northernbird

Obviously I am a no voter but if I was on the fence explain to me how I would benefit socially to having an extra hour of daylight in the evening.

I voted against and would do again. It's nice having the daylight but with that comes the heat which I don't like. i don't understand how it stops people socialising.

Welcome to PIO and a great 'first' post Good luck with your plans and return to UK.

If I didn't have kids I would move to Pemberton tomorrow. I love it down there. Great photos Fiona.

I've been with iinet since we arrived 10 years ago and have absolutely zero complaints about them.

Certainly for WA the mining and oil & gas industry are in a major depression. I would not be moving to WA at the moment if it was me.

I can't get pickled red cabbage or pickled beetroot. Now as a half decent cook I could make my own but they wouldn't taste the same as the shop bought that my family and I remember.

There is nobody happier about making Australia their home than me. However, there are a couple of ingredients that just aren't duplicated in the Australian market so I have to go to the British shop to get. I've tried doing without them but I can't and neither can my family. Sadly a trip to the British shop ends up being expensive because we buy far more than we went in for!!

I would take the previous years school report. Your school may do an exit report, some do.

I wrote to the Head and didn't request anything. We were leaving at the end of a term so had a normal school report which incidentally the school here weren't interested in. Many aren't as they like to assess the children in their new environment.

Perhaps not, will cross that bridge when (and if) it happens.

Good.

They are clamping down a bit on mortgage lending. My friend is a real estate agent and she says many more people are being turned away these days.

I worked in London for a large global telecoms firm for almost 10 years and worked with loads of Australians. Never heard them whining either.

Not sure what you mean but I was just sharing some information. I was an oil and gas wife for over 20 years and this is the worst it has ever been IMO.

My ex husband is in oil and gas and is currently working overseas and has been for 4 years now. The oil and gas situation the world over is pretty dire at the moment and according to my ex is unlikely to improve in the short term.

I think a successful migrant keeps an open mind to new things. Someone who does the correct research prior to moving to a new country and I don't just mean about housing, schooling and cost of living. There are many wonderful things about the UK that cannot be replicated to the same degree in Australia. Expecting Australia to be like UK with sun just because it's an English speaking country makes someone a bit naive IMO. I still do not know to this day what makes a family who lives around the corner from close family members, people who have an active social life and good quality of life just decide to emigrate. To say it's unlikely to work in the long term is an understatement IMO.

I could only find it being an offence if you were driving using an overseas licence. On a WA licence the police told me it wasn't an offence as it was going to be about 3 weeks before if would be in possession of a new one and I was concerned.

No that's incorrect. I recently had my purse stolen which contained my driving licence. I indicated to the police when I report it that I was concerned about driving without having it in my possession and they told me not to worry as it wasn't an offence in WA.

This is where I get annoyed too. My youngest auditioned for The Voice Kids. She got down to the last 250 from 8000. She wasn't selected because she wasn't interesting enough or didn't have a sad story to tell. She is better than half of the finalists selected who were picked purely for their personalities or had a close sick relative etc etc.

It's hard to put into words. We were going to send our girls to LJBC, it's walkable and people I knew were happy with their kids going there. I have met lots of South Africans over the years and they are lovely. However, I find the religious ones a bit strange and when I went to LJBC to look around and attend the open evening I just got an odd feeling about them and how they approached religion. I'm not saying they provide a bad education or pastoral care, far from it but it just didn't sit right with me. If it feels right for you then go with it, I'm a firm believer in gut feelings.

The Baptist movement goes against everything I believe in and I am not particularly religious. There are a few schools I wouldn't entertain not because they are bad schools but because I know the religion aspect would trouble me.

My youngest goes to an Anglican school, nearest I would imagine to a C of E. Religion not pushed at all really. Some of the Baptist schools and in Perth any that have a lot of South African students I would personally steer well clear of. just my opinion of course.

It very much depends on the child I think Fiona. My eldest hated private and is almost about to complete year 12 in what is considered a substandard public school. She is happy though which is the most important thing to me. My youngest is in private and loves it. It suits her and her personality. I would thoroughly recommend St Mark's if you are considering going private.

We didn't set up an account before we arrived. It was all quite straight forward to arrange with Bankwest when we arrived. Would thoroughly recommend them.