clevehurst

Hi everyone,

Jules - thanks for your tales regarding your shipping, it seems quite a minefield and a lottery to choose any of the shippers. You'll have to bear with me on the abbreviations, as I only started using the site yesterday. I presume PM is personal message? If so, many thanks. ps Whats a blog? (I'm a quick learner, so bear with me!

Bryan and Joyce - Thanks for your Pickfords recommendation, I'm going to give them a call too. Cheers!

Sheila - thanks for the warm welcome to the forum and the offer of help too!

Everyone's so kind, I can't believe it (and they say the English are not a helpful bunch - ah rubbish - you all prove them all wrong!)

ps Do English TV's work in Aus? We are talking run of the mill not fancy digital. And are they worth taking out.

Warmest wishes to you all
Kim x

southcavenews

hi guys oor agent in perth told us you dont have to live or work 50km from perth this is just an insentive so u may be able to claim grants and some money back for ur buisness.my sister lives in oceonreef so we plan to live near her.we recieved living in perth book from oor agent loads of brill info school expenses cost of living, cars,map of suburbs taxs for buisnesses,medicare etc etc etc.......just waiting to send accounts etc to agent in perth

Pasha

Hey Everyone!!! Guess What?.......

WE’RE HERE!!! Yes……we are in beautiful Perth, Western Australia!!! We’ve been here for one week today…..and are still pinching ourselves that we’re actually here……beginning this wonderful next chapter in our lives which we’ve been working towards for the past 15 years!!!

Here’s a summary of our first week in Western Australia!!!

Thursday (last week) – Arrived at the airport late in the afternoon (after more than 30 hours on airplanes and at airports). We were picked up by my uncle, and brought back to their place in City Beach. We had an early dinner, a brief visit with my relatives, and then collapsed into bed around 7:00 pm.

Friday – Woke up at the ridiculously early hour of 4:00am (due to messed up body clocks). We could not go back to sleep, so decided to get out of bed and take a stroll down to the beach. My uncle’s dog decided to follow us, so we never quite made it all the way to the beach. This dog needs to go on a serious diet…..as it could barely go a full block without weezing and falling behind. No worries!!! We returned home, crawled back into bed, and slept for a few more hours.

My relatives left for Canada on this day (for 3 weeks) and have left us to house (pet) sit for them – which has turned out to be a true blessing – as it’s been wonderful to have our own space during our first week in Perth. We’ve been so extremely busy that I’m afraid that we’d be neglecting them if they were still here. Anyway…..we decided to hit the ground running today, and devoted this day to house-hunting, vehicle shopping, and visiting our poochie at Byford Quarantine. We began by heading towards the northern coastal suburbs. We made a pit-stop at our bank (we had opened our account several months ago - from Canada) to activate our account, get bank cards, and apply for visas. We then carried on with viewing display homes, and visiting car lots – as we were very anxious to purchase our first home and vehicle as soon as possible. This was a very exciting day – as we just could not believe that we were looking for a home and vehicles………..here in Australia!!! We then drove down to Byford to visit our baby!!! It was so very emotional to see her behind bars!!! We lucked out, as they had a free yard available, so we took her outside for a little romp. What a gorgeous little girl!!! We can’t wait to have her home with us!!! The day flew by so quickly!! Unfortunately, we were not able to find a suitable home or vehicle on this day – but knew that we could carry on our searches the following day.

Saturday / Sunday – We continued viewing display homes, visiting vehicle lots, and driving around the beautiful suburbs of Perth Australia. We decided to take a drive down south, and ended up in Rockingham – whereupon we enjoyed a beautiful meal overlooking the ocean. We thoroughly enjoyed our weekend – as it consisted of doing what we love to do……planning our future here in Australia!!!! We’ve been leaving the house as soon as the sun comes up, and have not been returning home until about 7:00 pm each evening – so we’ve been running ourselves ragged!!! It’s just such a ‘rush’ to be here – we don’t want to hang around at home while there’s so much to do!!!

Monday – Continued doing more of the same in terms of house-hunting and vehicle shopping. We had a few meetings with a few different banks today – to determine which bank most suits our needs. We felt the frantic need to get connected to the world once again – by getting our first Aussie mobile (from a local shopping centre). The day ended with us having put our names down for a block of land in one of the northern coastal suburbs of Perth, as well as having purchased our first vehicle. We also ended the day with contemplating putting an offer on a previously-lived-in home – as it could take up to two years to build. However, we thought it best to hold off on the offer until tomorrow – after a good nights’ sleep. Oh yes…..we had another scheduled visit with our doggie in quarantine this afternoon. It wasn’t as emotional for me on this day as I know now that she’s truly doing alright. The ladies at quarantine love her so much – so she’s getting some extra TLC from them – which makes me feel better!!!

Tuesday – Woke up knowing that this must be the day that we purchase a home – as we’re not crazy about the idea of renting. We had a second viewing of the home which we were considering putting an offer on – and then decided to hold off for a few more hours just in case we found something better. As it turns out, we’re glad we held off because we did find something better!!! We ended the day by sitting in our realtor’s office until about 8:00pm – putting an official offer on a different home. The offer was was accepted by the owners – so we will now await approval from the FIRB prior to proceeding. If all goes smoothly, the settlement date is set for August 25th. We shall now look for short-term accommodation from July 21st (when my relatives return) to August 25th. Although my relatives will insist that we stay with them – we prefer to let them have their own space upon their return – just as we wish to have our own space. As such, it’s been interesting looking for short term accommodation!!! It’s certainly not easy to come by – so this shall be fun!!!

Wednesday – Had a few meetings with accountants and business brokers. Although we don’t have a business yet (or even a job for that matter) we are feeling very confident about our future. It feels good to have purchased a vehicle and a home already. They can’t get rid of us now!!!! Now that the home-shopping is out of the way, we can fully concentrate on all things ‘business’. Went out to Byford again to see our baby!!! We are just counting down the days to have her back home with us again!!! We ended the day earlier than usual – by getting home at about 6:00pm. It was nice to settle in earlier for a change.

Thursday – This has been the first day that we’ve not had a real agenda. Apart from a few impromptu meetings – we just enjoyed the day by driving around and exploring our new beautiful city!!! I think my jet lag is just hitting me now…..as I’m more tired today than I’ve been since we’ve arrived. I think we must have been operating on pure adrenaline for the past few days!!! I just couldn’t take it anymore – so we arrived back at my Uncle’s home at about 3:30pm – whereupon I collapsed on the couch – and took a nice long nap!!! You know I’m tired when I ‘nap’ – as I’m not typically a ‘napper’!!!! Sooo……now I’m awake n’ full of it…..ready for another exciting day tomorrow!!!

So – that’s been our first week in sunny WA!!! We feel so very blessed to be here…..in the midst of realizing our dreams!!! Perth is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been to!!! We absolutely love it here!!! Not only is it beautiful – but it’s a very ‘’smart city in terms of its’ layout. We are finding it extremely easy to navigate our way around the city streets. And the people are just absolutely amazing!!! We are finding everyone to be so exceptionally friendly and accommodating!! So far – it’s been the experience of a lifetime!!!

I hope I haven’t bored anyone too much!!! I just thought I’d share a little 'day in the life' glimpse into our first week here!!!

Best wishes to everyone.

Regards,

Pasha

julesandco

Come on Pasha - is that all you managed? In a week?

Seriously, congratulations on finally realising your dream. Take it a bit easier on yourselves though - you're here for a while, so you can afford to slow down a bit!

..... plus we don't want you falling asleep at The Vallies when we finally get to meet you!

Love and best wishes,

Jules and the gang x

julesandco

Hi Kim,

A blog is like a webpage - we use ours (the link is just below this post) to keep in touch with family and friends rather than write a variation of the same email 50 times and also it's great to look back on. I wished I'd started it in the UK really and recorded all of our journey. You might need a few G&Ts to reaad mine though - it's a bit long

With regards to the TVs, we bought a couple of ours out - not fancy ones either. They work OK with the kids playstation, though I haven't even tried them with Aus TV reception. Hubby decided we needed a 42" plasma and a high def box before the container arrived, so we haven't needed the old UK one really. It was a wide screen large one that really donimated the living room in the UK and here it just looks lost! It's amazing how quickly you get used to seeing huge plasmas and projectors!!

Hope everything's going OK. How are you getting on with the shipping quotes?

Take care,

Jules x

foxychic

Pasha, fantastic post, glad to see you are getting things sorted.

The Vallies

Hi Guys!!

What have I missed!!

Welcome Kim

Excellent news on your Visa Nicola - well done!!!

Hey Pasha, you made it safe and sound, well done!! And what a busy, busy week - where is your land/house??

Byford are great with the animals arnt they - our animals were fine there, but boy oh boy was it great to have them home again last week!!

Well, we have been very busy bees unpacking our stuff! How much stuff did we bring!!!

We used Pickfords too, who were ok, but we had quite a few things bust (hannahs bed, lead crystal glasses, ornaments to name a few), but also things missing!! - our dinner service (we do not have a single plate, bowl, side plate etc in the house), half our cutlery, and most importantly ALL our wine glasses!!! So, for those of you coming over next Friday - BYO!!! Tehehe, no only joking, I am off out today for some. There are a few other things missing too, but you dont realise until you go to use something you know you had in the UK.

Still, at least the animals arrived in one piece and no pets missing!!!

Hopefully like Bryan and Joyce, we will be able to claim back without too many problems - they are sending a form out in the post for us to complete.

Computer should be set up this weekend, so will post some piccies soon!

Take care all

Nicola
x

stumpysean

Hi everyone.....

Well done to those who have made it!!!!!!

give a little thought to us back in the UK waiting and waiting and waiting a bit more!!!!! We can't apply til next Aug (about 1yrs time ) so the wait seems everlasting......

I get very frustrated knowing we can't do anything yet, but are so desperate to join you all living the dream.....

Keep posting as I do read them all, day in day out!!!! (sad aren't I?!!)

BFN

Becky x

southcavenews

hay pash or g'day...all the best of luck lucky lucky you you go girl******

julesandco

Keep your chin up Becky. At least you'll have no excuse for not being ready when that visa's issued! Start clearing out your house now - get to that car boot sale now in the sun shine!

And keep reading the thread - at least you'll now what NOT to do when you arrive

Jules xx

Pasha

I know.....I know....we're slackin'!!!!

Well, today was quite a bit more relaxed.......and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!!!

We are most definitely looking forward to meeting everyone at the Vallies!! We should be all caught up on our sleep by then.....and rarin' to go!!!

We'll be in touch.

Regards,

Pasha

Pasha

Thanks Foxy!!! Yes.....things are slowly getting sorted!!! It will be wonderful once we're moved into our new home, and able to establish our new Aussie routines!!!

Slowly but surely!!!

Regards,

Pasha

Pasha

The home that we purchased is up in Butler. Although it's been previously lived in, it's only two years old - and is in immaculate condition. It turns out that a British lady (who also came over on a business visa) is the one selling it to us.

The land that we've put our name down for (but have not been called upon yet) is in Burns Beach. Since it could take some time for our names to be chosen for the land, we may very well change our minds in the meantime - as we shall remain open-minded with regard to where we ultimately decide to build.

Yes - they seem to treat the animals wonderfully. We were out there again today to visit our baby - and she seems to be doing just great. We miss her so much though, and can not wait to have her home with us. We keep saying that once we get her back home, everything will feel back to normal!!!

That's great that you've got your animals back now!!! We can't wait for that day!!! I hope your babies are settling into their new home just fine.

I just commented to Mr. Pasha (yesterday) that although we got rid of plenty of our belongings prior to this move - I have a feeling that when our container arrives, we will be getting rid of a bunch more stuff!!! I'm thinking that we most probably packed more than we will really need or WANT!!!

We shall be in touch very soon.

Regards,

Pasha

Pasha

Thank you Southcavenews!!! Yes - we most certainly feel blessed!!! We are truly grateful to have been granted this wonderful opportunity in this lifetime!!!

Best wishes to everyone.

Regards,

Pasha

Boogie65

Hi Nicola

Fantastic news about your Visa. Huge congratulations and we'll look forward to meeting up with you sometime for a drink along with Sheila & Co!

Best wishes

Chrissy