3 weeks into arriving in Perth

Hey everyone,

So we have been here for just under three weeks, I have been waiting to do our arrival report until we had a decent amount to post about.

We arrived on 19th June, flying with Etihad from Manchester via Abu Dhabi. I'll start by saying how good Etihad are, and they have a great luggage allowance/excess luggage policy. In economy we got 2 cases per person at 23kgs, but you could upgrade each case to 32kgs for 77 usd which for us gave us plenty of kgs and it worked out far cheaper than sending a case with an excess luggage company.

We were also extremely spoilt as I managed to get us upgraded into business class via the 'bid for an upgrade programme' and it was truly an amazing experience. Not sure how we will go back into economy now :wub:

Customs - we had no problems with customs at all. I was a little worried as I had a few items I was unsure would be allowed; some wooden masks/ornaments, 3 wedding albums made of banana leaves and two boxes containing pet ashes. We declared it all. Customs checked over it all and everything was absolutely fine bar the albums. I could of had them treated for $100 but I chose to have them destroyed. All in all we got through customs and the airport in around 25 mins.

Short term accommodation - for the first six weeks we are staying in West Perth in an apartment I booked via Airbnb. It's a great apartment and is right next to Kings Park and two free CAT buses. I had booked a city apartment as I envisaged that we would be going into the city a lot whilst setting up but this has not really been the case, so whilst it's a great apartment I wish I had booked something further out/closer to the beach (I am not a city girl).

Long term accommodation - we have spent a lot of time driving around suburbs. We considered a wide area looking at Mandurah all the way up to Butler, and viewed about 5 houses. I had previously read comments on here that the rentals are not as good in real life as in the pictures and boy they are not wrong :twitcy: We have settled on NoR and have secured a rental near Ocean Reef/Mullaloo and pick up the keys on 25th July ready for our container arriving on 27th *praying customs are kind and quick*.

Bank Accounts/Medicare ect - We already had bank accounts so just popped in to update our addresses and get statements ready for I.D purposes. On our first day we popped into the Social Security Office in the city and completed our TFN and Medicare applications. It was super easy and straight forward and the cards came through in around five days. We couldn't apply for our driving licenses until we had them (five forms if I.D?!). We have now completed the applications and are awaiting the cards.

Car/Transport - hubs, I, 4 huge cases and 4 hand luggage bags got a taxi from the airport to West Perth on the first day, it cost around $40 ish (I forget the exact amount). We brought a car on our second day from John Hughes in Victoria Park. The only reason we chose there is 1, it was the only big dealership we had noticed on our reccie and 2, it was easy to get to on the bus. They have a huge warehouse full of cars for under $10k though and we brought a little run around for smack on $10k.

Mobiles/internet - we have just brought PAYGO phones for now from Telstra. Currently doing research on internet providers for our long term rental.

Work - I have managed to secure a job in a similar position to what I did in the UK as a contract administrator. I have been applying for jobs directly via Seek. Hubby has signed up with the big agencies, nothing has come up yet but the agencies are confident that he will find something soon.

Weather - It has not stopped raining and it is freezing! :shocked: I am sitting here in a jumper and my dressing gown. We were prepared for it to be cool, we purposely chose to move at this time of the year so we can hopefully acclimatise as it starts to heat up, but man it is cold.

Overall - it is still really early days but we are very happy that we have made the move. We love Perth and are enjoying exploring and getting to know the more intimate side of it that we did not get to see on our reccie. We (I) have had a few moments shall we say, I am not used to living in an apartment or a city and I am missing my bed so much :wub:. But even during my moments it still feels like we have done the right thing and we are excited for the future. I am looking forward to starting my new job and meeting some new people and once we are in the rental we will join some clubs and hopefully make some friends too.

Hopefully this post sort of makes sense and is helpful, I am not very good at this big post malarky. I think I have covered the main stuff, but if there is anything else I can answer then just ask and I can waffle on some more :cute:

Fantastic Michaela

That's a brilliant post. Lucky you on the upgrades,it must be so nice to fly with those luxuries,lol.. It sure sounds like you have been kept busy since you landed and its great to hear everything is falling into place for you.

Cal x

Its a different type of "cold" from the UK init, it kinda gets into your bones and hurts...

Great post to read. We are moving to Melbourne in Jan and just over the last few days I have started to feel anxious. Its really silly as I know all the good reasons we are going and we have planned lots of things like accommodation etc so don't have a huge amount to worry about but strangely I have just felt stressed the last few days which I never have in my life! I thinks its a combo of giving up a good job and waiting for our dogs rabies results.

Good to see you are settling in Michaela - and positive to hear that even though you have had a few "moments" overall you know you have done the right thing :-)

Great post to read. We are moving to Melbourne in Jan and just over the last few days I have started to feel anxious. Its really silly as I know all the good reasons we are going and we have planned lots of things like accommodation etc so don't have a huge amount to worry about but strangely I have just felt stressed the last few days which I never have in my life! I thinks its a combo of giving up a good job and waiting for our dogs rabies results.

 

Good to see you are settling in Michaela - and positive to hear that even though you have had a few "moments" overall you know you have done the right thing :-)

Thank you :wubclub: good luck with your move, it's exciting times ahead for you. It's only natural to worry and feel stressed but it sounds like you have all of the main things sorted so I am sure you will be fine. There are quite a few members on here who live in Melbourne who I am sure will be able to give you advice and info on the city and areas too. Hope your furbabies get the all clear on their rabies :cute: xx