shellybr

Loads of us. Check out the facebook page Irish Families in Perth heaps of info and meetups

We were the same arrived in NZ with a couple of suitcases each and left with 2 kids. It is great here for families very similar attitude to the kiwis with lots of family activities and lots of socialising as a family. I really miss NZ, don't miss Ireland at all but life is good here, going to be 34 deg on Monday

We were in Wellington went home for a year then came here to Perth. We found that alot of things in supermarket were stuff we were used to from NZ. Just sitting here munching on a bag of Pinapple lumps. Things I don't think are that much more expensive then NZ wages were are higher. The choice in the shops is much better then Wellington anyway don't know about Auckland. We found we settled straight away and I think it was because alot of things were familiar from our time in NZ as the media and products are pretty much the same. Just going off subject a bit here :-) you said you were in NZ for 4 years. Did you find any major differences by moving to Aussie. Living in Auckland we are used to paying through the nose for most things. It would just be interesting to get an opinion from someone who has made the move across the tasman. Share [*]| [*]Like Reply Reply With Quote Blog this Post [*][h=3]Quick Reply[/h]

Definatly no leeway with the age. There are lots of 4yr old programmes its just a mater of getting a place on them. Community kindys don't usually do 4's programs they are just an alternative to the school kindy but are governed by the Dept of Education and have the same curriculum as the school kindy just a bit more autonomy. My 5yr old is a May baby so just made it in to the cutoff. Sometimes I wish he hadn't as there is a definite difference between him and some of the older kids in the class with concentration etc. We were in NZ for 4yrs aswell and ds went to 3yr old kindy there and loved it.

I have given on the buggy at the gate thing, its never there or you still have to walk miles to find them. invest in a good baby carrier like an ergo, you can carry kids up to 3 in them and they are fabric so just roll up. I always use my own now and check the buggy through to the destination. It also leaves you hands free for other kids bags etc.

Our State PS does seem to pull the kids out for special help, my son is in preprimary and I have seen them discreetly doing 1 on 1 with kids who are struggling now. The also do the same with kids that are excelling.

School. I don't like the suburbs way out anyway and what you save in house price you will pay in school fees and all the extras that come with a private school. We picked a suburb with a great state primary and state hs 2 mins from the beach and 25mins from the city off peak.

I flew from Auckland to London and back with cathy pacific and they were fine. I was flying alone with a 14month old and they were great. Any flight from NZ will change over staff in HK as each leg is 12 hours so you can get awesome attendents on one flight and terrible on the next. I always found the HK NZ better as there was usually a mix of HK and Kiwi attendents who were really good the other leg I usually ended up with stewards who didn't like passengers very much. From what I remember the food was alright. Can't remember the seats being praticullarly bad but I am only 5ft 1in and wasn't sleeping as travelling with toddler.

What brand of milk are you using, we lived in NZ for 4 years and I never noticed anything different. The sausages are shite alright it was the casings they used that I hated. Have you dicovered cherios yet?

Are you wanting Private or State? My 5 year old is at Hillarys Primary School, we really like it and it has a very good name.

It is great for kids, I have a 5 year old as well and the 2 boys love it they are having a ball going to the beach and all the parks.

I am not 100% but I think it is around the $200 mark per term for the one for my son, I have to register him in a couple of weeks and there is a $15 application fee. A term will be 8-10 weeks. You won't be short of stuff to do with her, the playgrounds alone are amazing and everywhere.

I can help you with the kindy situation my youngest will be 3 next March so will be in the same intake as your daughter. As they turn 4 before the 30th June 2014 they will start Kindy in Feb 2014. Kindy is 2 days one week 3 days then next. They don't start full school till the following year when they are in Preprimary. I am going to send my fella to a 3 year old program next year its only a couple of hours a week but will get him started. You will find it easy to meet other young families there are all sorts of classes and things aimed at the preschool kids.

We moved to NZ 6 years ago straight after we got married(2days) and within a month of arriving our eldest was on his way. He is the first grandchild on both sides so there was huge excitement it was hard at times when I would see other pregnant mums to be with their mum doing baby shopping etc but other then that I was in the bubble of my first pregnancy I skyped my mum and dad every day as the time difference between Ireland and NZ is 12/13 hrs so they saw the bump growing and I could talk to my mum about anything to do with baby. They came over for the birth and helped out for the first I think 6 weeks. I was very lucky and had a great bunch of friends from my antinatal group and we had great time supporting each other through the baby years and subsequent babies. I had a bad time on my 2nd boy and my mum had to drop everything and come over to look after no1 son as I ended up in hospital anyway long story short DH freaked out about us being so far from all our family and when no2 was 5 months old we sold up and went home. It was a massive mistake and cost us $$$$ we are now in Perth and the boys are really doing well you do miss being able to drop them off at the grandparents house for a respite but you don't really miss what you don't have we skype regularly with the families and my parents are coming over at christmas for an extended trip so we will make the most of having a babysitter and go away for a weekend. One of things that we do is share baby sitting with another family, we babysit one night for them and viceversa it cuts down on the cost plus the kids know them really well.

I'd wait till you have your rental sorted, the 1st 2 or 3 weeks are a bit of haze with jet lag and trying to get your barings the kids will need that time to adjust. I know when we registered my son for school we had to prove we were staying in the area in a long term rental with a lease. You might also find you don't like the area you first land even if you have done all the research, one persons heave can be another persons hell.

My 5 yr and 2 yr old have never tasted fizzy drinks and only get juice as a big treat. The oldest fella doesn't even ask cause he thinks they are for adults he does try his luck with juice though. As long as I can keep it going he won't be having fizzy drinks at all. Milk and water is all they get in our house.

We aren't from the UK and my son is only in preprimary so I don't really know a whole lot about the differences. They teach the kids from the start how to problem solve and develop their confidence with News Days which are like show and tell. He is learning lots and they have had lots of Incursion days eg the Police bringing in their cars and trucks or a group of local elderly people who told them about growing up when they were young.

Heaps of things to do with the kids. Can't go anywhere without finding great playgrounds. Lots of free activities during the summer and school holidays. Outdoor cinemas. Bike/ walking trails. 22 deg days in the middle of winter. Kings Park Whitemans Park, Yanchep State Park.

know nothing about motorbikes except my dad rides them but I assume from your name you are from Wexford. So am I

Try and get to The Warehouse or Farmers and get yourself some polypro or go to Glassons and get some of their merino jumpers they will keep you warm. It gets damn cold the further south you go or the further into the mountains. If I was you guys I would hop on the ferry at Picton and do the North Island first its not nearly as cold this time of year.

It all depends when his birthday is. If he is 4 before June 30th 2013 he will start kindy in Feb 2013. Starting this year they are getting extra hours so it is 2 days one week 3 days the next. The hours are from around 8:45 - 2:45. The schools all have kindys attached but you usually have to be in catchment to get a spot. There is also Community Kindys which are the same but just off site and are not as tied in to the school restrants. The closing date for applications for the kindy at my sons school was yesterday but they will take applications later if they have the space. The community kindys are usually a little easier to get into mid term. Hope that helps

You can do it through the local church so you don't have to go with the private school if you don't want to. You might find when they are at a school without confirmation etc they lose interest in it as their friends won't be doing it. As far as I know the catholic school do the sacraments but not sure. Don't know what way they do it as we choose state for our son as we didn't want the religious aspect. I have heard that the religious schools can be very religious but as I said we don't have him at one so I don't know for sure.

4 term of around 10weeks then 2 weeks between except for summer holidays when they get longer

I use quicklense.com.au I have been using them for years heaps cheaper then here and all branded.

depends were you live, you see alot of kids out playing here were we are. The difference here to home is that there are brilliant parks everywhere so what alot of people do is meet up there after school or at weekends. My oldest is only just 5 so he isn't old enough to play out unsupervised but he does play out the front with the neighbours kids but there would be a parent watching as the oldest is 6 and there is a couple of bogans at the end of the road who like to drive their beast of a car fast up so we like to keep an eye.