1 Week in, the rest of our lives to go

[Firestorm]

Hi All

Been in Perth for almost 1 week now, here are a few comments. (from my personal experience)

Australian's are very friendly, helpful and accommadating.

Most of the people you will meet here have been in the same position, there are alot of immigrants here, we went to the bank today to organise bank cards and the lady that was helping us was from Fiji, been here 8 months. They all understand how we feel.

You will miss home, even from the first day, just the thought that you are not on holiday and will be going home in a few weeks is heartbreaking.

The South African that are here will support you.

Trying to decide on a suburb in Perth is difficult everyone has their own opinion.

Houses are expensive, finding a rental home is difficult.

Some of the houses look like old spoorweer houses.

Australians aren't keen gardeners.

Travel the speed limit, everybody does and it works.

Bring a GPS with you, you will get lost.

There are very nice shopping centres with really interesting shops, my wife is on a personal mission to find them all.

There is a lot more variety here in the shops, the fresh produce is excellent, there are things that are cheaper here than in SA, we bought bicycles for the kids $69 dollars each, good quality bicycles.

Get internet or skype to stay in contact with people back home.

The nickname for Perth is Wait Awhile (WA) and it is, things move slow here, its going to take me awhile to get used not running around like a lunatic every second of the working day.

Australian are not pretensious, they are very down to earth.

A note from my wife Mrs Firestorm, woman have to be strong, us men struggle to adapt, we are used to chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it doesn't happen here, nobody cares if your an engineer or a doctor.

There is no class status here, no one thinks any less of the postman or refuse collector, a job is a job.

There are some models of cars here that we don't get in SA, difficult to decide what to buy, and rather affordable.

You won't get credit from a bank for at least 3 months depending on your Visa.

If you are on a 457 Visa you might battle to buy a car on HP, they are getting a bit sticky

Anyway all from me for now, hope this helps.

MISSING HOME STAX.

[deroche]

It's difficult but I believe it will get easier. Good luck.

[JellyTots]

Thanks for that honest post.

We will be in the same boat in December and we are a bit worried about the rentals in Perth. Thankfully my husband's sister live's in Perth, so we do have some support.

All the very best in your new home, I am sure that it is going to be a great success!

[zamunda]

Congratulations and wishing you nothing but all the success in Oz.

Thank you so much for the post. It is really helpful to those of us still waiting to get to Oz.

Fortunately we have had the opportunity to have visited Oz a number of times before and now finally in the process of moving there permanently.

The only regret is that we did not make the move a lot earlier. When you get to Oz you begin to realise that all this time you have been letting life pass you by. Being in Oz, there is so much freedom, so much opportunities and a great deal to do (in a positive sense).

We just can't wait for our move.

All the best once again.

[blondiejhb]

I feel that they are very trusting here. I got a years contract for a wifi modem, and all I needed was my passport, my bank details , and a copy of my rental agreement. No payment upfront.

[rikamarie]

Thanks for this post. It really sounds so amazing over there. It seems, Oz, is all my husband and I can talk about these days and we're doing research and finding out as much as possible, but your first hand experience really means a lot to us, to read for ourselves. Wow, and thanks again. We are really looking forward to exploring our town and getting everything sorted. But we also realise that we will miss our family a lot!

[Annelie Siemens]

We have been here about 3.5 months, and it is amazing how quickly you do adapt to the WA way of doing things.....you don't stress any more to keep the floors clean 24/7. You are more relaxed, little things don't bug you as much as it used too.....There is more important things to worry about, like which park are we gonna play at today etc.

Every day, i say thank you for the blessings we have received while here, and the great opportunity to live in such an amazing country and state.

Finding a rental can be a bit of a nightmare, , there is just so much competition here....but you will find a rental promise.

I'm suprised every day still with the excellent level of customer service you receive, no matter where you go. Oh and don't get me started on the postal service, amazing!

Anyway, we are very happy here,

[Alida]

So glad you're so happy there ! We still live in a 'bubble' here in Western Cape, but reading all the positive things of Aus, makes me long for a QUALITY life, not just blessed to still live, never seen or experienced real crime, blessed to be able to fill up my car once a month with R 700... but we ARE blessed, I'm not complaining, the quality down under I read and hear about, just keeps on amazing me these past few weeks.

[Springjock]

Welcome! Hope its not too long before you recognise Oz as your new home. For some it takes time. Best of luck

[AllisonW]

Welcome, thanks for the lovely post. I could identify with so much of what you said.

[Gizmo]

Agree with all except the gardening bit. The houses with gardens that look like hell are generally rentals. This will give you an idea of how many rentals there are - loads (of course, there is also a high rental demand , so its difficult to secure a rental). I found that most Aussies in Perth are actually keen gardeners - only problem is that there is no Philemon here to work 8 hours per week to keep it nice. Here, with socializing and other weekend activities, you have maybe an hour or two per week to garden. I have noticed that food gardening is big here - my office colleagues frequently bring in their garden produce to share and have a little boast. :-)

[Eagle101]

Thanks for the great post!