Lucysdream

6 weeks in........
Well we have now been here for just over 6 weeks!!! It feels about 6 months but not in a bad way! We are loving it here in WA, its amazing! We are still in our holiday let in Beaconsfield which is 5 mins down the road from Freo. We are here until Monday 2nd July. Over the weekend we applied for two houses, and yesterday we were offered both! You hear all these horror stories about the rental crisis and 50 people going for one house. However, we have found it pretty easy seeing as we got the first two we applied for! It may help its winter now so it may be a better time of year to get one. It's different here as there are a lot of open viewings but it can be a good thing as you can see what has an open viewing and just turn up. They can be during working hours but we found they were mainly at the end of the day between 4.30 and 5pm. We decided to go for a house in South Lake. It's lovely and modern as has recently been renovated, and has a large garden. In fact it had two separate yards out the back! It also has a lovely undercover alfresco area.....it's going to be great! We plan to get an above ground swimming pool too for the summer.

Job wise;
Well finding a job here is like finding sand at the beach! My partner is a welder/fabricator (or boilermaker as they call it here, but no he does not make boilers!), he has secured work with a major mining company. He is earning over 3 times more than in the UK, plus unlimited overtime. He loves his job. I am currently temping but have had no problems getting the work. I work in accounts/Finance and walked into Hays recruitment one Friday afternoon after being here for a couple of weeks, they then called me up on the following Monday to start my first temp job that day! I was at my first temp job for two weeks, as soon as that ended on the one Friday I already had my next temp assignment arranged for the following week. I am still at my 2nd temp job and should be there until at least the end of July. I love it, the office is so relaxed and flexible. We have even enjoyed a glass of wine on Friday afternoons. Plus they all go out for lunches and every Friday is also dress down day. There is plenty of permanent work in my sector too but I have not been a temp before so I want to do this for now so I can try different places, plus I love the flexibility and the fact I do not have to commit to any one company. I was also not sure where our long term rental was going to be. Both my temp jobs have been in the City.

Meeting people;
Since we have been here we have met up with quite a few couples, mainly through perthpoms. It's been great meeting new people and I have also been meeting up with another girl whose boyfriend works FIFO. I have also met people through work. You do have to put yourself out there and make the effort to meet people. I enjoy meeting new people so it's no problem for me. Also for the women in Perth or moving to Perth I have just joined this group which another girl introduced me to at work, they have social events at least 3 times a month. They have hired a cinema for this Saturday so I am going to go along with the girl from work, here's the link http://www.meetup.com/Young-Women-in-Perth/

Night life;
Well guess what....WA does have nightlife! Plus endless beer gardens to enjoy with heaters for the winter, and great restaurants with great views. Drive through Freo on the weekend and the cappuccino strip is packed! There is always outdoor entertainment on the streets, and just a general good vibe. I went to Villa nightclub in Northbridge on Saturday with another couple from pomsinoz who I met in the UK before we all left, and we saw DJ Ian Carey. It was amazing, in line with Ibiza if not better! Such a fantastic vibe and the music was amazing.

Getting around;
Transport here is very good. You can get the last train from Perth City at 4am on all lines on a Saturday night for those who like to party, plus at that time it's free to get everyone home. Trains in the day time are very regular, clean and cheap. Buses also seem pretty regular where we are based currently. Taxis are not bad, but you have to direct them or give them the address for their sat nav. Do not expect them to know where they are going, you’re expected to tell them. This has proved difficult for myself after a night out without my other half....I get a bit confused as I have not driven on the Aussie roads yet so I guess I now understand people at home who don't drive who find it difficult to direct! My partner had his car imported and it arrived last week, it can take 4-6 weeks to go through clearance. We currently have a car hire from backpackers car rentals in South Fremantle. It's only $175 a week and that's with insurance waiver etc... They are not new cars but they have character!

Keeping in touch;
The hardest thing about leaving was saying goodbye to family at the airport; I have never been through such emotion in all my life. We were both so upset going through departures and I think the first week here was the hardest. Likely because of jet lag, the emotions of the airport, oh and catching a bug just before I left so I was not feeling 100%. However, once you get here it gets pretty easy and the sadness at the airport just passes so quickly. To be honest I don't really miss family and friends now I am here. We probably talk more now than we did when I lived back in the UK! Skype and facebook make everything easy etc... We brought iphones since arriving and they are fantastic for keeping in touch. We got pay as you go sim cards from Woolworths with Optus. They are brilliant, $29 and you get $250 to other Optus networks which a lot of people here seem to be on, plus $250 to any network. You also get 5GB of data. It lasts 45 days before you have to top up again. I can't seem to use it all up! Great value.

In a nutshell;
Generally....well on Sunday it was a lovely sunny day even though it's winter. Dan and I drove up the coast. We stopped at Cottlesloe beach first and then took a drive up to Hillary's boat harbour. Everywhere looked so beautiful and we just say to one another we can't believe we live here and how lucky we are. Life here for us is really good and we have opportunities here we never had in the UK. For a youngish couple who are wanting start up in life.....our future is looking very bright!


Lucy . X