nikkiwd

There are a lot of health food shops around but my local IGA actually sells most of what is on your list. Those type of things are much easier to find here I think.

We are off down to Busselton in March for a week, will be a nice break but nothing too exciting

@JenPen hubby has a conference for 630 people to cater for on Saturday and guess who gets roped in to help...

Making cheese scones...115 down and only 450 to go

Great news for you Odies, won't be long til you're here now.

Sorry if I didn't make it clear, I was just talking about our experience with TRA but my fault for rushing it as I was on the train, will amend my post to clarify.

You beat me to it @Weedolly :-) never been to Muzzbuzz, they never seem very busy when I have been past. Maybe just wrong time of day though.

It depends on which assessing body does it, and what the occupation is. We were assessed by TRA and our experience of how they assessed my husbands skills is that they checked the qualifications were comparable to the Aussie equivalent and that course content was similar to what is taught in oz. In uk some occupations don't require as high a cert as they require here, hence why OH failed first skills assessment. They checked he had at least the minimum required amount of work experience, which I think was 3 yrs post qualification in our case, also that the work is in the chosen occupation and that he was being paid for it as well as working full time hours. We were self employed for the most recent 3 years and had to add a load more evidence to prove OH was doing the occupation that the qualification is for and getting paid a proper wage for it. We must have included around 80 documents for ours, the list of stuff they needed was ridiculous! It was the most stressful part of the whole process for us, other peoples experiences will vary though.

If you are at the Kingsley shops again Passione deli has the best around, can't walk past without popping in for one.

career criminals, makes crime look bad but probably the same gang doing all of them in each area. we have roller shutters and really strong wire fly screens on every door and window so hopefully a bit more of a challenge for them. Our neighbours kids go to school in Duncraig so she has lots of mummy friends there, apparently lots of break ins there at the moment as well. I suppose in a well off area people have better stuff for the thieves to steal!

In Scotland you are lucky if there are 2 months a year when you don't have to wear a coat outside, here you only need a coat for 2 months a year (if that). Yes it does get too hot sometimes in summer but unless you are stuck outside or don't have aircon then it isn't too much of a problem. Work is not much different, but on days off there is always something to do and somewhere to go. My kids actually play outside unlike in uk. My daughter has had Ezcema over most of her body since she was a baby (now 8) and its completely gone since being here. Yes some things are more expensive but some are cheaper or around the same as home. Rent is a lot more compared to where we came from and so is property. We love it so far and I don't miss the uk as much as I thought I would. @Keefo I don't hear of crime around here but I'm sure if I looked for news about it I would find it. Just be sensible, lock doors and windows, leave nothing valuable in view, pretty much same as anywhere in world...and don't read those free local papers!

Looks lovely Lou. @Akasully2 maybe park at south perth and get ferry over? apparently there is a kids zone over on that side. Or in city, parking at Concert hall and a few other car parks around there are fixed at $10. I think trains will be so busy so trying to decide what to do ourselves. Perth underground is at the end of Murray street, down stairs and has signs showing where to go for Joondalup line trains.

With the exception of Woodvale, we are in the catchment area for there and prices aren't that high, thank god!

Keefo, there is a cycle path that goes all the way into the city. You can take bikes on trains but not on peak times.

hubby is into cycling but has a road bike. He commuted to work in the city and back everyday on his bike from Kingsley (with a 10 hr shift in a kitchen in between). He's slightly fitter than me lol!

You into cycling Keefo?

I am not hot in the house but hubby feels the heat so he walks around the house switching all the air cons on and I walk behind him 10 mins later switching them off! my argument is that I didn't move to Oz to feel cold. Keefo not been there yet but been to Yanchep and Whiteman park a few times and there are roos everywhere. Which area did you find your rental in the end?

We earn around $85k between us and we do fine, maybe don't save as much as we would like to but we have everything we need and take kids for days out etc. I think its down to the lifestyle you are used to having.

yep but now aircon is being used it will probably go up again!

we get a bill from the agent too, not an official one. They aren't too bad so far but our retic wasn't working for a few months so I expect next bill to be more now retic is fixed.

talk about infringement notice, my OH got one a couple of weeks ago, $400!

My favourite @DomDom75 but goes down too easy!

fingers crossed for you!

Use an agent if there are any issues regarding skills, work experience, evidence, kids, medical conditions etc. We did it ourselves after researching the whole process a lot but hubby still failed first skills assessment and he probably wouldn't have if we had used an agent. Got there in the end though but boy was it a process gathering all the evidence etc as we needed so much more for the skills assessment as we were self employed.

Something to be aware of is Driving Instructor is on the WA list but it is schedule 2 which means you need to meet the criteria, one of which being you need a job offer in place before they will sponsor you for a visa. It is also very difficult to get an invite with a schedule 2 occupation as some other PP members have gone through this previously.