on-the-move

Hi Everyone
We are looking at moving to Perth and will be there for a short rekkie in October. Perth looks amazing and talking to other people who have visited they all seem to love the place, however we are very concerned about threads we have viewed on various other sites.
We have read comments regarding how hard it is to get work (it seems to be a case of who you know ), the people are not very nice towards the English and there does not seem to be a great deal to do.

I am a Carpenter / builder and O/H is a hairdresser if this helps with the work situation feedback.

We would really appreciate your honest opinions before we make the decision on moving to WA or back to the UK. THANKS

Kim67

Like anywhere, it's what you make of it and your own particular set of financial and family circumstances. Perth is a great place for families, but you need to be financially secure. Housing is expensive in good areas and when we were last there, rentals were difficult to get in nice suburbs. Perth can be slower than the East Coast and retail trading hours are much shorter, but if you're in Tasmania now, then it shouldn't really be as much of a shock to you. People are friendly and couldn't care less where you're from, as long as you don't go live in some bogan suburb or go live somewhere like Peppermint Grove and expect to be borrowing sugar across the back fence. If you possibly can, go and check it out for yourself, you really can't get an idea of a place will be like for you from what people say on an internet forum.

Dorothy

The truth is that most places look fabulous while you're on holiday. However, the reality of living somewhere can be a lot different.

The truth is that some of us love living here and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. And some of us would rather stick forks in our eyes repeatedly than live in Perth for one more moment. How you feel is completely subjective, so nobody can tell you whether you will be happy here or not.

on-the-move

Thanks for the opinions and advice, I think we are more concerned about the work situation more than anything as we know that where ever you live it is what you make of it. Like any where in the world there are good and bad things in every town / city but I think if you are able to at least achieve the basics like jobs, a place to live and meeting people you can get through the tougher things a bit easier. Like anywhere else it is always a bit nerve wracking moving to a new place but if we can get as many honest opinions as possible at least we will have a little bit more of an insight as what to expect.

Margaret3

if your in tassie, why not come to melbourne

squeezzii

Do you have australian qualifications or australian working experience? If so then you have a much greater chance of getting employment, generally not having these can mean that it can take longer to find a job.
Another consideration would be the location you are heading to, I have a friend with 25yrs in building exp in UK and he has had to go to the mines for work but he is living in busselton area

Gert Muller

We live in Iluka in the northern suburbs of Perth. My husband is a carpenter too and has had continuous well paid work since we arrived. As soon as we arrived he got in touch with an agency in the city (Hays) and they set him up with his first job about three days later. You can expect to earn between $35-40 an hour with the agencies but my husband is making lots of contacts and will then try and work direct with the building companies cutting out the agencies, that way he can earn more per hour. Living where we do, you do need to earn pretty good money to afford the housing. Having said that, we have chosen an expensive suburb but there are plenty of other good suburbs that are slightly more inland or slightly more north that are cheaper. We are onto our second rental house as we couldn't settle in the first suburb (Quinns Rocks) and we didn't find it hard to find rentals, in fact we had loads of choice and managed to negotiate a $50 reduction per week on the rental we have.

As for Perth, it suits us really well. We are a family of five and find there is never any shortage of things to do. There are loads of good restaurants too (though haven't yet found a good Indian but I'm sure they are out there somewhere!). As for nightlife, well my clubbing days are over but people do say Perth is somewhat quieter though I had an interesting night at Mullaloo Beach Hotel the other Friday, definitely somewhere to check out if you are about, well 20!!

Of course you will definitely be in holiday mode when you come to visit but that's the only way you will get an idea of whether you could live here, that's what we did. Good luck in whatever you decide.

on-the-move

Have been to Melbourne before although it is a nice place it just wasnt for us.

on-the-move

Thanks for that, I have Aussie certs and 3 years experiance so does wife. I am also up for HIA housing awards this year for Tassie region, my wife is a hairdresser who is thinking of setting up a mobile round in time.

on-the-move

Thanks for the comments its good to hear there is plenty of work around for carpenters although I should have more scope as I should have my builders license in a couple of months. My wife is a hairdresser of 22 years exp and will look at working from home or mobile if there is a demand. We will be looking at the northern suburbs when we arrive, what did you not like about Quinns Rocks as this was one place we were going to visit.
As for the night life a good restaraunt or pub does us as we are 40 and past clubbing, we dont have kids to worry about for schools so area for living would just depend on us, but would like a rental with a pool in a nice suburb.

Gert Muller

One of the reasons we moved from Quinns was that my daughter was attending Ocean Reef Senior School and it wasn't practical. All of her friends lived around Ocean Reef and I was forever driving her up and down Marmion to school or to her friends houses. If you haven't got children though you don't need to worry about being in catchment for certain schools so you have a lot more options.

I know its a very personal choice deciding which suburb you live in but though parts of Quinns are nice and there is a lovely beach there were some parts of it that we felt weren't so nice and the same can be said for some of the surrounding suburbs like Merriwa and parts of Clarkson and we felt this all had a knock on effect for Quinns. It was purely a financial decision to move to Quinns and it backfired but we lived there for six months before deciding it wasn't for us. Having said that, obviously some people love living in those suburbs and probably don't agree at all with what I have said. I guess thats why its important to take your time and look at lots of different suburbs.

Hope you have a great trip. Let us know what you decide!

on-the-move

I guess our situation in not having to worry about schools will make it a lot easier in deciding on a suburb. We have decided that whatever suburb we end up in we will rent for 12 months first to make sure we make the right choice for us.
thanks

Icarus

Try here :

http://maps.google.com.au/maps/place...15545069613787

Gert Muller

Fab! Thanks a lot.

JPSUPERHOOPER

looking in the west australian there seems plenty of work for chippies and hairdressers.