Originally Posted by little bear

As the title suggests-a year ago today , me, hubby and 3 kids arrived in Perth to start our new lives! Well what can i say, probably the most emotional year of our lives, something that if i'm honest never gave a thought to when we were going through the limbo land of waiting for the visa, i truly thought that was the hard bit!


Hiya, just finished reading your thread - really great read. Our position is we applied for a 136 modl received in Oz on 27 Aug and have just had a full acknowledgement and are awaiting a case officer. I just wondered why you choose Perth? We have done all the research and some people have said that it is somewhat remote!! Have you found this - we have friends in Perth, so intend to come over before we have our visa granted to have a look for ourself. We have looked at Secret Harbour area and Mandaruh - if you have anything to share on these areas that would be very appreciated.

Anyway, great thread hope you have more good years to come. xx

Originally Posted by 229kingsway

Hi there,

we chose perth cos it suited what we required at the time we were looking to move out here, ie: work, hubby is brickie-perth offered the best opportunity to earn a living for us (me being a hairdresser didnt matter so much as there is work in every state in my trade), climate suited us best, we liked the idea of being part of the developing Perth, so far we havent found it isolating but we havent travelled much here either as yet so may find that at some point, our view is we had no connections in any of the states (ie; jobs or rellies) so we had to start somewhere, Adelaide would have been our second choice.

hope this helps

little bear x

Originally Posted by 229kingsway

Hiya, whereabouts are you heading in Perth? Have you been before? We have friends out there, they have been there for nearly two years already and are loving every moment.

Will let you know when we receive a case officer. We are 136 modl visa, what about yourselves?

Originally Posted by little bear

Hiya Kelsey37,

will try and answer some of your questions, yep, you rarely get tips here, the odd one but thats about it, product wise, they use alot (and i mean ALOT) of bleach, i used to use Revlon Gentle Meche System, it lifted like a bleach and has violet undertones to knock out the yellowing, also no amonia, was wicked stuff-cant get it here, Wella do a similar thing but not as good in my opinion, other than that you can get pretty much everything else, wella koleston, indola, scharzkopf, Matrix,fudge, wella sp, be warned Wella Koleston is expensive almost $15 a tube!! and its cheaper to have a a tint over here ($45 approx), the wholesalers are much more sparse than the UK, you havent got a Sally's or similar in every town, i have three wholesalers close'ish- hairmart (half hrs drive each way), mandurah hair and beauty (25min - half hrs drive in opp direction to H/mart) and on thats just opened called southwest hair supplies (or something) which is 5mins away but sells mostly cheapo stuff-you know the 5 gallon almond shampoo etc, no big names like wella or l'oreal there unfortunately.

Yes, good hairdressers are definately needed here-will say no more
Styles/trends...............hmmmm some have their own unique styles but generally about 2-3 yrs behind the uk, i was told that GHD's have only got big over here in the last couple of years, but we are doing GHD curls etc in the salon now so it is catching up.

Im working part-time in a local salon and doing mobile work too which is what i did in the UK, price for ladies cut (no B/D) can vary from $25-40 around this area, gets more expensive the closer to the city you go (similar to UK & London).

dont forget that if you're coming to WA you will have to get your registration, a real pain in the butt but has to be done

hope this has helped

cheers

sara x
Hi little bear

From one fellow hairdresser to another I wonder if I could pick your brains on how you have found the hairdressing industry in Oz?

Is it true that no one tips in Oz?
Is there anything you can't get there ie products, equipment etc?
Are the styles/trends similar to uk?
Have you come across a product there that we can't get here that is really good?
Are you working in a salon or for yourself?
Whats the average cost of ladies cut and finish?

I'm so sorry to bombard you with so many questions but we were out there in Oct 07 and I thought the city salons like Maurice Mead were like many salons we have here but I thought the further we moved away from the city the salons seemed to be less commercial with lower standards, not that I see all salons obviously. I guess really all i want to know is are good hairdressers really sort after out there?

Any extra info you can offer me would be very much appreciated.
Thanks

Originally Posted by SalSa

Hi Sara

Congratulations on your first year

love, Sally xx

p.s. Great post!

Originally Posted by carolinemaria

Hi kingsway, we also are on a 136 visa (oh is an electrical engineer - but is now a cisco engineer). Have never been to Oz, but know someone who has settled in Butler - he loves it. Have looked at Rockingham, Mandurah, Secret Harbour, Currumbine and Canning Vale - still none the wiser. We've booked a holiday for Florida (in two weeks), and wish we hadn't, the money would be better spent on a reccie in Perth. No way kids would allow us to change the holiday tho. Where are you looking, and have you been? Any tips on good areas - not too quiet, coastal, good schools and commutable to Perth for work?

Originally Posted by little bear

Sara thanks so much, really helpful. You confirmed a lot of what I thought. $15 for a tube of koleston is huge, is loreal the same?

Sara regarding registration, could you tell me more about this or give me their website as I can't find anything this end. What isthe purpose of registration? Seems a bit of a cheek really after what we have to show to TRA.

Thanks once again
Kelly

Originally Posted by carolinemaria

Really enjoyed reading your post. Even whilst waiting in limbo land, every now and again I panic (what am I doing, sort of thing), but mostly I want a change. I think turning 40 in October made me sit up and think about life. I certainly don't want to be in the same place all my life. Your post was honest in that it makes you think about beyond the visa process stage. Still I can't wait, and if you need extra mates then we'll see you there (we'll defo need friends). KINGSWAY - that goes to you too. Applied Aug 27 and awaiting CO.
Goodluck to you all.
Caroline

Originally Posted by little bear

As the title suggests-a year ago today , me, hubby and 3 kids arrived in Perth to start our new lives! Well what can i say, probably the most emotional year of our lives, something that if i'm honest never gave a thought to when we were going through the limbo land of waiting for the visa, i truly thought that was the hard bit!

Having been here on two 3 week reccie trips the year before we came out to live i honestly believed we knew exactly what we were letting ourselves in for with this emigrating lark, you can get the research information (you know - areas, schools etc) side of it from a reccie trip but i personally dont believe you can get anywhere near the 'how you will feel when you are actually living here' on a reccie, dont get me wrong, we all think Perth is great, warts and all, it offers us as a family at this present time what we require.

On arrival we did all the usual drivers lisences, TF no's etc, found a rental, got kids into schools, after 6 wks hubby was working for a gang of brickies (through a contact from the UK), i started in a local salon but only did one week (was the 3rd one to start and only stay a week so i found out at a later date so it sort of explains itself) started in another salon a few weeks later (was there til nov and have just started in new salon 3wks ago and very happy there).

Kids all settled in brilliantly (our biggest concern) the eldest changed schools and moved to the soccer academy safety bay high in august (was at warnbro comm high but it just wasnt sporty enough for him) younger 2 were at warnbro primary and thoroughly enjoyed it there (daughter still there and still loving it, which is a complete turnaround from hating school in the uk) middle son just started at safety bay high (also in the soccer academy and extrememly happy there), havent had a single 'i want to go back to the UK from any of them-phew!

We have met some great people and made some really good friends (you know exactly who you are guys) which brings me on to one of the emotional aspects i was talking about earlier-i met a fantastic friend, we got on so well it was spooky, laugh at the same things without even having to say it-you know the kind of thing i mean? well, unfortunately, things didnt work out quite as planned for her and her family (hubby just couldnt settle) and they ended up moving back to the Uk at the end of august, saying goodbye was horrendous, to the point that it still brings me to tears when i think about it now, i miss her so desperately and always will, we still have that closeness and 'talk' on msn etc but its not quite the same when you have a bloody great ocean between you, funnily enough our paths would almost certainly never have crossed had we have both not come out here originally so i am thankful that we did meet.

We bought a block of land on our 2nd reccie trip in warnbro and started the process of building a house on it while we were still in the uk, it was all ready to start the earthworks a few weeks after we arrived, it was completed and we moved in at the end of Nov (a year after we bought the land), picked up our new puppy (yellow lab) the day after we moved in (yes we are totally mad!) we also aquired a baby cockateil that our neighbour from our rental (a few doors down from our housebuild) had bred for us.

Two weeks after we moved in my Mum and Stepdad arrived to stay-(another one of those emotional aspects i was talking about) having them stay was a total disaster, my mum was fine but my stepdad was a complete nightmare and made life hell for the 3 wks they were with us, we are not sure if it was his way of 'paying us back' for him having to deal with my mum's upset of us emigrating (she was very uspset but supported our move totally) or jealousy of something that he had always said he had wished he'd done, all i know was it has shaken up a whole bucket of emotions for me and hubby (kids are fine still), let me add its not a 'we want to go back to the uk' emotion, just more of a uncertainty of all the decisions we have had to make in the last year-it sort of takes its toll on you and becomes quite draining (unless its just us that feel like that)

Anyway i have drivelled on far too much, to anyone out there going through any part of the process -i wish you well in your journey, where ever it takes you

little bear x

Originally Posted by Kangy-roo

Hi, Just sat here with a lump in my throat after reading Little Bear's thread. My husband spent the first 10 years of his life in Australia, and has spent the last 18 years trying to persude me to emigrate. Just like you I was about to turn 40 and all of a sudden it became a wonderful idea. It has taken 14 months from that decision to now with 5 weeks until we fly. I am not regretting the decision at all, however the nerves are definitely taking over the excitement. We have no jobs to go to when we get over there. My OH is an electrical engineer and we are currently sending out CV's. I have looked at and researched houses, schools and businesses in every area for from Halls Head up to Quinns Rocks. Luckly we have friends in Halls Head that are kindly putting us up for a week or too.

Has anyone else gone over feel so blind or is it just me having pre-flight jitters? :-o

Originally Posted by little bear

As the title suggests-a year ago today , me, hubby and 3 kids arrived in Perth to start our new lives! Well what can i say, probably the most emotional year of our lives, something that if i'm honest never gave a thought to when we were going through the limbo land of waiting for the visa, i truly thought that was the hard bit!

Having been here on two 3 week reccie trips the year before we came out to live i honestly believed we knew exactly what we were letting ourselves in for with this emigrating lark, you can get the research information (you know - areas, schools etc) side of it from a reccie trip but i personally dont believe you can get anywhere near the 'how you will feel when you are actually living here' on a reccie, dont get me wrong, we all think Perth is great, warts and all, it offers us as a family at this present time what we require.

On arrival we did all the usual drivers lisences, TF no's etc, found a rental, got kids into schools, after 6 wks hubby was working for a gang of brickies (through a contact from the UK), i started in a local salon but only did one week (was the 3rd one to start and only stay a week so i found out at a later date so it sort of explains itself) started in another salon a few weeks later (was there til nov and have just started in new salon 3wks ago and very happy there).

Kids all settled in brilliantly (our biggest concern) the eldest changed schools and moved to the soccer academy safety bay high in august (was at warnbro comm high but it just wasnt sporty enough for him) younger 2 were at warnbro primary and thoroughly enjoyed it there (daughter still there and still loving it, which is a complete turnaround from hating school in the uk) middle son just started at safety bay high (also in the soccer academy and extrememly happy there), havent had a single 'i want to go back to the UK from any of them-phew!

We have met some great people and made some really good friends (you know exactly who you are guys) which brings me on to one of the emotional aspects i was talking about earlier-i met a fantastic friend, we got on so well it was spooky, laugh at the same things without even having to say it-you know the kind of thing i mean? well, unfortunately, things didnt work out quite as planned for her and her family (hubby just couldnt settle) and they ended up moving back to the Uk at the end of august, saying goodbye was horrendous, to the point that it still brings me to tears when i think about it now, i miss her so desperately and always will, we still have that closeness and 'talk' on msn etc but its not quite the same when you have a bloody great ocean between you, funnily enough our paths would almost certainly never have crossed had we have both not come out here originally so i am thankful that we did meet.

We bought a block of land on our 2nd reccie trip in warnbro and started the process of building a house on it while we were still in the uk, it was all ready to start the earthworks a few weeks after we arrived, it was completed and we moved in at the end of Nov (a year after we bought the land), picked up our new puppy (yellow lab) the day after we moved in (yes we are totally mad!) we also aquired a baby cockateil that our neighbour from our rental (a few doors down from our housebuild) had bred for us.

Two weeks after we moved in my Mum and Stepdad arrived to stay-(another one of those emotional aspects i was talking about) having them stay was a total disaster, my mum was fine but my stepdad was a complete nightmare and made life hell for the 3 wks they were with us, we are not sure if it was his way of 'paying us back' for him having to deal with my mum's upset of us emigrating (she was very uspset but supported our move totally) or jealousy of something that he had always said he had wished he'd done, all i know was it has shaken up a whole bucket of emotions for me and hubby (kids are fine still), let me add its not a 'we want to go back to the uk' emotion, just more of a uncertainty of all the decisions we have had to make in the last year-it sort of takes its toll on you and becomes quite draining (unless its just us that feel like that)

Anyway i have drivelled on far too much, to anyone out there going through any part of the process -i wish you well in your journey, where ever it takes you

little bear x