secrets:
my elder daughter's first degree was from UWA; in the last six months her qualifications have taken her to China, Canada and Finland. What was that about isolation?
My younger daughter's degree was obtained at Curtin; I've lived nearby for 10 years and I don't think there's been a day when there hasn't been building going on, either new ones or extensions to the older buildings. This must be one of the most rapidly-expanding campuses in Australia.
Don't know anything about Edith Cowan Uni.
Perth's intellectual\academic life is stimulating, vibrant and exciting. But if what you're 'into' is pubs, shopping, sport (particularly the armchair variety) and the beach, then no, this place probably isn't for you.

Amazulu

Curtin is huge - and growing. For a city it's size, Perth certainly has a lot of universities.

asprilla

eh....I thought that Perth had great beaches?

Issie

It has the most amazing beaches i have seen.

Kapri .....For me our life has doubled in quality since being here. For me the biggest change was seen my kids becoming kids again. Playing outdoors , not competing with peers. Having great quality time together even if its only walking along those amazing beaches......we truely love it. We don't care about shopping ( in fact i hate it ) .....as soon as i go in them i want to get out ( i was the same in the UK ). We love having BBQ in the park and seeing the wonderful wildlife including the most amazing webs and spiders we have ever seen. We all play tennis now.....we have a great network of friends. Perth is relatively quiet to most other states in Australia, For us though .....we wouldn't want to be any where else in the world...for others it's different.

You can only try it and see if you like it .....what have you got to lose

Kapri

Thanks for the replies so far

I'm looking forward to a hot climate - I hate being cold
I do enjoy trips to france etc but they happen so rarely that I can't really factor that in. Anyway - I see perth is only a 3.5 hour flight to Bali and 5 hours to Singapore so not too bad.

I have youngish kids so the most important thing to me is to have some quality time with them and my OH

Amazulu

You can also fly to Singapore and KL from Perth for between $200-400 return now as well. Tiger has 2 flights a day to Singapore and AirAsia start flying to KL in November.

Dorothy

It took me a while to settle here, but now Perth feels like home. It's a nice looking city with lots of green spaces. I drive home along the coast road, so get to admire the Indian Ocean for 30 minutes or so on my way.

Really it depends on what you're looking for. There are some really nice parts of Perth and some really not so nice places. If there are specific questions, feel free to PM me. I'm happy to help you any way I can when you get here. Our kids are youngish (11 & 13) too so if yours are looking for new friends they'll have some here.