Another week in Perth!

Well another week in Perth – not as busy as the first week but just as eventful. I have got the whole travel thing on buses to work and back well organised now and get good exercise as I have a little bit of a walk to the bus stop from work but all good. I went into Perth city centre on Wednesday for a Xmas function it was really great to meet all of the people that I have been dealing with over the phone and got to meet them all face to face.

I have been able to open a bank account, get an Australian mobile sim card and get my bus pass sorted this week so I was really happy to get that all sorted. I was very happy to find that to open a bank account was very easy, not really much hassle at all. Very different to SA in the sense that there is no status on your bank account – you get a bank account for what you need and that is that – so I did not even have to prove that I was working but then again my working visa is sort of a give away!

On Saturday my boss Rob picked me up at the apartment so that I could meet his wife and kids and they also wanted to use the time to explain a little more about Perth and how it operates. They have two girls both still at primary school and they mentioned to me that life in Perth is very different if you have kids. They took me to a small restaurant at City Beach – houses start in the area for around $1 million – so way out of my league. It is an area on the coast but also has a beach that is great for little kids. Again there are park areas for the kids to play plus beach activities. Each of the various beaches has their own life saving clubs and alot of the people have mentioned that for boys it is great for them to get involved in life saving clubs as it teaches them discipline, so we will look into this when the little ones are over here.

After lunch they drove me around the various areas West of Perth. It is an older area with bigger properties and more like what I am used to seeing at home in SA. I was also shown quite a few of the various schools in the areas so that I could get an idea of what was about. This is definitely the area that we will be looking for somewhere to stay. It is close to the centre of Perth but far enough out that you do not feel like you are in the city. There are parks everywhere and being Saturday everyone was out and about playing sport of some kind. I even saw some youngsters playing bowls! The kids get to try anything here and if they like it they get to play more. They do not pressurise the kids in primary school into 1st team/2nd team for any of the sports. All kids get an opportunity to play anything and everything that is offered until they find something they really like to play. In high school they get a bit more competitive.

There are basically 3 types of schools here i.e. state schools, catholic schools and private schools. The state schools are run by the government, the catholic schools are private schools but are subsidised by the state and then private are not subsidised in any way i.e. looking at anything from $15000 a year upwards. I don’t feel like working for the rest of my life just to pay for schooling so my kids will be going to state schools or catholic schools. Again it is not so important when they are in primary school but it gets important for high school. So anyway after the great tour I was feeling much better about life in Perth. It really helps to get a local view on everything.

Today they took me out to Kings Park for a picnic. Kings Park is a huge botanical garden and park in the city of Perth. It is huge! The views are very good as you get a full view of Perth from the park. It was really hot today and so many families were out and about having picnics on the grass areas. There is so much shade that you do not need to fight for space as the park is huge. They have even divided one section of the park for the smaller kids i.e. the play areas are suited for the smaller kids. Then there are other areas for the bigger kids. It reminded me a bit of the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens and this was all for FREE!!!!

So all in all after this week-end I am feeling much better on life in Perth as it looks like the boys will all settle in here fine. I have even told Heath that he will get the opportunity to get back into playing a bit of cricket himself as there are cricket clubs in all areas and apparently they are always looking for people to come and play. Heath and I will get more involved with the kids because in a way you are actually forced to get involved so that can only be positive.

Still have to upload my pictures and will hopefully do that soon.

Cheers
N