British Expats - 1 Year & 1 Week in Perth

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1 Year & 1 Week in Perth

Matt (44) Rachael (39) n Ollie (13)

I have read these posts over the last 3 years and many times have thought should I write one, or will I ever get the chance. Well here goes for my stab at things:fingerscrossed:

We had applied in 2007 for our visa and were trapped in the investment bond fiasco which put our lives on hold for 18 months in which time we had sold our house bought another and eventually sold that one...Like I said it was never going to be easy...

Our Visa was granted in late 2009 and validated the same year with plans to move out in Dec 2010. Dorree Bonner shipped our stuff and the container duly arrived on the exact date we were quoted on which was fab as it was as many have already said like Christmas all over again discovering stuff we had bought and never used ect...Well done the Shippers highly recommended even when a few breakages needed to be claimed for there was no issue in paying out.

Perth from Day 1 has been amazing to us with far too many ups for the few downs to affect family life...

Schools in the Northern suburbs always create lively debate on this forum so we had studied our options and were on waiting lists 12 months before arriving. This was due to our lad previously attending a Grammar school in the UK so we didn’t want to send him just anywhere. We opted for Duncraig as the 3 privates we had been waiting for couldn’t offer places so we decked the lad out in uniform and he went to school on the 3rd Feb....First amazing day....I took a call from one of the privates 2 hours after Ollie went to school who wanted to meet us that evening with a view to a place being made available at short notice! I picked Ollie up and went straight to the new place..His and our heads spun lol he had changed schools in little more than 8 hours....He thrives at the new one and is very happy:thumbsup:

On the work front I picked up a job in my former profession in a few days and was offered a Bakery Managers job right away. I must stress I hadn’t baked for over 10 years and ideally wanted work in my chosen profession of OHS but this didn’t materialise...

The job was at one of the main supermarkets and at first seemed ok the training was a month then my own store....Looking back this was the most TERRIBLE job I’ve ever had the misfortune to have taken and I hated every minute of my short 3 months with these guys. They expected the lack of staff shortfall due to cutbacks to be covered by the manager so 80 hour weeks across all hours were driving me to exhaustion....I Quit!

I picked up a bakers job on the same day on the same salary it was really a gap fill until we were up and running, I wanted a safety position and I wanted it badly....The next 3 months I baked and to be fair it was an ok job but an 80k round trip wasn’t what the doctor ordered...

In the meantime my wife a Rachael a qualified hairdresser was finding salons being a bit clicky and as she hadn’t full time worked in a salon for 1o years found herself left out in the cold....She tried all manners of work as in the UK she worked for a mortgage company (Britannia) and decided to roll the dice with the big banks as well as many others. She actually had a spredsheet with 116 applications before finally finding success in May.....

She is now very settled working as a teller in Australia’s first bank and loves it. To prove good things do come to those who wait I was nearing the end of 3 months baking when I got serious and started applying for safety positions that I felt I had a good chance with.....Bingo, 4 interviews in 3 weeks which resulted in 3 job offers in 3 days at the end...Fantastico:thumbsup: I’ve never been in a position of having to choose before so I did just that and am still here 6 months later in a job I love and am making the most of...

Home life.....The climate has been wonderful with daily walks the beach being our second home and the lad playing Rugby Union. We have been to the races watched Top Gear Live and Wicked and have season tickets for Western Force...Oh and saw the Queen recently.....People slate Perth for being boring and nothing to do here, I strongly disagree get off your bums people and enjoy life:eek:

We initially had a 4 week furnished let and had to jump through hoops in a strong rental market to secure a long term lease in Kingsley we offered 6 months up front for a 4x1 and this did the trick. We have never rented so it was an eye opener and as days passed by and we started to have reasonable salaries wanted to get back into the market. In Nov we bought a 4x2 in the next suburb of Woodvale and have been renovating ever since. We are 2 bathrooms and a Kitchen into that and the house is really shaping up and we love the fact we don’t have to ask to put up a picture ect:thumbup:

We have made a few friends but not ever having a large social circle we are happy with the few we have. The in-laws have visited but my Mum isn’t keen on the travel so I do miss her but Skype and a good mobile contract keeps us in touch. The previous aside we are not ashamed to say we only miss a handful of friends.

We have the BBC I player so watch UK TV we have foxtel and the sport is fully available....It can sometimes be surreal and you forget you are living abroad...

Things here in some cases do drive you nuts...Drivers up your bum on the roads....Traffic light times.....Cost of some items......the Flies sometimes.....The wife coming face to face with a Roo at 6.15 when walking the dog ect ect

To summarise we have one regret about Australia
And that is we wish we did it 10 years ago;)

If it’s your dream be prepared plan and plan again...Good things will happen if you are prepared to work your butt off and you don’t expect to transfer your social life from the UK to here....

We left to give our son a brighter future and he sure has this in gorgeous Perth

Be Lucky Ex Pater's
Matt Rach n Ollie and Puppy Oscar:eek: