Originally Posted by s/nurse

You are an inspriration
jacqui

Originally Posted by yanchep

Wow good on you girl, glad things are working out for you, we are hoping to be over in Perth before xmas hopefully, do you think maybe your ex will realise how much he is missing out on and come over or are you gunna find yaself a surf dude

Originally Posted by midwife-mandy

Sorry this has taken so long to post but life has been very busy since we arrived in Perth. Here is the story of our journey so far. To fill you in on who we are it is me, 38 year old mum and my two children a daughter of 14 and a son of 16. My long term partner was supposed to be coming with us but he changed his mind at the last minute, so we left him in the uk! Anyway on the 24th Feb my daughter, my mum and my self boarded a Singapore airlines flight and headed to Perth. The drama began before we even took off as we were £450 over our baggage aallowanceI just handed my visa card over and told them that i was moving to oz and my teenage daughter needed all off her things so i better suffer the extra charge. The wonderful women let me off and i could have hugged her. From then on i knew we would be fine. The flight was excellent and we only had a two hour stop over in Singapore, thank goodness because the duty free is excellent and my daughter was eyeing up all of the designer handbags.

When we landed in Perth we were all a bit jet lagged and my mum burst in to tears as she had just realised how far away Perth is. I had brought her with me as backup for when i would be sorting everything out as i did not want to leave my daughter on her own in a strange country. My son was still in the uk as he had a skiing holiday to go on and would be arriving later on. We got a cab to the city stay apartments in the centre of Perth, which i had booked from the uk and we found them basic but clean and being in the centre of Perth it ment i could get my bank accounts, medicare, private health insuranceand tax file number sorted out. The first night we stayed up and went for dinner to try and get over our jet lag and this worked for me as i soon settled into the time difference but my mum sat up for the first couple of nights crying and listening to us sleep. She said she was crying because she was so happy that we were sleeping well. Yes my mum is a bit mad but just having her there helped.

The next few days were taken up with paperwork and looking for a long term rental. I knew it would be hard to find a rental but i was not prepared for the real estate agents attitude. They were either very nice or very rude and just did not care. Bobcat was very nice and you will find him on expats. You have to find a rental on line or in the paper/mags then drive past it then phone up to see when there is an open house viewing or see if you are able to have a private viewing. This was the hardest part but you just have to keep on and look everyday. I would say try and find suburbs you like and focus on them and the surrounding areas. After a lot of hard work we found a brand new house in Sumerly, Clarkson. It is three bed, two bathroom and we pay $360 a week. It took two weeks to find and move in and we love it. It is near the schools, the train station and the shops and suites all of our needs.

I had sent a lot of stuff in a container, which should arrive next week but when i got here i brought a fridge, a tv, a couple of beds and a sofa bed. I also brought other bits like four plates, cutlery etc just to see us through. One piece of advice is jam your container with everything. From hangers to bins because i wish i had put them in instead of leaving them or giving them away. If there is room put it in as it is the little things that add up.

I also think it is a good idea to get a car asap. I had brought a car when i visited Perth in November and it was waiting for me when i arrived. How organised i thought i was and then some idiot hit into me whilst i was sitting waiting at a round-about. $7000 worth of damage, but we were all ok and they had insurance. Our first visit to A and E went well and my daughter was very excited about the x-ray. However it did set me back and trying to get to work was a bit of a pain but i used the trains, which are excellent and very cheap compared to the UK.

In the first three weeks, i started work, my daughter started school, my mum set up our little house and we began getting into the swing of it. 98% of people have been friendly and we have made some really nice friends already. We were invited round people from ex pats for dinner, went for a meet up in kings park and met people everywhere we went. The weather has been fantastic, the food is wonderful and the lifestyle suites us all. All of this makes up for how long it takes to get things done, such as a landline, cars fixed, getting a hire car. I have said yes to every invite, asked advice from everyone and been helped whenever i have asked for it. The people we have met have been so friendly, in fact sometimes it takes you back how nice people can be.

My drama queen of a daughter has settled into school and made friends who are already staying over all weekend. She had a few big wobbles and wanted to go back to the uk but so far so good and i can see her becoming more positive everyday. My son arrived two weeks ago and is starting school after the holidays. He joined a rugby club straight away and is already playing matches. I brought him a bike so he can get around and he loves it here. He is a very positive teenager anyway but even he seems happier since he got here.

It has been hard at times being away from friends and family and after my mum went home it all felt very real. When the car was hit i realised i did not know what to do but you have to just get on with it and ask for help. We brought a phone card that is $10 for 1600 mins worth of calls back to the uk and we brought mobile broadband so we could use the internet so this helps us keep in touch with everyone. There have been a few moments when i have been friendsick but i have not been homesick. I know it is early days and this might change but at the moment i am loving every minute of it and enjoying the feeling of adventure.

I will update again and if anyone needs any help or advice then PM me. Good luck to everyone and keep pushing ahead with the visa nightmare for us it has been worth all of the hard work.