Perth - so many questions! Life, crime, suburbs etc.

[MrsJ]

Love, love these posts! Thanks so much to all of you it has made me feel so much better. Immigration has got to be one of the most terrifying but at the same time exciting things one can do

[ronfire]

Love, love these posts! Thanks so much to all of you it has made me feel so much better. Immigration has got to be one of the most terrifying but at the same time exciting things one can do

Yep. Bungee jumping and skydiving ain't got nothing on migration!

[MrsO]

The Company organised a furnished apartment for us at Regal Apartments, East Perth. You tend to feel totally shell shocked when you arrive but we had no choice - had to regroup as It soon hit us that we had to start making the crucial decision where to stay as our youngest daughter had to finish High School! That meant organising a rental car and driving around every weekend to get the feel of the suburbs.

To settle the North / South of the river thing I also suggest you use public transport NOR and SOR as these are the people you will see on your daily commute. It is the norm to either drive to the station or take the bus to the station and travel by train. In my opinion, for what is is worth I felt more at ease NOR. I also preferred the general feel of the shopping centres, suburbs, houses etc. This is something everyone has to decide for themselves and it takes plenty of driving and looking etc. Soon becomes no fun at all and a bit overwhelming but has to be done.

We did try our daughter in a Public School at Beldon. She lasted 2 weeks and asked if she could please leave. The next school we tried was private - Peter Moyes and she loved it. The Baptist School also gets good reviews. Both are in Quinns Rocks.

We found a cute 3 bed cottage in Butler - and settled in - great parks etc and easy to drive to and from the school. The bus takes about 15 mins to the station and the train time is about 35/40 mins or thereabouts to Perth. Enough shops around to get everything if you don't feel like going far from home. We have since moved to a 4 bed home in Currambine and we love it. Plenty of local shops and 5 minute drive to Joondalup and cuts about 12 minutes off commute times to Perth for the hubs. We always pick suburbs near the sea. No matter how your day has been - there is just something that lifts your heart when you see it as you are driving and going about your day!

For the query about the station at Butler I took a drive about a couple of weeks ago to have a look. They seem to be on target for 2014. I was surprised how much had been done. Loads of contractors on site. Can make out the Station already etc. Pleasantly surprised to see a cafe has gone up at Jindalee Beach too and had a coffee.

I would just like to say it is normal to feel stressed out. Migrating is STRESSFUL. I can remember going for my weekly shop after being here about 4 months. Up and down the aisles trying to decide from brands I did not recognise. All of a sudden it was too much and I left the trolley where it was and went home and had a good cry!!! Also going for my driving licence AGAIN - bad enough the first time in SA - felt positively ill but got it 2nd try. Another tick in the box. It has definitely got better but even now we have our ups and downs.

Perth is not crime free but much much less than South Africa. We tend to be more alert than locals. I still lock my car doors when driving and always lock the house when I go out. Some crimes are just opportunistic. Leaving cars on the verge and not locking them and so contents go missing etc. The Postie leaves my bulkier parcels at the front door. No problem so far.

I hope this has helped and good luck to everyone.

[MrsJ]

Some great info MrsO, thanks so much!

A couple of really useful links I have found that might help someone else:

http://www.aussiemove.com/wa/perth just click on the map for more info on the different suburbs. This is great to have open on your computer while researching suburbs. Really helps to get a feel where everything is and the price of property.

http://www.police.wa.gov.au/Aboutus/Statistics/Searchcrimestatistics/tabid/998/Default.aspx just fill in the suburb you are interested in and get the crime stats for the last year or even longer. This is a great way to compare suburbs, although it doesn't mention which suburbs have more people, so be aware of that.

A slightly better crime statistics link is http://homeinperth.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-dodgy-is-your-perth-suburb-council.html which compares the crimes per population.