Originally Posted by hutchy

Hi to everyone heading out here to Perth........Tiawamatu, you are from sunderland, i think i spoke to you briefly before as thats where i am from.........I have been in oz almost 2 yrs but live in rockingham which is where most of you seem to be heading........All i can say is it is a great place to live........Not far from the city 30 mins roughly although i dont go up there much but once the train line goes in it will be fantastic to just hop on the train up there.........We have a local shopping centre 2 mins by car then all the way along to Mandurah there is shopping centres and plenty of warehouse type stores which sell everything.......I am near Rocky beach which is gorgeous,and we have a pod of dolphins which u can pretty much see most days...........The foreshore itself is full of nice restaurants/coffee shops/icecream shops.....At the moment there is lots of construction work goin on down the foreshore,new apartment blocks /hotels etc which will see the house prices soar in the surrounding ares.........It will bring a lot more visitors to rocky and obviously all the business owners will benefit............I have found the local people to be very friendly and helpful ,,,,,,,,our neighbours are smashing and from the minute we arrived they made us welcome..........we often sit outside in the summer and gather for a few beers while the kids all play.........Best part of the street are expats and Rockingham is full of poms.....At the moment being winter the foreshore is a bit quiet but the summer is great, and there is always stuff goin on down there,for the kids and grown ups........plenty of parks,,,,,,bbq areas which are free...we have lots of bands playing there in the summer which are free.........New years eve is a must there......last yr was live music all nite till 12 with a fantastic firework display.there was around 20.000 people there,,,,,lots of food stalls fairground rides.etc.........My kids go to rocky high and have settled in well...........made lots of friends here,,,,,,,and dont want to live back in UK.......they are 15 and nearly 13......so 2 yrs ago was a hard time for them leaving but they have adapted to their new life great........I have some pics of the dolphins and the beach and house if anyone wants to see them pm me and i will send them onto you.......For any of you who would like to meet up once you get here i will gladly have you round to mine for a bbq once the summer is back or if you just want to meet for a chat.......You can
never have enough friends and since we are alreday here we may be able to help out with any questions you guys may have..........I must apologize to the folks already here as i have not got involved with any of you since my arrival and it all sounds like great fun, especially the perth ladies......1st reason, hubby takes the car to work and if i do have it im not confident goin to far from rocky, the other main reason is i was crook not long after i got here but recovering slowly........so hoping if anyone around the rocky area plans anything local i would like to join in and meet lots of people.........I dont work so have plenty of time to mingle and would happily have a coffee morn etc to meet the ones that are here already........well good luck to all those comin out you will love it........Speak soon hopefully........jan hutchinson.xxxxxxxx

Originally Posted by tolcrothlogan

I think the emigrating lark is sending me slightly mad.

Originally Posted by neiluk

hi
Great info ty myself ,wife and 3 children are heading out at crimbo to get the visas validated and we are thinking long and hard about rockingham its great to hear such positive vibes about the place .As a chef is there much call for us in the area the other thing we were thinking of is just to pack up and come over as soon as the visa arrives but keep think we should do a recci first.Anyway great thread many thanks anymore info you have would be great .
thanks neil

Originally Posted by ub40fan

Hi

We are hoping to move to Perth in about a years time, me, hubby, 2 boys (15 and 12) and one girl (9). Got to wait till then as oldest boy has GCSE's next year and we think it's better for him to do his exams here.

Sister in Law lives in Hillarys so we would like to be round there somewhere, depending on how much we can afford at the time, and work.

We have been twice and it only took me 2 days to say I want to live here, it took hubby till the second trip but that really did it. He wants a boat!

Originally Posted by neiluk

hi
Great info ty myself ,wife and 3 children are heading out at crimbo to get the visas validated and we are thinking long and hard about rockingham its great to hear such positive vibes about the place .As a chef is there much call for us in the area the other thing we were thinking of is just to pack up and come over as soon as the visa arrives but keep think we should do a recci first.Anyway great thread many thanks anymore info you have would be great .
thanks neil

Originally Posted by c.grant

Hope this helps .I moved to perth 2 weeks after finishing my G.C.S.Es in 1989
,I couldnt wait to move to perth with my family or so I thought .
The day I got on the plane to go to australia to the time I got back was posibly the worst 14 months of my young life to that date.
My parents only wanted what was best for me and thought finishing school here was best .I now know that was a mistake ,they sould have made the move atleast 2 years earlier or later so that I would have had a chance to to blend in and form friendships with people, as to a 16 year old that is all that matters!
16 year old kids are not the most stable people and stong ties with friends are not easily forgotten.
Anyway this original move is still affecting me today17 years later as now I am married with my own family.I am now trying to get back into oz for good but I'm struggling because I only became qualified as an electrician last year and no one even in imigration can tell me when I will be eligible to apply(COULD BE THIS YEAR COULD BE NEXT COULD BE THE YEAR AFTER)
I have now spent a total of 2and a half years in oz over a period of 17 years on 4 different occasions ,if I had moved to perth any other time in my life I am sure I would have stayed permanently (teenagers !!!!) and would not be in this predicament today.
The only solution at the moment for us is being sponsored by a potential employer(extremely difficult)

Originally Posted by c.grant

Hope this helps .I moved to perth 2 weeks after finishing my G.C.S.Es in 1989
,I couldnt wait to move to perth with my family or so I thought .
The day I got on the plane to go to australia to the time I got back was posibly the worst 14 months of my young life to that date.
My parents only wanted what was best for me and thought finishing school here was best .I now know that was a mistake ,they sould have made the move atleast 2 years earlier or later so that I would have had a chance to to blend in and form friendships with people, as to a 16 year old that is all that matters!
16 year old kids are not the most stable people and stong ties with friends are not easily forgotten.
Anyway this original move is still affecting me today17 years later as now I am married with my own family.I am now trying to get back into oz for good but I'm struggling because I only became qualified as an electrician last year and no one even in imigration can tell me when I will be eligible to apply(COULD BE THIS YEAR COULD BE NEXT COULD BE THE YEAR AFTER)
I have now spent a total of 2and a half years in oz over a period of 17 years on 4 different occasions ,if I had moved to perth any other time in my life I am sure I would have stayed permanently (teenagers !!!!) and would not be in this predicament today.
The only solution at the moment for us is being sponsored by a potential employer(extremely difficult)

Originally Posted by lynnbrooks

My sympathy goes out to you for your experience so far and i hope that it works out for you as time goes on.
I do take comfort in what you are saying because we are heading for perth in April,we have 3 kids,the oldest being 14 and doesn't want to go but he will only be in year 10 and taking his options so he will have a chance to form friendships with people which is the thing that you say had you had 2 years earlier,it would have been fine...so thankyou for that it has helped me no end.
Can i ask why you are trying to go back? Are you looking back as a whole and despite your experience,feel that's where you want to settle?
Lynn

Originally Posted by Tiawamutu

Just wondering out of everyone who has received/in the process of applying for their visas, how many of you are planning to go to Perth....and which suburb? and why?

Originally Posted by Clippies

We're hoping to, we've never been before - off for a reccie in June. Still gathering TRA information so it's a long way off yet

Originally Posted by thehoweys

Hi we are hoping to go to Perth in Sept/Oct 2006. We put in our application November, waiting for instructions to go for medicals. We have a 4 year old girl and a one year old boy.
I have been looking at all the different suburbs and would really like some advice from people who have experience of good kindergartens and primary schools.
Thanks
Susan