Do you feel isolated in Perth? [Newbie]

[Guest Fuddymeers99]

Hi, I'm a newbie to the site, and only just started seriously looking into moving to Oz, specifly Perth (suburbs) as my husbands sister now lives there. Hubby wants Perth but I'm open to other areas too.

:jiggy:

We spent 5 weeks near Perth a few years ago and did like it. In short, we are fed up of it in the UK and do not feel it hold the best opportunities for us and our young children. Same old story!

 

 

My main concern is that Perth is too isolated. So;

 

• Do you find the isolation of a province has been a problem?
  
• After a few years, do you get a little bored?
  
• Are the kids living a sheltered life?
  
• Do the kids want to move to the East coast after a while / or grown ups?
  
• Does anyone wish they had of chosen the East rather than WA?
  
• Is there really much going on?
  
• Whats the biggest downside of being in WA/Perth
  
• Are there actually many Aussies in WA as from what I hear its booming with Brits?
  

Any other feedback about living in WA welcome please. Good and bad points. Sorry to ask sort of negative questions but I do want to be realistic!

 

Whats the BEST thing about Perth/wa?

 

:wub:Your comments would be most welcome

THANK YOU!!

[ali]

When you say you spent 5 weeks near Perth, do you mean a suburb near the CBD? I know that Perth has the title of the most isolated capital in the world, but I think that often leads people to believe that it's practically cut off from the rest of the world and there will be no people around

 

 

My main concern is that Perth is too isolated. So;

 

• Do you find the isolation of a province has been a problem?
  

I'm not quite sure what you mean by province do you mean state?- I personally don't find it a problem, WA is a vast state, some things may be a little more expensive than over east, Perths 'isolation' hasn't impacted upon our daily lives.

 

• After a few years, do you get a little bored?
  

We've been here for 3 years now and still enjoy living here.

 

• Are the kids living a sheltered life?
  

In what way? My son plays out more than he did in England, he's exposed to the same things he would have been in the UK, I find that I have to be a little more aware of TV programmes, in the UK I need not have really worried about content before 9pm ... here it's a little different. My teenage daughter goes out and does things with friends, they tend to get dropped off by parents ... but that's due to distance rather than sheltering them

 

• Do the kids want to move to the East coast after a while / or grown ups?
  

They haven't mentioned it. My daughter hopes to go to UNI in WA (actually she's hopeful that she can go to the Uni in the next suburb so she doesn't have to travel lol). I'm realistic, my children will at some stage fly the nest, they'll travel and may even work/live abroad. We love the east coast for a holiday .. but enjoy the peace and quiet of WA

 

• Does anyone wish they had of chosen the East rather than WA?
  

Again, only speaking for myself .. No. We visited Brisbane, Sydney and Cairnes before deciding to migrate (I have a brother in QLD), loved all those places but Perth seemed to tick our boxes so we came here after never visiting the state. We did say however, that if we didn't like it we would probably try Victoria

 

• Is there really much going on?
  

Depends what you're into and want ... but we have big name concerts, there's load of festivals e.g. Sunday at Point Walter there's a family day, fireworks, live entertainment and it's free. There are concerts at the winerys and in Kings Park, there's heaps of sports clubs and recreation facilities. Open air movies etc.,

 

• Whats the biggest downside of being in WA/Perth
  

Sometimes our programmes are 2 hours behind the rest of the country.

 

• Are there actually many Aussies in WA as from what I hear its booming with Brits?
  

When the boom occurred in WA and house prices became expensive, a lot of people decided to migrate over east instead (it was cheaper). There are parts of WA that seem to have a high proportion of Brits, and there are certainly a fair few about, but we also have korean, chinese migrants in largish numbers. You'll still find some Australians and WA certainly isn't 'little Britain'

[Guest JohnAvoca]

If you're looking for a quite life, somewhere peaceful, you can just as easily find it over here in NSW as you can in the West. The bonus, in NSW at least, is you're close to Sydney. Sydney is the the media and finance capital of Australia. Plenty would argue it's the cultral, arts and political capital in many senses too. For work, I needed to be within a few hours of Sydney. Does work dictate where you have to be? One of the reasons I didn't migrate to Perth was because I'd heard it was full of Brits (my brother is one of them). I wanted to leave the UK and experience the Aussie way of life, not just move to Britain-with-sun. Of course, there are Brits everywhere - i know lots where I live. However, I'm glad to say all my closest friends are Australian. I've got a blog on life in Australia called mylifeinaustralia.com

 

Check it out. I've written about the dilemma of where to live in this great country.

[Guest janeymcp]

have looked at your blog - its fab ! many more hours of happy reading for me!

[Guest Fuddymeers99]

Fantastic blog!! love it. THANK YOU! Will be adding it to my favourites. We're going to an Emigration Expo at the weekend and going to make some serious decisions. I guess the move to Oz really depend on whether my husband can find a job first. Too scary to move without a job with two young kids. As for where we choose to live, depends on where my hubby can find a good job. He's a Manufacturing/production Manager so I really don't know as that sector has suffered so much.

[Guest JohnAvoca]

To Janey and Fuddy, thanks for your kind comments. Fuddy, we migrated with two kids and no jobs, though I was able to freelance. Nonetheless, it was very scary. Even with a job it would have been. I know next to nothing about manufacturing and production managment, only that production management pays well out here - so I've heard. A lot of places around Australia have benefited from economic stimulus and resources preojects. Mostly, over there, you'd have heard about the mining projects in WA. But the mining and resources regions inland from places like The Whitsunday's in Queensland are absolutely booming too. Check out the Newcastle and Hunter Valley areas in NSW too. They're booming. The flow on from these big projects would mean more demand for people like your husband I imagine, depending on his field.

[Guest]

We have only been here 15 months so perhaps a bit early to answer your questions but in terms of isolation, I'd ask isolated from what? Perth is nearer to the UK for a start! Singapore is just a 5 hr flight, there are very cheap flights to many places with Air Asia. Maybe in the days before ordinary people could afford to fly it was isolated but now it's irrelevant (and of course WA is amazing in itself - both Australia and Bran Nue Day were filmed here)

 

I've just been to Melbourne on business and there is undeniably a more vibrant buzz about the CBD but no way would I rather live there, maybe as a 20+ singleton but not as a 40+ mum - back in Perth a noticed again how relaxed it felt even at 9am

[Paul1Perth]

 

• Do you find the isolation of a province has been a problem
  

 

Not at all. There is plenty to do and see in WA. You can always go on a cheap holiday to Bali from here too.

 

 

• After a few years, do you get a little bored?
  

 

Been here for 18 years and I don't get bored at all. I am involved with a lot of sport (squash, surf lifesaving, running, biking, triathlon) so that helps. I am 56 by the way so no youngster either. I am sure I wouldn't have been doing all that stuff back in the UK. Maybe darts at the local pub.

 

 

• Are the kids living a sheltered life?
  

 

No they seem to enjoy life here. Our eldest (20) has talked about travelling with his girlfriend when he has finished his electrical apprenticeship but that is quite normal for his age group. He has been to Bali on holiday and is soon going to Kuala Lumpur for a week or so.

 

 

• Do the kids want to move to the East coast after a while / or grown ups?
  

 

I have been over to the East Coast a lot with work and love Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. They are all great for a visit as is just about every other city in Aus. I've also been to Townsville, Darwin, Adelaide and some smaller inland places. They all have something to offer and are totally different from each other, BUT I am always glad to get home to Perth.

 

 

• Does anyone wish they had of chosen the East rather than WA?
  

 

No I prefer WA. We have a lot of business visitors from Sydney. A lot have never been over to Perth and usually they love it over here.

 

 

• Is there really much going on?
  

 

You might get a few people saying there isn't much going on but I reckon it's because they don't look. AC/DC were on last night, there are usually free concerts and markets going on somewhere, there are loads of places to go at weekends, restaurants as good as anywhere else in Australia and plenty of them.

 

 

• Whats the biggest downside of being in WA/Perth
  

 

Honestly can't think of a downside other than hearing a footy score before we see the match as we usually get delayed telecast.

 

 

• Are there actually many Aussies in WA as from what I hear its booming with Brits?
  

 

It is booming but with a lot of nationalities. There are a lot of brits here but it is "poms paradise". Remember when you used to go to Spain, Portugal, Greece for your holidays and wished you lived there? Well Perth has what you liked about all those places without the language barrier. We have a lot of Aussie friends but don't tend to go searching out other brits to hang around with. A lot of ex-pats do and there's nothing wrong with that, if that is what you like. There are plenty of "English style" pubs serving Guiness, Kilkenny (pretty good too) so if you want that lifestyle it's there too.

[Guest Perth Princess]

Personally I wish we had moved to the East Coast. We do feel the isolation here. Sure it's a big state but not too much variation within it if you compare it to Brisbane where it's a short flight to Melbourne/Sydney and you have all the lovely coastal towns within driving distance.