chris1386

Well, just had the best 3 weeks of my life down under. What an amazing country Australia is.Spent a week in Perth, the 4 days Adelaide, drove to melbourne for 4 days(down the Great Ocean Road-WOW!) then flew to cairns for 4 days before relaxing in the rain forest at a Luxury retreat for another 4 days.The whole thing was wonderful and the people just fantastic.Perth is the place for us we think, properties are really nice, especially where we looked around Joondalup, lots being built and plenty of work for tradies like me.Food was a little expensive but not overly so, Parks etc (especially Kings Park) were amazing and so well kept with graffiti free monuments etc, no litter anywhere that we found, roads amazing, everything geared up for the outside life.Started looking for employment now and if i can find some before going then great, if not will have to take my chances when I get there.Weather was 35 to 44 whole time, a bit too hot but more bearable than I expected it to be.Didnt see 1 snake or spider until I was in the rain forest, and the snake I saw was asleep on the glass washing machine behind the bar!!!(or it was until i woke it up to play with it, a childrens python, very friendly, spent ages handling it with no probs!) The golden orb spiders were really impressive as was the Huntsman I saw, if you take the time to appreciate these creatures for what they are theyre not so scary, just beautiful in their own right.Cant wait to get sorted now and start the selling up process.I could go on and on but you get the picture.So nice to feel positive about the future again.Overall opinion? Far better than I could have expected, and I expected a lot to start with.

hollykimalan

We are going with out the luxury or a reccie....
Just hope we like it as much as you.
You guys sound converted though!
Glad to hear you had such a nice time.
HKA
x

Asia beckons

Have to concur with your opinions, visited Oz in Jan for 3 weeks stayed at Burswood centre Perth and had a nice mixture of sun and touristy holiday, Perth down to Fremantle on the river was wonderful, so impressed with the Civic Pride of the whole area, found friendly people and a lovely place, Aussies should be proud of their country, greatly exceeded our expectations.
Went on to Sydney for a week as you do then Brisbane for another to meet family, cant wait to go back later in the year for longer.

steve_kelly_and_boys

hi
glad you had a good time over there we are going to do a recce in august for a month but have narrowed it down to melbourne ( mornington penisula )
did you visit / what did you think / and also in your opinion is that good for tradies ( plumber ) hoping to get started on new builds ( hopefully )
all the best s

ASHO

Im so glad you had a great time, we leave Thursday to validate and a recce we are heading to WA. We have friends in Port Kennedy, Busselton family in Capel and Dunsborough thats all down south and one friend North in Duncraig so on a whole we should have a really good look around,one more day at work cant wait.
The only thing is we might like more than one area!

grahampaula

Nice to hear that you had such a good time. With your positive attitude I am sure that you will succeed. Best of luck to you.

Kapri

This is so true. There are some amazing creatures down under. I loved seeing the huge lizards in Queensland. One was stood really still and I thought it was a statue because I didn't realise such huge lizards would just be strolling around. My OH couldn't stop laughing at me
I'm also planning on having a pet huntsman to eat any roaches (yuk). I'll call him Fred


Sounds like you had a fab time

mindblower

QUOTE]

Glad you liked OZ.

sj oldfield

Glad you enjoyed it here!! Its a great place to live (a bit pricey at the momnet though!!)
Where do you intend settling?

chris1386

First choice to settle would be Carramar area, purely because we looked at property there and liked the area, but im guessing that there are lots of suburbs just like it we'll love too.House prices were affordable for us to become mortgage free hopefully so thats a huge draw too.Just worried about work, im a gas fitter but it looks like getting licences is an issue, as is the amount og gas fitting to be done,so may change career in the long term and initially do anything to get by.Any offers of work greatly appreciated and all considered! Just loved the whole country, im buzzing about it , but the problem is it casts a darker shadow over the UK (for me anyhow) now ive been to the other side.The thought of just going without work planned is a bit daunting but if thats what it takes i'll have to go with it i think.

biker dave

I am also gas fitter willing to go where the work is unfortunately cant find the work looks like i'll have to change career, if you hear of anything let us know and i'll do the same the gov website is all apprentice positions

Vegemite

Yes, spiders are fab!

Basic but IMPORTANT lesson about Australia:
Respect and learn about the creatures here. The good, the bad, and the 8 legged hairy all have their valued place. You're already up there in my list of admired and sensible immigrants!!

All the best!

geordie downunder

Don't know about Queensland but in Karratha (north west WA) they are called bungarras ,aboriginal name I think.

On the construction camp we had one,the environment officer for Woodside was very strict that it must not be fed or approached.Once humans left the area it would die, as it would lose hunting skills after being fed by a lot of construction workers.

This thing was amazing,around 3 metres long and strong as an ox.When you looked at it it would stand still,as you say like a statue.As soon as you took your eyes off it it was gone.No idea where it went or how it could move so fast.

Further down towards Perth they are called racehorse Goannas,around 1 metre long.When they are frightened they head for the highest point,which is usually the head of the person that has scared it.Scratch the hell out of you as they climb up.

Living out in the bush for a few years (way beyond the black stump) I took a keen interest in the wildlife.When wedge tailed eagles became scarce they were very difficult to find,(obviously),the farmers would shoot them as they would take a lamb or two.They then became a protected species (you beauty).One day we were very lucky,one of the eagles was in field (paddock they call them here).We stopped to watch it take off,only 20 metres away from us.After about 10 metres of hopping to get a bit of speed up,opening the wings and building up flapping speed,off it went.What a sight,it was huge.Did a lap of honour about 20 metres above us then caught an updraught and was gone.What a wingspan.I think they are still very scarce,that was the only time I have ever seen one.

lionheart

For a moment there I thought you were still talking about spiders! The Land of Oz certainly seems appealing to me but sadly I am over the 47 yo age limit and therefore surplus to requirements even though my wife (Kenyan) is only 25yo...still Nairobi is always a warm option for us.

geordie downunder

You get a fair sized huntsman it would eat a Bungarra,if it could catch it.

You can always have a holiday here.