shellyk666 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Hi everyone, It's been a while since I posted, I've been soo busy!! I made the move over to Perth from Nottingham at the end of October 2014 with my husband and 2 children (aged 7 and 4). The goodbyes were tough, especially my parents, but so far I haven't found it emotionally difficult at all. I can't say I'm really missing anything. I think this is probably what I'm most surprised about and I imagine you'll never know how you'll feel until you've actually done it. Everything I put in this post is of course my own personal opinion, your experiences and opinions may be very different to ours and that is ok. We arrived on a Friday afternoon, my sister collected us from the airport. She moved out here in March 2014 and our families are incredibly close. It was so lovely to see them again! The kids were really good throughout the plane journey even though they only had a few hours sleep. I arrive in Perth in a bit of a daze and the journey to my sisters home felt surreal, I couldn't quite believe we were finally here! My first impression was that I was surprised by how many trees there are and by how wide the roads are. We were lucky enough to be able to stay with my sister for as long as we needed to, in the end we were there nearly 8 weeks before getting the keys to our own rental. We enrolled our kids in the local school before leaving the UK, Ella secured the last kind place but for every other year from pre-primary upwards as long as you live within the boundary they have to take them. Compared to the primary school in England I personally prefer Winthrop Primary School so far. They appear very well organised and the teachers we've had so far have been great. Harry hasn't found that he's miles ahead or behind the rest of the class and the report we received for the last few weeks of last year suggested he was in a similar position to where he was deemed to be in the UK. The main difference for me is that there appears to be an awful lot of 'gifted and talented' programs. I'm still trying to get my head around it all but first impressions are good, they seem to recognise talented individuals and do something about it. This is an area I need to understand better though. Neither of us had a job to come out to. My husband, a joiner, responded to a few Seek adverts with his CV whilst we were still in the UK and secured some interviews for the week after we arrived. He was offered a job at the first interview and started work 3 weeks after landing. The work is not as high quality as he's used to and the people he works with don't appear to be particularly talented but he's happy to be bringing a wage in for now. We decided I would take a few months off, to settle the kids into school, find a house and get all the jobs ticked off. It also meant that I could have the kids throughout the school summer holidays and not have to worry about childcare and also I'd be off whilst my parents visited for 3 weeks in January. I had decided that I wanted to start work full time around the middle of February giving the kids a couple of weeks to settle back at school after the holidays. I starting actively applying for jobs in January, mainly government roles which often offer flexible working etc. As in the UK the government recruitment process is slow! I also applied for a couple of jobs advertised privately on Seek and following my first interview on Wednesday they called me on Friday to offer me the position. I start on Wednesday! For this job, and another government position that I wasn't shortlisted for, they commented on the large number of applicants having received over 50 applications. The role isn't for as much money as I think I ought to be on as I earned an above average salary in the UK but I'm happy to have gotten my foot in the door and it doesn't stop me continuing to look. Our combined salary will enable us to live comfortably and save a bit too. Leave Loading (where they pay you 17.5% more when you're on annual leave) and Salary Packaging (a salary sacrifice scheme where you are able to pay for some things directly from your salary before tax has been deducted) appear to be pretty common here. From my limited experience I'd say that 4 weeks annual leave plus public holidays seems to be normal (although I've got 5 weeks with my new job). I'd heard that daycare often get's booked up quickly and I have found this to be true. I visited 4 Daycare centres in November to secure a place from February and they had either no or very limited places left so this is definitely something people need to consider. If I had left it until I had secured a job to find a daycare place I'm not sure I could have found one. All public school students, including kindy, have a list of stationary and books to buy for each school year which adds up to a fair amount. I found it surprising that this stuff isn't provided by the school. At our school there is then 'voluntary contributions' of $100 per student and 'excursion fees' of $90 for each year. I was also surprised at the cost of school uniform. At our school you must wear the polo shirt with the school emblem and a particular type of shorts or trousers. They're pretty expensive when you're comparing it to Tesco or M&S. A school dress is $55/$60 and 1 polo shirt is $24 for example. Overall I don't find that cost of living in Perth is very different to that in Nottingham, with the exception of rental payments. For a family of 4 I spend around $250 - $300 on our weekly grocery shopping. I do a big shop at Spudshed and then a smaller shop at Woolworths or Coles. This isn't very much different to what I used to spend in the UK which was £130-£150. I've found that the range and cost of furniture to be pretty good to start us off. We bought a large Move Cube and decided to buy most thing again. Super Amart, Furniture Bizarre and Ikea are all pretty cheap and have started us off. The houses are so much bigger and are often more open plan. Apple products work out a bit cheaper over here too. I find most electrical items to be good value, the only thing I thought was expensive was fridge-freezers. I find entrance fees at attractions are generally good value when compared to those in the UK and there is plenty of free stuff going on. We've got solar panels and bore reticulation so hopefully our water and electricity bills will be ok. We pay $70 a month for an unlimited landline and broadband with TPG and they've been find so far, it's a lot cheaper than some of the others at the moment. We have a Pre-pay sim with Optus and pay $30 per month for 1G of data, 250 minutes and unlimited messages which is plenty for us, the cost of a months contract wasn't worth it for us. In the weeks after we arrived life was a bit like a whirlwind! We tried to find a balance most days of doing something for the kids and ticking something off the 'to do' list. We set up our Anz accounts from the UK and had to attend in branch to activate it and receive our cards etc. The service was good although the lady made a mistake on my debit card meaning I wasn't able to use it to pay for anything (that was embarrassing!) and I had to go back in branch, she'd checked the wrong box. I used TorFX to transfer our money. It felt wrong transferring such a large sum into their account following nothing more than a couple of phone calls but it was very easy and simple with no problems whatsoever. I was pleased with the exchange rate at the time. There was medicare, buying/registering cars, mobile phone contracts, centrelink and childcare. We've registered with a local GP practise although I need to read more about how medicare works cuz I don't really get it at the moment. If you're bringing a child under 7 be sure to get a copy of there immunisation records as it is needed to determine what catch-up program is needed and a copy is provided to the Immunisation Register. There were 2 that my daughter (4) hadn't received in the UK, Hepatitis B and Chicken Pox. She's already had chicken pox so the Dr was happy to confirm to the Immunisation Register that that one isn't needed due to a natural immunity but she's had to start a course of 3 injections for Hep B. Centrelink won't pay you any family assistance (including child care benefit or child care rebate) unless you are up to date with the Australian vaccinations or on a catch up program which is interesting. Moving into our rental made a big difference for us. Until then it kind of felt too much like a holiday. It wasn't as difficult to secure one as I thought it might be. It was the quality of the houses on offer that had me most worried! We were looking at a budget of up to $650 per week. A lot of them were in desperate need of an update (and a good clean!). On the odd day when the temperature approaches 40 degrees I'm grateful for the air conditioning in the evening and it can feel too hot to do very much at all unless it involves a pool. Although I am surprised by how quickly you become accustomed to the warmth. I love it that I now have day after day of sunshine, anything around 30 degrees is my fave. I'm not sure that the novelty will ever wear off for me. I very much prefer to apply suncream every day rather than getting wrapped up in coats, scarfs and gloves. I prefer sun hats to woolly hats lol. We're all really happy here so far and have no regrets. I can't believe we actually live in this beautiful place! Sorry this is so long, well done if you've made it this far! If you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 What a great update, thank you so much for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelensvaleHoward Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 This is what the forums about and hearing great updates like this This will help others for sure I remember when we were doing the same Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Great update and sure sounds like you have hit the ground running. Cal x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozmaniac Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Brilliant post. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to another one at 6 months! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M1cha3la Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Great update, thanks for sharing x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gbye grey sky Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 A great update containing a lot of helpful tips too. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janlo Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 A great positive post showing both sides, it's sure is a very beautiful country although we still struggle with the humidity. It's a good trade off not having to find hats and gloves for the kids ! You and hubby are so lucky with finding jobs so easily...well done. What do you do work wise ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flag of convenience Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Long may the good times roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlas Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 What a great update, thank you for sharing I'm pleased that your family has settled in so well too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellyk666 Posted February 15, 2015 Author Share Posted February 15, 2015 A great positive post showing both sides, it's sure is a very beautiful country although we still struggle with the humidity. It's a good trade off not having to find hats and gloves for the kids ! You and hubby are so lucky with finding jobs so easily...well done. What do you do work wise ? My hubby is a joiner. I was a compliance auditor for the Ministry of Justice in the UK, my new job is kind of along the same lines but isn't government. I feel really grateful that so far everything seems to be going to plan. I submitted loads of job applications over a couple of weeks using the STAR approach to answer the selection criteria, one of them was going to come through eventually lol The issue I had is that what I can do is often called a variety of different titles which made it difficult to search for, I'd have never come across the advert for the job I got had I not just looked through everything! My perseverance paid off quickly though on this occasion. It doesn't get too humid over in WA thankfully, I'm not sure I'd cope so well if it was so I understand why you still struggle. Good luck for your future xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachelalexia Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) What a great post, I'm currently getting things organised to put in our Eoi. Trying to sort my husbands skill assessment, so that we can put in our Eoi. He is a wall and floor tiler. He's already done his ielts test 2 years ago and we put the move on hold, now we're ready to start again I am finding that The waiting part is the devil lol x Edited February 15, 2015 by Rachelalexia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chenzo Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Brilliant post ! Thankyou for sharing in such detail , it is so helpful . Good luck x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippylorna76 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Great update, I was a fellow June visa applicant and can remember the thread started by you and all our anxious waiting. Seems a long time ago now. Myself, husband and 2 sons (13 and 10) are finally heading out to Perth at Easter. Can anyone advise if the Hep B jag is required for all age groups of children? Need to check this out quickly as unsure if my 2 have had them here in UK?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adele244 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 What a fantastic read. So glad your enjoying it. x x x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellyk666 Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Great update, I was a fellow June visa applicant and can remember the thread started by you and all our anxious waiting. Seems a long time ago now. Myself, husband and 2 sons (13 and 10) are finally heading out to Perth at Easter. Can anyone advise if the Hep B jag is required for all age groups of children? Need to check this out quickly as unsure if my 2 have had them here in UK??[/QUOT Hi, the hep b vaccination is required for children under 7, my son (who's 7) didn't need it. I'm pretty sure it's not part of England's standard vaccination program. You're right, it feels like a very long time ago waiting for the grant to come through! At least we were able to offer each other support. Sometimes I still can't believe I'm actually here and we dot it lol Not long now til you come over as well then, are you getting excited? :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee13 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Best of luck with settling in. Some nice mild warm weather we have had. Feel a beautiful autumn coming up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippylorna76 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 thanks, my boys are 10 and 13 so don't require the hep b jags Yes getting very excited and also stressed out my list of things to do gets longer each day and even thinking about the things to be done when we arrive brings me out in a sweat. Really can't believe in less than 3 weeks we will be in Perth!! all the best and hope things continue to be great for you in your new home Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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