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I’ve already covered in some detail the Perth Public Transport System. One of the latest (and most highly hyped and widely advertised) improvements to Perth’s public transport was the introduction of the new SmartRider system.

The SmartRider system basically provides travellers with an easy way to pay for travel on any of one of the services offered by Transperth (busses, Trains, Ferrys) using a credit card sized Smartcard that you credit with funds.

Once your card has some cash on it, you simply Tag on, by swiping your card across the smartcard reader, then, when you get to your destination, you Tag off.

The SmartRider system is clever enough to know how long your journey is and charges you accordingly. Sounds good in theory doesn’t it? Well it does when it works!

I’ve been using the SmartRider system for about three weeks now with no issues. For some reason this morning however the SmartRider machines were not operating.

One of the machines at Currambine train station simply said ‘out of order’ whilst a second displayed an “updating software” message to the confused patrons trying to tag on before taking their train journey into work.

A message on the Transperth Website reads:

SmartRider disruptions – all train lines

Effective: 27 March 2007

Transperth wishes to advise that due to a software upgrade malfunction, SmartRider is unavailable on all train lines. During this time, passengers do not need to tag on or tag off train services.

Passengers transferring from bus to train services at controlled stations (Kelmscott, Warwick and Whitfords) are required to tag on and tag off the bus as normal and then tag off at the station. Passenger Ticketing Assistants will be located at these stations to enable passengers to do this.

Transperth is planning to automatically reverse any default fare imposed as a result of the software problem. The adjustment will take place later this week.

Transperth bus and ferry services remain unaffected and passengers are advised to tag on and tag off as normal.

It is anticipated that this issue will take at least 24 hours to resolve. Passengers are asked to check the website for updates. TravelEasy updates will also be sent.

Transperth apologises for the inconvenience.

Now I’m not a particularly great mathematician but I reckon there must be tens of thousands of people who travel into Perth on the trains every morning.

Because the SmartRider system was broken, and so many people have been pushed by Transperth to use the system as a simpler alternative to carrying cash. The only alternative Transperth had for its SmartRider patrons today was to give them free journeys.

Now if this software problem is going to take 24 hours to resolve, it looks like its going to be a very expensive problem for Transperth.

I’m not 100% sure what the problem will be but it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a knock on effect of the Daylight saving ending on Sunday.

I know the implementation at relatively short notice of Daylight saving in Western Australia caused problems for a number of companies when it was introduced for the first time a few months ago.

I’m sure whatever the problem, there will be a few frazzled IT managers at Transperth trying to get things sorted.

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In Australia do the leaves fall off the tree’s in Autumn? A question I’d often pondered, sweeping up the leaves in our back garden during a chilly autumnal afternoon back in Blighty.

Well, Autumn is finally here, and I’m happy to confirm that the leaves are indeed, starting to go brown and fall off the trees.

Although its officially Autumn, its still warmer then the average British summer (still averaging high 20’s, early thirties every day) and this got me thinking; how the hell do the tree’s know its Autumn?

Do they think (if tree’s could think)..brrrrrrrr, 25 degree’s, getting a little chilly..time to drop some leaves?

More interestingly, if you picked up an English Oak tree from some country park in Yorkshire and plonked it down in the middle of Perth, would it get confused? Would it think it was Spring and start to grow it’s leaves whilst the rest of the tree’s dropped theirs?

Sure, all theoretical (and slightly crazy questions) but hey, it makes you wonder.

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Hi Guys, I’ve noticed that we have a few people subscribing to updates from our site using the wonders of RSS feeds.

RSS What? I hear you say RSS feeds for those of you not familiar with the term enables folks to read updates from a number of websites or new services all at the same time from a common interface such as a feed reader (a software package that you down load onto your PC).

There are a few services offered by the likes of Google and Yahoo that also enable you to view these feeds online.

Why am I telling you this? Well, for those of you looking for this kind of functionality, I’ve signed up an account with feedburner.com to enable those of you interested in getting RSS updates a little easier.

Clicky Here for details of the RSS Feed and subscription options (opens a new page).

Receive an daily update by email every time we update the blog.

If you have even a slight interest in what we are up to down under, another of the funky features offered by Feedburner is the ability to subscribe to blog updates via email. Basically if you subscribe, you’ll get a daily update on the days that we get around to updating the blog. If no new content or updates are written then no email will be sent to you.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t want to see you here daily checking out our forums and stuff it might just save you five seconds of your busy lives checking the blog to see if the blog has updated to find the same old post

Clicky Here for the sign up form for email updates.

For those of you worried about privacy or being bombarded by updates relating to entries about my bum then be assured that your info isn’t shared and you can unsubscribe at any time via a link sent with any updates.

Easy Eh? Comments, questions then please feel free to post em!

Mark

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The first race of the Formula one season took place this weekend and I watched the TV coverage live from Melbourne on channel 10.

I’ve always enjoyed watching F1 coverage on television although the frequency of my viewings has reduced somewhat since ITV won the rights over the Beeb and choose to introduce ads at inopportune moments.

I also missed Murray Walker who decided to hang up the headphones and retire from F1 commentary back in 2001. Since those days watching a race had never really been the same either.

How positively delighted was I then, when I heard Murrays dulcet and yet familiar tones at the beginning of Channel Tens coverage.

Yes, it would seem that Murray didn’t hang up his microphone for good back in 2001 but has instead signed a deal with Channel ten to cover the Australian Grand Prix

Sure, Murray won’t be doing 18 or 19 races a year with lots of long haul flights in between, but he did make a special effort to cover the Australian Grand Prix and for that I am very grateful.

Some of my Favorite “Murrayisms”

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When we were back in the UK, it seems banks and building societies used a similar formula for calculating how much money you could borrow when applying for a mortgage.

It went something on the lines of 3.5 times your income if you were the sole person applying for the mortgage or 2 times the joint income if you were applying for a mortgage with your partner.

As we have finally sold our house back in the UK and may now be in a position to buy a pad here in Australia I thought I’d pop into one of the local banks here in Perth to understand how much money we could borrow.

Based on my earnings and the fact that I have a missus and a four year old to support, the bank were willing to offer me a figure which equates to more then, wait for it….5 times my annual earnings. FIVE times!

I was absolutely gob smacked. Sure this would be over a thirty year term but five times a person’s income?

It’s nice to know that we can start to look at houses slightly larger or in better suburbs but is it really worth the risk committing to so much debt?

Getting back to the office later that day and discussing Australian banks lending criteria with a number of colleagues it seems that it’s pretty common practice for banks to lend ‘stupid’ amounts of money to people.

One of the guys in our office (who is also a British Expat) recently managed to secure a loan of $1 Million to help him secure a property.

Sure it was a bridging loan but a million dollars!

Even taking into account the exchange rate this is still a ridicules amount of money to be lending someone. I have no idea how much this particular chap earns but I’m pretty certain that the loan in this instance would have certainly exceeded 5 x annual earnings.

This place really is going to take some getting used to.

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Ever week, amongst all of the crap and junk mail that gets posted through our letter box, we also get a real estate paper which provides details of houses for sale in the local area and a small blurb from the ‘industry’ detailing the current state of the local housing market.

This week’s headline reads:

“Perth weekly rents will continue to surge despite changes to the letting fee”

As I mentioned last week, the letting fee now has to be paid by the landlord of the property and not by the tenant, the idea being that this small reduction in costs will help those on lower incomes. It seems that it’s not really making any real difference though.

Apparently, rental prices have historically dragged behind the growth of the average house price which means we are soon going to be in for a major market correction in relation to rents.

Some mad stats:

During the past twenty years, the average house price in Perth has increased by a whopping 718% to $450,000.

In the same twenty years the average weekly rent for a house in Perth has increased by a slightly more modest 154.9% to $260.00 (Hop on over to XE.com for some up to date conversions )

So, what does this mean for you and me?

Well, with a vacancy rate of less then 1% it’s looking likely that rents will continue to rise and tenants like us will be forced to pay out even more dosh to rent a home.

Perhaps it might be time to buy somewhere sooner rather then later?

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If you’re flying out to Australia after the 30th of March this year you’ll need to be aware of a number of new enhanced security procedures the Australian Government has introduced.

From 31 March 2007, the Australian Government will introduce enhanced security screening measures to limit the amount of liquids, aerosols, and gels that can be taken through the security screening point for passengers who are flying to and from Australia.

Liquids, aerosols and gels include, but are not limited to:

Carry on Baggage Restrictions

All containers must fit comfortably in a transparent, resealable plastic bag.

Medication and Baby Products

Prescription medication and prescribed medical devices may still be carried on board. Reasonable amounts of non-prescription medication required for the length of the flight are permitted.

Baby products to be consumed in-flight including baby milk, sterilised water, baby juice, baby food in liquid, gel or paste form and wet wipes may be carried on board. All medication and baby products may be subject to additional security checks.

For further information on the Australian regulations you can visit dotars.gov.au.

Information source: Qantas.com

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Ok guys, lets cut to the chase

If / When you move down under to Australia, where will you be heading. If you’ve been following this blog you’ll know we went for Perth because it gave us a little more of the kind of stuff we were looking for

BUT, where are you going to be heading to?

Click here to visit and vote in our funky poll.

Cheers

Mark

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Walking with Dinosaurs the live experience is a show that I have been meaning to write a blog entry about for some time.

If you remember some time ago, the BBC launched a six-part television series called Walking with Dinosaurs. The Show, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, used computer-generated imagery and animatronics to recreate the life of the Mesozoic, showing dinosaurs in a way that previously had only been seen in feature films like Jurassic Park.

The series was a big success, some of the success possibly down to the record breaking amount of cash spent by the beeb to produce the programs (walking with dinosaurs won a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most expensive documentary series per minute ever made).

As the title suggests; walking with Dinosaurs the live experience is a live show featuring huge, life size mechanical dinosaurs operated by teams of puppeteers and drivers. We saw the show at the Burswood dome in Perth a few weeks ago.

The little lad has loved dinosaurs for some time and after seeing a trailer on the net and seeing the adverts for the show on TV, he was so excited about seeing a T-Rex in the flesh that we had to book the tickets at the earliest opportunity.

Now life size mechanical dinosaurs operated by teams of puppeteers and drivers doesn’t sound very impressive does it but when you see these things and appreciate the enormity of the scale, it’s simply amazing. The quality of the dinosaurs and the way the animatronics were used was also just brilliant!

Although you could sometimes see some of the mechanics operating the dinosaurs, within a couple of minutes this all simply blurred into the back ground and you were transported back to the Jurassic periods. Even the guys wearing the smaller ‘dinosaur suits’ somehow managed to pull it off

We saw all sorts, Allosaurus, Brachiosaurus, a Stegosaurus and the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex to name but a few (wow that gave the spell check a work out).

Before booking the tickets we were a little worried about taking our four year old.

Firstly, the show didn’t start until 8pm which was well after junior’s bedtime. The show also attracted a Parental Guidance recommendation and we didn’t want to terrify the little mite.

We got around the first issue by making junior have an enforced sleep during the afternoon. This is normally a bit of a struggle but as he was told that he might not be able to go if he was to tired, he forced himself to go to sleep (bless) and had a good 90 minutes during the afternoon.

This is perhaps as well as the show didn’t start until 8:20 due to traffic issues outside.

To help alleviate the second PG concern, we made sure (as recommended on the website) that we didn’t book seats right at the front near the stage.

In hindsight, this was a good thing as we watched at one stage a ten meter long (yup 10 meter) Brachiosaurus (the one with the long neck) looming down on the audience below.

The T-Rex would have also been pretty terrifying close up as it roared at the audience from only feet away.

The show itself is brilliant (can you tell that we enjoyed it yet?) It’ also very educational as the palaeontologist (who is played by either Bruce Spence or Felix Nobis depending on the show) walks you through the evolution of dinosaurs from the beginning of time though to the big bang

From a timing perspective, walking with Dinosaurs the live experience is split into two thirty minute segments with a 15 minute interval in between.

Personally, although it might have been better to watch the show in one big bite, it didn’t bother us to much. We were very conscious of the time though, especially as juniors eye lids appeared to be getting heavier and heavier as time went on.

I’m not sure why they choose to have an interval after only 30 minutes but I’d assume this is more down to technical reasons then anything else. At the end of the day, I’d imagine that recharging a Brachiosaurus’s batteries isn’t something you can do in only five minutes.

The only downside to the whole experiences was physically getting out of Burswood dome at the end of the show.

Burswood is a pressurised building apparently which means everyone has to leave out of the main exits otherwise the roof has an uncanny knack of collapsing (fire exits can be used in emergencies and are scattered at regular intervals throughout the building though).

As it was warm and about 12000 people were trying to get out at the same time, some tempers were getting a little frayed as everyone converged on the revolving exit doors at the same time.

Nothing to detract from Walking with Dinosaurs though, I think Burswood must be the only place large enough in Perth to house a show of this kind of scale and despite the issues getting out of the building at the end of the show the complex itself is great and provides all of the amenities you could look for in a big entertainment complex.

At the moment, walking with dinosaurs live is touring Australia. At time of writing the show is in Adelaide and is due to move onto Melbourne from the 23rd of March.

I hope for everyone’s sake it that the production team decide to take the tour outside of Australia and hopefully a world tour covering countries such as the UK and the States will be on the cards very soon.

It begs the question though. How the hell do you move a 10 meter long Brachiosaurus

Some Other Resources which you may find of interest:

Walking with Dinosaurs Official Website: Click Here

Walking with Dinosaurs Video: Click Here

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I read an interesting story over at news.com.au today

It turns out that the whole housing situation is getting so desperate for first time buyers that some are upping sticks and moving out into the regional areas where property prices are cheaper.

The report by the Housing Industry Association (HIA) says that population growth in regional areas outstripped, or equalled, capital-city growth in Australia’s three largest states in 2005 and 2006.

“Record low housing affordability in many state capitals has forced an increasing number of first-time home buyers to relocate into non-metropolitan areas, which in many cases has caused these people to give up their current jobs in the hope of finding a home to start a family,” the association’s director of housing and economics, Simon Tennent, said.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the Northern Territory capital Darwin had the nation’s highest population growth rate, of 2.5 per cent in 2005 and 2006.

This was followed by regional Queensland which welcomed 46,938 new residents sparking a record population jump of 2.1 per cent.

It outstripped the state capital Brisbane’s 1.6 per cent population increase rate of 29,454 new arrivals.

Regional Western Australia, which is experiencing a mining-led resources boom, had a growth rate of 1.9 per cent (10,010 new residents) while Perth enjoyed a 2 per cent rise (29,910 newcomers).

A greater proportion of residential housing is moving to regional areas, Mr Tennent said following the release of the HIA’s annual population and residential building hotspots report.

“In addition, the balance of residential building work is also moving out of capital cities and into metropolitan areas with many building and population ‘hotspots’ being located in regional centres where housing is considerably more affordable,” Mr Tennent said.

Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales recorded the highest population growth in the year to June 2006.

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The local Premier Alan Carpenter has decided that the letting fee should not be paid by the tenant any longer but should instead by paid by the owner of the property.

Letting fees are the pot of cash, normally equaling a weeks rent that a tenant pays to help cover the owners estate agency fees.

The idea is that this small reduction will help tenants who are already having a hard time with high rental prices in Western Australia, save a little cash.

The thing is though, because this decision will result in an increase in the out-of-pocket expenses for the owner, all the landlords will do is simply increase the rent to cover these new costs.

There has already been case here in Perth where landlords, who are in the process of marketing new properties, are now increasing the rent for their properties as a direct result of this news.

The whole situation is being made worse by the recent indication from the State Government that first time home buyers might get stamp duty relief in the May budget.

As a result thousands of wannabe home buyers are holding back until later in the year which is putting extra pressure on the rental market.

Why am I telling you all this, well as a new immigrant into Australia you’re likely going to rent a property as you find you’re feet.

Be aware that the rental market is changing almost daily at the moment so the nice 3 bed detached house that you looked at 6 months ago might be a $100 dollars a week more expensive now.

If you’re thinking about arriving in Australia at some point after May this year then hopefully the whole situation will have settled down a little for you.

Having said that, the local state government seem to be as wacky as the government back in the UK so who knows

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OK, Myth number one to be dispelled.

You can get a cold in Australia, even when its in the middle of summer and the temperature is in the low hundreds every day.

I think it comes down to the crappy nights sleep I’ve been having over the last couple of days due to the hot nights. Oh and the dehydration due to the unhealthy mix of beer and hot nights

 It seems it’s not only me either. Quite a few people who I work with seem to have been coming down with some nasty bug or another during the last few weeks.

Still, it is now officially the weekend Australia time.

We have some Aussie friends coming over for a barbecue this weekend. Seriously no pressure there then.

Here’s me a bloke from Northern England cooking a barbecue for some born and bread Aussies who use their BBQ every other day.

I’m sure it’s nothing that a few well cooked fillet stakes and a couple of cases of beer can’t sort out though.

Thankfully, I’ve not managed to poison anyone with my cooking yet. Continue Reading

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Now then folks. Just over a year ago I asked the question if you would find a discussion forum a useful addition to our site.

No bugger replied but in my defense, at the time I wrote this entry I was only getting about 30 peeps a day reading the Blog.

I’m delighted, chuffed and very slight shocked (OK VERY shocked) to announce that this figure (according to my web stats) is now just over 600 people a day…a very scary prospect indeed, especially for someone who is pretty illiterate

Anyway, I’d really love it if just 10% of you took the time to join our forum which you can find by clicking here . I know some of you might be thinking what do I have to offer?

Well, for folks in a similar boat with similar interests, the fact that your just thinking about moving to Australia makes you a very interesting and useful person to know indeed

I know when we were migrating we were the only people in our sphere of friends, colleagues and acquaintances that were looking at moving to Australia.

Participating in our forum will quickly make you realise that you are truly not alone and having someone to rant to or share an opinion with can really help make the whole immigration process a much more enjoyable and relaxing experience.

Anyway, what the hell, you know it makes sense So don’t be shy, register and post away.

I’ve even started a new thread which you can view by Clicking here…. All you need to do is say hi

See you on the other side, please don’t leave me looking like a mad man…talking to myself…..again

Mark

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You might have gathered by some of my recent posts that it’s been pretty hot recently.

Chatting to some ex-pats, it’s pretty evident that many don’t fully appreciate the temperatures found in the new country they now call home and in some instances; you’re often left wondering ‘why the hell did you move out here in the first place?’

Oh yes, the Whingeing Pom does indeed exist and although the joke below takes a poke at us Brits, I recon it’s still damn funny! (You’ll probably gathered that I’ve edited this to make it a little more PG friendly)

Diary of a Perth Summer (by a Pom ******* )

*August 31st*

*Just got transferred with work into our new home in Perth, Western Australia now this is a City that knows how to live!!

Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. What a place! I watched the sunset from a deck chair on the veranda It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my home. I love it here.*

*September 13th:*

*Really heating up. Got to 35 today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun everyday like this. I’m turning into a sun worshiper.*

*September 30th:*

*Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing lawn for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.*

*October 10th*

*The temperature hasn’t been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it’s kind of windy though. But getting used to the heat is taking longer than I expected.*

*October 15th:*

*Fell asleep by the pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body.
Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though. Got to respect the ol’ sun in a climate like this.*

*October 20th:*

*I missed Kitty (our cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got to the hot car for lunch, Kitty had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and stank up the $3,000 leather upholstery. I told the kids that she ran away. The car now smells like Wiskettes and cat s***. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat.*

*October 25th:*

*The wind sucks. It feels like a giant friggin blow dryer!! And it’s hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the blink and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive over and tell me he needed to order parts.*

*October 30th:*

*Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bloody $600,000 house and we can’t even go inside. Why did I ever come here?*

*November 4th:*

*It’s 38 degrees. Finally got the ol’ air-conditioner fixed today.
It cost $1,500 and gets the temperature down to 25, but the bloody humidity makes the house feel like it’s about 30. Stupid repairman. I hate this stupid friggin place.** *

*November 8th:*

*If another wise arse cracks, “Hot enough for you today?” I’m going to throttle him. Friggin heat! By the time I get to work the car’s radiator was boiling over, my clothes are soakin wet, and I smell like baked cat!!*

*November 9th:*

*Tried to run some messages after work. Wore shorts, and sat on the black leather seats in the ol’ car. I thought my friggin arse was on fire. I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and my arse. Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried arse, and baked cat.*

*November 10th:*

*The weather report might as well be a recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and friggin sunny. It’s been too hot to do anything for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week.

Doesn’t it ever rain in this damn place? Water rationing will be next, so my $5,000 worth of palms just might dry up and blow into the pool. Even the palms can’t live in this heat.*

*November 14th:*

*Welcome to HELL!!! Temperature got to 41 today. Now the air-conditioner’s gone in my car. The repairman came to fix it and said, “Hot enough for you today?” My wife had to spend the $2,500 mortgage payment to bail my arse out of jail for assaulting the stupid nut job. Stuff Perth! What kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here?*

*December 1st:*

*WHAT????? This is the first day of Summer???? You are kidding!!*

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It has been really steamy over the last couple of days. The thermometer has been hitting 42 degrees Celsius (107 F in old money) during the day and hasn’t been dropping below 24 C (75 F) during the night which has been pretty uncomfortable.

Still, I’m not complaining…!

The nights may be pretty uncomfortable but the days and evenings are great. Thinking back to what we were all doing this time last year makes a bloke really appreciate even the stickiest of weather.

As it was Labour Day yesterday (a public holiday here in Australia) we had a drive down to a little place called Rockingham.

Rockingham is a holiday resort city located about 47km south of Perth. It forms the southernmost border of the Perth metropolitan area and is a popular tourist spot due to its large population of wild seals, dolphins and penguins (yes, they have penguins in Western Australia).

It took us a little over an hour to get there from Kinross and I have to say what a lovely place Rockingham really is.

The most impressive thing for me was the quality of the beaches. The beaches in Rockingham really are quite fantastic; the water is calm and beautifully crystal clear.

It’s sometimes easy to forget that we now live only a mile or so from the Indian Ocean but when you see the turquoise blue and green hues of the ocean, lapping gently against a shoreline of squeaky clean golden sand it quickly dawns on you how lucky we really are.

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Well, I think it’s safe to say that I always endeavoured to let you all know what life over here in Australia is really like.

I’ve covered Supermarkets, beaches, pets and an assortment of other subject matters but now I think it’s time to talk babies…

Yep…I’m absolutely delighted to announce that the missus (and I) are pregnant with baby number two.

The missus is currently just over three months pregnant and without getting into the detail it turns out that we *cough* conceived the week that we arrived in Australia.

Now we always wanted at least two kids but we had to be pretty careful prior to moving out here as we didn’t want to be pregnant just before jumping on a plane for a 24 hour flight.

We were also conscious of the fact that we might have better things to do the first few months after arriving in Australia like finding somewhere to live…

The plan was to start trying for baby number two once we arrived here in Aus but I guess we never really appreciated that this would happen the week that we set foot on Aussie Soil.

So, over the next six months, as well as giving you updates on Australian house prices and the best places to live, you’ll also get a good insight into having a baby in Australia… Damn, we’re going to have a 100% born and bred Aussie in the household!

Oh yeh, no ‘Mile High Club’ jokes please, we’ve heard them already

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