woodymcfc Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 Hi fellow PIO'ers, as you may know we received our visa last Tuesday and we are already undecided which would be best, to arrive before Xmas or just after !!! I'll fill you in with our situation, Our eldest will start her final year of primary again in Perth in Feb '12, will it matter if we are there before the end of the school term in December ? Would it be better to have another final Xmas and NY here and not cause more upset with the OH with regards to missing Family ? We really are undecided, I am wanting to arrange our flights sooner rather than later so we can plan everything else thats needed, please help and make us decide which will be better ??????? Thanks.................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moirclan Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Hi fellow PIO'ers, as you may know we received our visa last Tuesday and we are already undecided which would be best, to arrive before Xmas or just after !!! I'll fill you in with our situation, Our eldest will start her final year of primary again in Perth in Feb '12, will it matter if we are there before the end of the school term in December ? Would it be better to have another final Xmas and NY here and not cause more upset with the OH with regards to missing Family ? We really are undecided, I am wanting to arrange our flights sooner rather than later so we can plan everything else thats needed, please help and make us decide which will be better ??????? Thanks.................. think it depends on how much before xmas your thinking of comming , school roughly closes 16/ 18 th dec from memory [ my kids have all finsihed schooling lol]do you need a rental to get into the school ? normally you need the lease to show your in the catchment area , the real estate agents may close over xmas , and if your looking for work again lots of companies close over xmas some dont reopen until mid jan . the schools dont reopen normally until a week or so before the new semester , which enables you to get book lists and uniforms etc . all in all i would come after xmas and new year id enjoy your last cool xmas . all you need for school is every thing on the book list plus uniform wont take to long ,by the second week after xmas things will start to get back to normal here and rentals will be advertised so will jobs etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SunshineSmile Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Hi there, We faced that dilemma too and in the end we decided to leave after Christmas and New Year. We decided this because (a) I thought it would be lonely and a little sad to spend Christmas and New Year with the trauma of leaving everyone so fresh in our minds. Also we would have been faced with living in temporary accomodation, so putting up a tree and all the traditional stuff would be less likely to happen. I imagined that lots of places close up for Christmas so it would to hard to get things done, in terms of looking for a place to rent and all the usual things that you need to do. (b) The flights were bloody expensive to fly before Christmas. c) Thought it unfair to my family and friends to go just before what is a time traditionally spent with family and friends. (d) Knowing that it may well be a few years before we could afford to both go back at Christmas time I wanted to enjoy our "last" one. (e) Christmas and New Year, people socialise alot more, so gave us much more opportunity to meet up with people (f) I thought it would add to the excitement of it all! (it did!!). As it turned out for us our visa didnt come through til January anyway so in the end it was decided for us, but even if it had come through we had decided to go after New Year based on the above!!! Just my opinions, hope that helps you in making your decision :wink: Steph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I agree with both of the above.... we were same dilemma too. In the end plumped to stay in UK for xmas and new year and left on Jan 1st (sounded sort of poetic too, new year new start etc).... I would arrive in Perth as soon after new year as poss, then you have a month to get organised before school starts with getting a rental, school catchments and as said above the school doesnt open til a few days before the new term anyway so you wont be able to get uniforms and books etc til then. If your daughter is going to a government school and you are in catchment ... they have to take you so you can be assured that they will get in to the school. Although I am glad we had our last xmas with family it was stressful and emotional.....there was a lot of talk from all our family about it being the last one and I have to say my mum who was gutted we were leaving found it hard to be with us at this time, very tearful etc. At one point she said I wish you had already gone and then we wouldnt be having all these 'last' family do's together. That on top of having to pack up your house, buy presents for everyone and make sure you are organised for your arrival in australia does make for a very stressful time for everyone and we had to work hard not to put our worries and stuff onto the shoulders of everyone we were leaving. To put it bluntly we were exhausted and we couldnt show it (after all we were the ones leaving and not them). Christmas is also a time when friends want to see you and we were given some beautiful photo albums and mementos of our friendships and our childrens friendships.... it was lovely and soppy and we were grateful but that time of year is sooo emotional and meaningful we felt caught up in it all........if we had left earlier there might have been less tears. Selfishly tho, we didnt want to spend our first xmas with the kids here on our own and that probably wouldnt have made our start over here very good..... so finally! in conclusion!! ha! probably best to be knackered, emotional and leave UK early Jan.... arrive in Perth and factor in that you will also need a good rest before starting school/work etc. All the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyman Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Me too,i would probs have my last cold Christmas and enjoy being with the family........i would love to have another Christmas dinner with my Mum And Dad ............but coming just after Xmas will be a shock to the system regarding the heat ............regards Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Ropey HOFF Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Just a thought we flew out on new years day the first of january and our flights were £200 cheaper, i'm not saying you will get that deal and ours was a return flight with Singapore. Personally i would stay for christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 I'd fly out after Christmas if it were me. Heading out there just before won't leave you much time to get sorted in terms of a rental so you'd be in temp housing for longer. Also its then a long wait till school starts and your children will have the entire summer holiday without really making friends or having a normal day to day life. Going after Christmas/New year gives you time with the family here, can really make the most of it and then the excitement of the move in the new year. You'll have a few weeks then to get yourself sorted, check out some schools and so on. Enough time for the kids to have some fun but not too long to feel in limbo and missing stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest robnnic Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Hi, Personally i would stay for christmas...it will give everyone time to cherish the memory and have lots of fun and laughter. We have decided that we aren't going to go over to validate we are just going straight over so whenever we get our visa (not yet applied for) we are staying for the following christmas....but things may change depending on what time of year we get our visa and the work situation.x. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Fly when the fares are cheapest I reckon and that will probably be in the few days after Christmas. It's not going to be a good time to try getting rentals immediately before or after anyway as people will be on holidays so as long as you arrive before the end of January and have time to get accommodation you should be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 We were in a similar situation. We had Xmas and new Year in the UK - and had a wonderful time, and we left the UK early January. It gave the kids a few weeks here before starting school. My daughter was to start year 7 Primary (after doing 3 months of Yr 7 HS in UK). We knew the area we were staying and therefore had the children in schools, the principle sorted out my daughter with an pen-pal (or cyber equivilent) and they corresponded prior to her arrival which was really helpful for that 'first day'. We had the 'one last xmas' and were glad we did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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