Help!!!!

[the thompsons]

Hi everyone, we are new to the site so please bear with us!
We have just received the news this morning that our visa has been granted....
It has been a long time coming but well worth the wait. We are planning to head to Perth after changing our minds several times! We have never been before but have been trying to do as much research as we can, as much as running your own business and having a 3 year old and 7 month old allows! Our house went on the market last friday and we had sold it by the sunday so things are happening a lot quicker now than we anticipated, infact we are thinking we might be heading out mid April if all goes well. Aaaaaarrrgh!

We would be interested to hear if anybody knows of any holiday accomodation in the Perth area at a reasonable price that we could use when we arrive before finding a rental? I have been looking but so far everything seems pretty pricey.

My husband is a self-employed landscape gardener; is there much work over there for landscapers? Also we are thinking of Rockingham area, any views on what its like would be appreciated.

One final thing, ha ha can anybody recommend any good car rental firms over there? whats the score with car seats for the kids in hire cars?

Hope someone can help with these questions. There are bound to be more from where they came from, especially as our departure gets closer!

JO (38) STEVE ( 31) BRADLEY (3) and DYLAN (7 months)

[julie2g1b]

hi jo

welcome to pio and congrates on the visa's and the house

we to are heading to perth our house has been on for 4 weeks no-one been yet

but there is time try totaltravel.com as they have some good holiday homes as we also

have been looking at this site but cant do anything yet.

am sure someone will be along with more dont know about car hire as for child seats they

should be able to provide them as is law like here we will by one once over there as only

need a booster but like the full ones so they can sleep.

good luck with everything

julie

[adey]

try the tourist board (information centre) as they list lots of companies that rent out houses for holidays. They can be expensive it just depends what you want and what area you need to live in. If you are here in April you won't need air conditioning so that could make the house cheaper but make sure they've got some form of heating as the nights can be chilly once Autumn starts as WA has a good breeze which cools things down.

[Ivan]

Hi guys,

Fab news on the visas, We have just come back after a recky in Joondalup city area. Good car rental is called ' No Birds, bayswater car rental. extremely reasonable prices. you should be able to google search them as i dont know if i am allowed to put phone numbers on here, (sorry). You will find that the rentals over in WA are pretty high depending what your looking for. Obviously rentals with pools are higher but you can get rentals with shared pools.
there should be plenty of work for the hubby as they are constantly building over there and from what i saw a few good landscapers wouldn't go a miss. (respect to any landscapers reading this).
If you can get hold o it. try and look at the 'Home buyer survival guide fo WA' from The dept of consumer and employment protection. Its a step by step guide for buying and renting ect. A good source of info. also you can accsess most of the news papers from the area you are looking at if you google it.
Hope this helps a little and good luck in your new life.

[juderay]

Congrats on getting your visa and for picking Perth to move to - not that I am biased or anything!! Ivan was correct in suggesting Bayswater hire as they are a company I have used many times with great service. However they don't have a base at the airport itself - it is in Bayswater which is not far but you need to organise transport which on their website they state - Getting to us from Perth Airport
Taxi: ±$15 (5 minutes to Bayswater office). As for car seats they say - We do not supply baby seats, but all our cars have the required fittings. The following firms will drop baby seats at our offices in advance of your collection;Hire for Baby: (08) 9274 8788 and Little Hugger Hire: (08) 9387 8546. Good luck with all your plans.

[ali]

Congratulations on your visa. I've only been to Rockingham for a visit so don't really know the area. My friend lives in Secret Harbour and says she won't go into Rockingham for late night shopping as she feels a bit intimidated as gangs of youths have started to gather. (This is only second hand info - not seen it for myself).

Ali

[SunnyWA]

Hi and congratulations on your visa.

Try the following for furnished rental accommodation
Australia migration - suburb profiles, accommodation, schools, real estate, jobs in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Darwin and Hobart and you can also try

Ozstays - Accommodation Australia, The Best Places to Stay

regards
Sunnywa

[coltrish]

I have just seen ur post on POI. As we are in July now u are probably already living the dream in Oz.THe reason i am writing to you is that my husband is a landscape gardener and we are baffled with all the information out there !! I was hoping i could get some help in how to get there ?? what visa did u get .. did u use an agent and if so approx how much did it cost from start to finish to compete !! Dont want to be nosy its just there is so much conflicting advice and dont want to be ripped off !! Hope you can help.... Hope life in perth is good we are looking towards Melbourne but to be honest we would go anywhere the work is !!

[barab]

Ask Earlswood about Perth,he'll tell you the true story.

All the best with the big move.

[Baldyin38]

Hello Thomsons,
wow, wont be long now untill your walking along the sunny beaches. We have just been here 2 weeks and can assure that this place is amazing. Just back from Rockingham this afternoon. Lovely wee bay and nice restaurants. The cente itself is nothing compared with Britain as far as youths are concerned. We definately dont have he Ned culture you have at home. Teens will alway gang ogether, we all did it, excepy across here i dont feel threatened atall.
There are lots of lovely suburbs round about Rockingham you may want to look at. They are all lovely and have the god and bad area as every country in the world does.
Were in Warnbro at the moment and drove along to Rockingham hugging the beach all the way..you have to see it to beleive it. Even if you dont like Rockingham town centre to live in you just travel 10 minutes away witnhout loosing site of the beach.
It is hard to comprehend the size of the area and what is available untill you get here..but its worth the wait.
As far as rentals concerbed, we rented from www.emi-great.com. They were not the cheapest but deffinately worth the money. The service you get from them i doubt you would find any where else. They rented us the house, a car, picked us up from the airport and had food sitting in the house for us. They took us a tour of thearea the next day and continue to be helpful as they are only a phone call away. As part of the service, they also check out any car you want to buy to make sure its ok. They have a mechanics business.
Good luck regardless who u decide to go with.
All the best
Arthur angela and Callum