phil

For TFN, that can be done online. They say you have to be in Australia to do it, but I doubt they have any way of actually policing that. One less thing to do after landing ? Depending on where your partner's coming from there may be no real rush to get a driving licence. If coming from the UK as a resident you used to get 3 months of being allowed to use your UK licence before an Aussie one was required. Might be worth double-checking that's still current. Hope her journey's a good one!

From the surprise date (it had taken >2 years) our visas arrived in our inbox to the date we landed in Perth was 4 weeks. For one of those weeks I was bedridden with proper flu. It can be done fairly quickly to get from a state of zero preparedness to ready to go. But you may have to make hard choices about possessions to keep, dump etc. Once the cost of moving something is calculated you may find you're less fond of certain things.

Not a lot of help for this time round, but next time you want to renew a UK passport you can do it at many Auspost offices. Edit, just checked and it looks like they may have stopped that now and Auspost only do an "Assistance service" to basically check you've filled the form in right.

Make sure DIAC know your new passport number to tie the visa to in their systems. If you're on a temporary visa, you can generally drive on your UK licence (but remember the paper bit as well as the card, and check the expiry date on the card). Check at http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/licensing/20668.asp But there's nothing to stop you applying for a WA licence either. Having a WA licence might be easier for all the various ID checks you might encounter. It might be worth considering making photocopies of all the relevant docs and doing whatever DVLA process is to get it changed to your new name. If you get stopped in the meantime/need to show your licence you'll have the copies. And Congratulations!

Do vividwireless.com.au cover that area? Might be an option.

Perth wind is very different from Scottish wind...

UK is a "recognised country" so as long as you're over 25, the table at http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/licensing/20669.asp#20954 suggests the motorbike class won't be a problem, but you may have to look up what a "Medium Rigid" class is (the pdf at http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/LBU_DL_HeavyVehicleTheoryTest.pdf suggests it's 2 axles over 8 tonnes). Might be best to give them a call though.

Tennis really, I used to play cricket. I remember on one occasion I was bowling to an ex county player actually, I gave him a half volley just outside the off stump, he put his left foot down the wicket, he hit the ball back at me like a bullet didn't have chance to move, ball hit me straight between the eyes. I gave him a half volley just outside the off stump, he put his left foot down the wicket, he hit the ball back at me like a bullet didn't have chance to move, ball hit... I'm so sorry um, where was I?

Perth rocks. You'll love it. There's a Perth-specific sister-site to this one - perthpoms.com - you may want to check out too. They seem a friendly bunch.

Just to add to this, I had a read around the Police site. They reckon a third of the cash from fines goes to something that might be considered worthwhile. But I'd probably take that with a pinch of salt as on this page they also say "cameras are usually signed" and "cameras are not hidden". What!? Every single time I've seen the mobile cameras, they're not signed and definite steps have been taken to conceal them (and the supporting Nissan X-Trails). To my mind, sneakiness of the deliberate concealment (especially when they say they don't hide them!) would wind a lot of people up.

Well, I'm staying :-)

The chance of being caught increases if you mistake a camera mounted at traffic lights being for red-light enforcement when it's a speed camera, I can tell you :-(

It's a difficult one. If someone can't take in the road signs and their surroundings then they shouldn't have the privilege of a licence. Yet there are so many folk on WA's roads who demonstrate such a woeful lack of road sense it's genuinely astonishing. So I guess speed cameras do a job in trying to raise the awareness/standards of those drivers. It's a shame that all motorists are similarly targeted, but the policy makers have to go with lowest common denominator it seems. Would be great if any surplus funds (assuming there are any) went to driver education. Wonder if it does? Sunday opening AND speed cameras in the same year? Perth's being dragged kicking and screaming into the 90's!

That's the thing I've found with Telstra - they seem to actively discourage anyone giving them money.

I heard it was difficult on a temporary visa. I'm on a permanent one and had no hassle getting a contract. Getting the operators to competently activate the SIMs was another story.