Morchie

Hi I understand how you feel. We have been in Perth area for 11 weeks now and on many occasions have thought what have we done. I don't think the time of year helps, Christmas is always going to bring memories of back home and I am missing the cold weather (never thought I would) in the run up to christmas. The schools are winding down for the end of the school year and yes they are very different much more laid back than the UK school, children seem to wonder about the school grounds getting stuff out of bags (they are kept outside of the classroom). I think it takes a long time to feel settled, I expected to feel fine after my things from home arrived but It made me more unsettled. We will give it a good try and I think 2 years is enough to know if you can live here or try another area of Australia before making the decision to return to the UK. Good luck hope you feel better soon. Jayne x

If you are like my husband he felt much better once he had his bike here but he had the same with customs wanting to include a set of spare wheels in the value of the bike and they wanted the mileage (it is a track bike so no speedo) so we then had to explain that it was not for road use etc etc.. but it did take a week or so longer than the rest of our container to be released. With regard to the visa stamp and driving licence we had this also as there driving licence systems can not check the electronic visas, but you can get the lable put in by going to immigration in perth. I took all my families passports and it was done straight away, did not have to wait long. We have been here 10 weeks and I am still feeling very restless and am waiting to feel settled but I am hoping once all the bits and pieces are in place and we are not chasing about every weekend trying to get stuff done we will start to enjoy being here. Jayne

Hi Could have written that message ourselves. We are also due to fly out, three weeks on Monday to Perth and are thinking omg what have we gone and done. :eek: But I am sure that it will be alright once we get there. I am more panicing about the shippers coming in 10 days. Good luck with your move :biggrin: Jayne

Hi Rose Been "a goth" for many many years but now getting to old to to keep up the appearance, but still a goth in spirit. What sort of music do you listen to, was very in to the lifestyle when I lived in London back in the 90's and early 80's, was lucky enough to have a good job that allowed me to be me. So you may have more in common than you think:biggrin: Morchie

Hi We are flying from Birmingham to Perth with Emirates on the 12th September, so it is good to hear all the good experiences. Getting very excited now :biggrin: Jayne

Hi We are arriving in Perth on 13th September and will not know anyone. I am 43 and hubby is 44 and we have a son who is 7 and would welcome meeting up with other newbies. We are initally staying in safety bay. It is all very exciting and scary as we have never even visited Australia, so we are going with a completely open mind and sense of adventure. good luck to you all Jayne

After just three weeks since submitting our application we have our 457 visa and OH is to start his new job in Perth on 19th September, so we have gone in to a bit of panic mode.:eek: Think we have now sorted all the basics out and was wondering if anyone else will be going over on the same flight as us. We are flying with Emirates from Birmingham to Perth on 12th September. We are going to be living in the Saftey Bay area to start with. It would be good to try an make some new friends in the area, I am a mum (age 43) to a 7 year old boy. Best get back to the sorting. Jayne

Expensive that's what I thought, I know we are going to have to pay more for a short term furnished place but that one works out at $6,000 for a months stay and we are not able to afford that as we are on a budget. We are also looking at approx $300 to $350 a week for our long term rental, not sure where yet as the area is all new to me. Going to be quite the adventure :biggrin:

Congratulations. All the best. Where is WA are you heading? We are just applying for the 457 and we hope to be over before Christmas, but like you we have to sort our house out first. Anyone got info on short term accommodation approx 10 miles radius of Armadale, so far I have been quoted $1500 a week for a 4 bed house. We only need 2 bed place for up to 4 weeks. We are having to fund it ourselves. Thanks Morchie

So it looks like it is actually going to happen!!! We will be looking to be living within a 30 min drive from Armadale WA. Having read many posts about estate agents being uninterested, rude etc has anyone on here found a good and helpful estate agent (do they call them real estate) and if so could you recommend one for the areas around Armadale. Thanks Jayne

Hi Did you have any luck finding out about importing your race bike? We are moving to Perth in approx 3 months and my OH has a track/race bike and wants to bring it with him, he has a v5 but is has been totally stripped and rebuilt as a race bike so no chance of it going back to a road bike, all the info I can find is on importing a road going bikes. He will be devestated if he is not able to bring it with him. Thanks Jayne