How Long did It take to settle in to perth - with a baby

[hkmum]

My husband has been offered a job with Australia's top law firm in Perth (for him it is a great career move). He is very keen to move but I am not...

I have moved once before for his job leaving London and have made a life for myself in Hong kong. I have a good support network for - friends who adore my son and a real sense of community. It was relatively easy in HK as there are alot of expats going through the same process.

My husband feels we will be able to settle in easily in Perth but I am not so sure. Perth is not like Hong Kong full of expats everywhere (I think..) and I am concerned I it will be difficult to meet people (I dont drive is a major factor but would learn).

I am looking into Playgroups and that will be a first start but would be interested in hearing from people what they did that helped them settle into Perth and how long it took.

I understand i need to make an effort and am willing to do so but any advice in how to go about it would be appreciated.

ps: for some reason my FATHER is so excited i am moving to Perth. He cant wait to visit!

[CruDeShue]

Hi HKmum

I'm not out there yet but I will be in June, so I'm not sure how helpful I will be to you yet. However, we have a fifteen month old and I will be going to all the playgroups I can find and just getting out and about every day. From my experience, the aussies are a very friendly bunch and I don't think you'll struggle to get to know poeple out there.

There are quite a few members on here who organise get togethers for newly emigrated people on a regular basis and I have already had suggestions of meeting up with other soon-to-be Perth Poms (I only joined a couple of days ago!).

When would you be moving to Perth if your husband takes the job? It's funny - I also lived in HK but it was a very long time ago when I was in my late teens! I've been back twice recently and I still really love it there. Looking forward to being much closer to HK when we move to Perth!

[JaynBev]

Morning from Perth,

Not sure if we are the experts to speak to you about this having been here only 10days. However I will say so far we've met up with 2 groups of PerthPoms and the social network seems very strong both N & S of the river.

All the best on the move

J n B

[verystormy]

There are loads of expats in Perth. In fact some areas are pretty much all British. The down side of course being that there are maybe too many as it wont have the small community feel as somewhere like HK.

Driving can be an issue or not, depending on yourself and where you live. If you are fairly central then to be honest you dont need to drive and would often be stupid to given that public transport is pretty good. Further away from the city you can do it. My wife doesnt drive and we live in a semi rural area. But she is happy to jump on her bycycle to get about and thinks nothing of cycling 20km to the train station to go for a day out in Perth.