Moving to Perth, Australia

[Cozyblanket]

Hi, my husband and I are moving out in a month, he has a job and we both have visas through this. We’re leaving adult children in Europe so it will be just the two of us!

Anyone got any pointers about settling there, things to take, things to leave, places to make friends etc. Any help gratefully received!

[Aebj]

It’s very much like living in the uk . It’s not the end of the world!!! It can still be quite cold in August and September. It doesn’t really start getting warmer till November.
There are plenty of clubs you can join . Also look on Facebook to see if the area you are moving into has a chat page. Look at a couple of surrounding suburbs chat pages also. I find it a laid back way of life. Few shops are open 24 hours, restaurants close early.
We have the most beautiful beaches . Kings Park is beautiful. I love it here

[qwerty098765]

We love Perth and would relocate there in a shot. We live in Asia and visit often. It's the perfect city. The beaches are beautiful. Yes, Kings Park too. I am very jealous!

[alwayscrashinginthesamecar1]

Take your winter clothes, winter is bloody cold! You can get pretty much everything here (apart from decent newspapers), but its really up too you how much stuff to ship. Whereabouts are you moving to? There are loads of Poms in Butler, Joondaloop, and Baldivis, we avoided those areas like the plague but YMMV. We found making friends easy, but you really have to make an effort and put yourself out there.

We've been here since 2013 and absolutely love it, so any questions ask away!

[LiliesAndChocolate]

Just throwing random thoughts without any specific order.

Take your wool jumpers and nice wool blankets. For a country which has millions of sheep, nice and good quality wool is incredibly hard to find.

I found making friends, especially with older children harder. Book clubs are a good option for this or joining a hiking / bushwalking group.

Shoes are horrendous. No wonder so many go barefoot.

IF nobody is in the water, think twice before entering the ocean at those endless beaches unless you want to become shark biscuit. A golden rule, dark rhymes with shark. No midnight romantic swim.

Flat sheets are extremely hard to find for some reason and when it is 35+ degree, I'd rather not have the duvet on the bed.

Make all the big medical appointments before coming here, including the dentist.
Be aware that public health system doesn't mean free health system. A specialist doctor will charge you between 250-350$ for first appointment and medicare reimburses about a third of that. The same for MRI and other tests, you can easily be out of pocket for hundreds of $ and in the case of cancer or other serious illness, the out of pocket will reach thousands and tens of thousands. Even with a golden-platinum-diamonds private insurance. Your hospital stay costs will be covered but not that PET scan or some chemo drugs.
Ambulance is not covered by medicare so you need a private insurance for that.
Cars are extremely expensive to buy and run, but without a car you are dead in Australia. I tried for a year. Not worth it.
Prices fluctuate daily. One day your green beans will be $4, the following day, $12.

The hours of the day are slightly shifted forward. People wake very early and go to bed very early. My gym is packed at 5 am, deserted at 8 pm.
Buy a couple of multi-socket power board for charging your UK electronics, so instead of having to buy a zillion adaptors you can just use the same charging board for your kitchen appliances or iPhone, and so on.
Adaptors are cheaper on Amazon UK - which by the way does NOT deliver to Australia as they are trying to force people to shop on Amazon Australia which is rubbish, 1/1000 of the choice and so expensive - so buy your adaptors UK=> AUS before leaving.

I don't know about the other MNetters but my hair became crap here. Must be the aircon heating or something.

Return flights are cheaper from the UK than from here, so come on an open return ticket so every time you go back you can save.
People are extremely nice and polite and crime is very low.

[Smokinghag]

I don't have anything practical to offer but would suggest that you plan a trip to Ningaloo reef during the first winter (detouring to shark bay and Kalbarri) its amazing!!

[Cozyblanket]

Hi, thanks everyone for your comments, we’ve loved in Belgium for the last eight years so I totally understand the need to get out there and meet people - I’m hoping I’ll understand everyone this time round though!
We’ve not got a house sorted yet but hoping it will be around city beach/Scarborough area, so much to think about - adaptors are a good thought though and I’ll need EU to AUS too!

[AllyBamma]

Hi cozy!
I’m Australian, Perth born and bred and I also lived in Scarborough for a long time. That area has changed a lot in the last few years, there’s been a massive redevelopment ongoing and the once sleepy little suburb has got a bit of a Gold Coast vibe going on now. We moved east to the Inglewood/mt lawley area a few years ago and never looked back. Just personal preference though, if you want to live near the beach then Scarborough is probably the most accessible, money wise. City beach would be up there with some of the most expensive suburbs around. You could also look at doubleview or wembley downs - still very close to the beach but slightly less pricey.

As far as things to take, I imagine we have most of the creature comforts of home here. Do not buy/rent a house in summer without air conditioning, you will sorely regret it. Agree with PP, it gets really cold here in winter (it got down to 2 degrees a couple of weeks ago).

Around the Scarborough area, there are two large shopping centres - Westfield innaloo and karrinyup shopping centre - between them you’ll find all the major stores (Kmart, big w, target, Myer).

I can highly recommend the coffee at the Brighton road market (amazing gourmet goodies galore there too), the wild fig cafe, drift kitchen and Doric st cafe.

To keep up with events/goings on, I recommend you follow the urbanlist Perth Facebook page, handy for restaurant reviews, festivals etc. Also have a look at the evenbrite and weekendnotes websites for events. Sunset wine and brews in city beach is a great yearly event, for example.

As for meeting people, it would depend what you’re into. Most local pubs have little events through the week - quiz nights, wine tastings, comedy nights etc. The live music scene here is also pretty good, depending on your tastes. Sport here (and in particular AFL) is religion. It’s not my cup of tea but be prepared for it to be shoved down your throat at every turn 😂. There’s several great golf clubs around too if that’s your thing.

Scarborough falls under the city of stirling, their website will also have listings of local events. All the British pubs will have showings of the EPL also.

I could go on and on! Feel free to ask any questions, happy to answer

[Cozyblanket]

Thank you Ally, that’s really useful information. I’ll have to look up AFL!
We both enjoy watching rugby so might be a substitute.

I’ll get on the local groups and see what’s going on.

We really based the area search on my husbands commute and a desire to be nearish to the coast but I’m grateful for any other suggestions. I saw Doubletree was cheaper but wondered if there’s a reason?

[AllyBamma]

Doubleview is a little cheaper as it’s one suburb back from the beach, where as Scarborough is on the beach. IMO I prefer doubleview and wembley downs, lots of gorgeous older houses, (think California bungalows) on larger properties. Because Scarborough is a boom suburb right now, lots of the blocks are subdived with multiple units/villas on the one block. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just depends on your budget and what you’re looking for. The other slight bummer about that area is the trains don’t go out there. The buses do but I just remember when I lived there it was a bit of a pain to get a train and then a bus if we wanted to go into the city without driving ourselves.

Slightly more affordable but another suburb back from the beach is Innaloo.

Is your husband going to be working in the city? If so, It’s an easy drive (maybe 20-25mins in the morning) but traffic here is pretty bad in the mornings during peak hour, not to bad the other times although coming from Europe, I wager you’ll be pretty disgusted with how people drive here. ‘Perthians don’t know how to merge’ is an oft heard complaint. If he’s using public transport it would likely be a train to glendalough or stirling and then a bus. I think there are actually buses that go from the city to Scarborough but it’s a long journey will all the stops

I am also a rugby fan, there’s not a huge rugby culture here (Perth no longer has a union team and we never had a league team so no national league games here) but occasionally we get a bit of action (one game of the bledisloe coming up - be still my heart!- and also one game of the state of origin recently). All the good sports bars will show the games though. The nearest sports bar to Scarborough that I would recommend is the wembley hotel or the Saint George in Innaloo.

Feel free to ask any more questions that come to mind

[PeachMoon]

@AllyBamma Western Force very much still exist, they are just not part of the Super Rugby league anymore, they play in the GRR so there is still a local rugby union team with regular games when in season!

[AllyBamma]

Peachmoon sorry, right you are. It’s a bit of a sore point in our household! I did mean we don’t have a union team playing in the super rugby league (sadly!) but of course there’s plenty of local games about.

[Zippetydoodahzippetyay]

Oh I am from Scarborough. Live in Melbourne now but still visit home twice a year. Scarborough or City Beach are great locations as they are close to great beaches and have easy access to the city and other areas too. But do look at Doubleview, Wembley Downs, Karrinyup, Wembley Downs and surrounds as well. They are all nearby with easy access to the beach, close to freeway entrances and have lots of parks and playgrounds.

As mentioned upthread AFL is huge in WA. Definitely check it out.

I think it would be hard to live In Perth without a car. Not impossible but not easy. The people are mostly pretty easy going and friendly though like everywhere there are some idiots.

Perth has seen pretty massive change and development over the past 12 years since I've lived in Melbourne but still has a sense of being a big country town in many ways.

I can't think of what to tell you but if you have specific questions or recommendation needs, am happy to answer any.

[ChinngisKhan]

If you’re looking at Scarborough or Doubleview look up the buy nothing group and from there join Being Neighbourly on Facebook. Lots of local information and opportunities to ask questions/meet ups.

[BlauVogel]

I ve been to Perth twice and found it very boring and isolated. Kings park was ok but nothing too special imo. The town of Guildford and the sea side towns are nice for a visit or two but that’s it. Even at the peak rush hour, i was wondering where are all the people going to work etc

Its in the middle of no where and expensive for what it is. I wouldn’t move to Western Australia for that reason but each to their own.

[Cozyblanket]

Thanks Blau, I don’t have a choice but thankfully lots of other people like it there.

I can’t see why you would comment on the post to be honest....hope you live somewhere that you love.

[IdblowJonSnow]

Perth has some great suburbs. I spent some months there as a back packed some years ago! It's probably changed a lot but we used to spend time in Scarborough, cottisloe, subiaco and Fremantle.
Once you've made your base, please explore the south west corner, esperance has the best beaches I've ever been to. So stunning. And if you head up north at any point don't miss Broome, Coral Bay and Karajini national park.
I made loads of Aussie mates, they are hospitable, generous and open. On the downside they can be too blunt for my tastes and I came across an anti pom sentiment a few times.
I'm a bit envious op! Post back and update us please! (But not of the spiders which are frikkin enormous!)

[IdblowJonSnow]

The cbd (central business district) was very bland when I was there but it's probably changed a lot. Plenty of lovely places to live/visit otherwise.

[MotherForkinShirtBalls]

I'm so jealous, I'd move to Perth tomorrow if I could. (I lived in subiaco for 6 months.)

[jarviscockerslover]

Hi from Perth! Yes winter can be very cold at night but also we have still s lot of nice days- 24 and sunny here on Friday!
I moved from UK in 2011 and Perth has changed dramatically since I arrived- it's really bustling now, has a great vibe and plenty to see and do- so much of it free as well!
City beach is expensive- you would be looking 1mil up for a family house. If you share your budget ican help with ideas as I've recently moved house so have done heaps of research
I'm in Karrinyup which I love, 5 mins drive from beach.
Drivers here are shocking - be warned! You can shop cheaply definitely- check out spud shed for your local fruit and veggies.
Earnings are pretty high, depending on job of course but I earned £21k in UK and equivalent job salary when I moved to Perth (same job) was $70k
Ask me any questions and you'll LOVE it here.. we have. Very enviable lifestyle 😄

[Cozyblanket]

Hi, thanks for the positive comments! We will be renting as our visa is only for 4 years. I. Haven’t looked at Karryinyup - what’s the commute like to CBC? That’s really what our search is based on. I think we might do Airbnb at first so I can look around myself a bit, it’s hard to get an idea from here.
Re drivers - I’m current,y living in Belgium where the driving is also pretty shocking, hopefully it won’t be a shock to me! 😬

[jarviscockerslover]

Karrinyup is about 20 mins drive from cbd (in peak hour traffic).. I do the commute each day.
Oh It's a good time to rent -prices have really gone down in the last couple of years. In that case city beach, Scarborough or Doubleview would definitely be good options.

[Zippetydoodahzippetyay]

Honestly, ignore people who call Perth boring. Sure it has its faults, like anywhere, but it is as boring or exciting as you make it. If you go with an open mind and are willing to get involved and explore new places, it is a lovely place to live. A lot of my English and Irish friends had to be convinced to add Perth to their Australian itineraries, but many actually ended up saying it was their favourite city in Australia.

[AllyBamma]

Honestly, why would you comment if you had nothing to contribute but to slate the place we’re talking about?

The CBD used to be a ghost town but it’s had a bit of a resurgence the last few years with the opening of Elizabeth quay and yagan square. So many cafes, restaurants, bars and shops to choose from.

Karrinyup is a lovely suburb too, if you’re renting have a look at Realestate.com.au to get an idea of what you can get for your budget.

Expat friends have found expatforum.com and perthpoms.com helpful for various things

[CakeRattleandRoll]

We are in Karrinyup, too. Lovely suburb - close to beach, not too built up, big shopping centre with everything you need, two golf clubs, various parks, great primary schools (not that that is relevant for you!), relatively easy access to freeway to get into CBD, although that can be a bit of a parking lot in the morning rush. It is missing the little corner cafes/independent shops that you get in some other suburbs. You have to go to the shopping centre for that.

Housing-wise, the further you get from the city and from the beaches, the cheaper it gets.

AFL is a great game and totally dominates the winter sporting programme. I'm currently watching it on the TV - go Eagles! Summer is for cricket, tennis and soccer.

Don't worry about the spiders/snakes/etc. I've lived here for many years and never seen a snake in a suburban street or garden. You do get them in bushland/sand dunes/nature areas, but it's not like they are looking to jump out and attack you.

The only spiders to worry about are the red backs/black widows. Again, I've only ever seen a handful of them. Don't leave your shoes outside and keep an eye out when cleaning outdoor furniture. We have an enormous huntsman spider that lives in our house. He vanishes for a few days and then reappears on the wall or ceiling. The kids are always excited to see him again - they call him Hunter.

You do have to be 'aware' of sharks. There are shark patrols along the coast in the summer and the state government is investigating various other solutions to the shark issue. Avoid swimming at dawn and dusk - key shark times.