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16 minutes ago, Drazic said:

The idea of Perth is alluring. I like the idea that it’s a hidden secret and once you become a Perth resident you’re part of something amazing that the whole world isn’t rushing to see. And while I’m sure it’s nothing like London, it does seem to be falling over itself to make itself quirky and trendy enough to cater for those needs.

Freo is about the best vibe in WA.

We lived in Perth for 11 years and are now back in the UK.

If I had your choice, it wouldn't be Perth. Nice looking place but not much going on, especially if you are used to London or big cities.

Good luck.

We've lived back in the NW of England for 12 months and, to be fair, I haven't found the weather an issue.

We used JetPets out of Perth, they fly Emirates. No idea as to current constraints though.

20 hours ago, rammygirl said:

For Adelaide  I would say if you can earn 2.2 times more in dollars than you do in pounds then you will have a comparable lifestyle.

Personal opinion is that for Perth it would be slightly closer to 3 times more.

We moved back to the UK last year and earn less than 3 times (£ to $) what we did in Oz (wife is P/T) but I reckon we have more disposable income here.

Paul (above) works for the Perth tourist board (in his mind) and won't be happy until everyone in the world lives there and puts it in writing how much they love the place. Also, he (or someone he knows) has done everything you have done and it's not as good as being in Perth. So, you may as well just move there. Hope that helps.

Nice update.

We had a week in Bakewell earlier this month, absolutely beautiful round there. Loved it.

2 hours ago, starlight7 said:

Singapore is great- I prefer it to Perth myself.

No hope for you then apprarently .

We never took furniture back to the UK so we used a large Movecube, kept it in storage for a couple of months until we found a house. Can't fault Seven Seas, very good.

3 minutes ago, Tappers2oz said:

I’ve done a lot or research on wages, house prices, general utilities/food/health insurance etc. I know it’s not exact but my workings out have been ‘backed up’ by people already living in Australia who’s circumstances are similar to mine. 

Fair enough, good luck.

2 hours ago, Tappers2oz said:

I guess I’m asking is more money and a bigger house a good enough reason to leave!

 

What makes you think you'll have more money? Higher salaries maybe but a much higher cost of living to contend with for sure.

I work in IT too, am nearly 50. I had 4 interviews when we got back here last year and got offered 3 of the jobs. There might be some sectors where age is important but for the vast majority of jobs, it isn't.

Being realistic, you might struggle. There isn't much of an IT scene in Perth at the best of times (worked there in IT for 11 years), not like there is in Syd or Melb. Plus, if you are on a temp visa with the extra restriction of reduced working hours, you're not much of a catch unfortunately.

As for quality of life, fine if you have the money. If your Mrs is a Trainee and you're on reduced hours, I hope you have lots of savings.

Only been to Kalgoorlie out of those. To be fair, it was shit.

It's not that Australia didn't work out for us, we just wanted to move back. For our circumstances, the UK suits us a lot more. We never moved to Australia in the first place because we hated the UK, we always had a good life here anyway. We were just following the wife's family, most of her family live in Perth. After 10 years, we were fed up and returned, like I say, the UK suits us more and what we're into. No regrets whatsoever. Good luck.

I didn't have my ToR # when we shipped, when the dogs arrived I was just prepared to bite the bullet and pay whatever, however it was only £50 for the 2 of them which I couldn't even be arsed filling the forms in to get the money back. The ToR # came through before the MoveCube turned up, that took 6 weeks anyway, not sure how much that would have been. Didn't need the ref ID to actually move stuff.

On 28/08/2019 at 10:49, OzinEire said:

Thanks for replies so far everyone. Would it be more beneficial for us to get Airbnbs or the like for 2 weeks NOR and 2 weeks SOR or would driving around be sufficient to get a feel for the areas do you think? 

That's a start. It's a tough one, holiday rentals cost a lot but nowhere near as much as buying a house in the wrong location and then having to move. We waited over 18 months before buying in Australia and I would suggest that's probably the best approach. We sold our house this year and the agent fees were upwards of $17k. So, make sure you get it right through research.

Get a holiday rental for as long as possible, make it your business to drive around suburbs as much as you can. Guaranteed you'll end up choosing somewhere different than your original plan.

No IT work SOR, only the CBD. Not that much IT work in Perth full stop.

We lived NOR but found ourselves heading SOR a lot of the time, more to do down there, NOR doesn't have much. Also, SOR is a better platform for travelling to the SW of WA if that's something you're interested in.

That's brilliant Marisa, thank you. Not quite sure exactly what is meant by 'income stream' but I can certainly look into it. Much appreciated.

Might be the Central actually, I know it is on the corner across from the station.

2 minutes ago, Toots said:

I used to meet my husband and friends in The Globe pub after work on a Friday.  Aaaah memories.  

My wife's mate's Aunt owns the Midland, think that is next door. We were in there a couple of weeks back.

I like Liverpool because there is so much packed into what is quite a small centre, easy to get anywhere and loads to do.

7 minutes ago, Toots said:

I used to work in Liverpool city centre.  The office was in Basnet Street above M&S and opposite John Lewis.  That was many years ago but the city always had a buzz about it.  Great place.

I used to work in the Port of Liverpool building, great place and good end of town for after-work drinks.

The city centre has had massive development, very impressive.

So, if you move the super to a bank account then pay yourself in instalments with one eye on the tax threshold, that's probably best? Is that right?

Good info, thanks guys.

I don't know a great deal about Lydiate but it's right next to Maghull which is nice. Heading out to Aughton and Ormskirk is lovely.

Now that I'm back in the UK, I don't think there is anything wrong with Crosby, think it's just my bro getting ahead of himself.

And yeah, the changes in the city centre are amazing, it's really buzzing and the work continues.