Moving to W.A

[Kiwi]

Hey! I am moving over to W.A form NZ in May next year, and I was wondering If I could get some tips.

Where is the best place to live in regards to waves?
Whats the cost of rent like?
Is there much work? I am an animator/illustrator
Do I need to buy a 4wheel drive to get to most of the breaks?

Any Tips would be great.

Cheers

[west_matta]

u probs should have posted this in the actual WA territory bit...so this might get moved or deleted.

the best place to live in wa for waves is probs margaret river.
BUT its nearly impossible to get a place to live and pretty much the only work is vineyards and other lame jobs.
u dont need a 4wd to get to most waves along this stretch of coast.

most crew end up moving to perth and just blow in on weekends.

[Sally]

yes best place for waves is margs but yeah not a heap of job opportunities down that way. In your field of work you would most likely need to be living close to city. So i'd suggest scarbs type area if you want to rent unit/apartment starts at around 280 mark for very cheapest per week up to about hmm 600 per week for half decent house.

[captain6230]

or have a look at mandurah or bunbury if a 2 hour drive is too long for you to get decent surf every weekend.

[Kiwi]

Cheers for the tips fellas. Sory about posting in the wrong spot new to this site.

dose perth get good waves?

How are the sheep over in aussie bet they are pretty hot ay!

[BoogieKnight]

i am not going to give anymore away but if you want good waves in WA you most definitely DO need a 4WD, and a reliable one at that. It is a big coastline, sure it has sealed roads, but to think that there aren't hundreds of more waves beyond those sealed roads is one big assumption. In WA its all about your sense of adventure and how far you're willing to take it....

[lewy]

Most of the tracks down south are accessible by 2wd, as proven over the years by many valiants and kingswoods. Though if you do want uncrowded waves (on the w.e. or school holidays) like BK suggested, a 4wd would be handy. Although not essential.

Perth can get alright, it does enough at times to satisfy until a trip north or south is possible.

[Sally]

Perth can get alright, it does enough at times to satisfy until a trip north or south is possible.

dear lordy not at the moment i think i am getting withdraw symptoms fromnot being able to surf any good waves hey......

[jamescottrell45]

yeh im thinking of moving down to margs to but what are the job opportunities like i have a trade...will it be hard to find work?

[JONNO313]

I wished I lived in WA so many good spots.

But i am laughing at boogie knights display pic hahahahahahaha

[west_matta]

yeh im thinking of moving down to margs to but what are the job opportunities like i have a trade...will it be hard to find work?

wats your trade??
theres not a great deal of work here...well work you'd move to margs for haha

[lewy]

Hey Kiwi if you surf in Perth, expect alot of this ... THIS time i'm the victim lol.

[gcpoop]

rotty gets alright, but f@k its expensive for a trip, went over there back in easter and a bus ticket round the island was like 10 bucks or some shit, plus the 30dollar ferry fair, shame it was onshore and fat lol

[ralphy]

Kiwi, firstly there are plenty of sheep over this way, just remember to bring that velcro glove, helps ya hold onto those buggers

As for getting work as an animator/illustrator, you are going to have to find work in Perth. Even then its a pretty specialised field with not too much work going, but im guessing you would already know this as you work in the industry.

The surf around the Perth metro area is OK. Summer you will not get a wave, but during the rest of the months you will be able to get fun to frustrating waves all along the metro coast.
Your best options for decent, less crowded waves is to live in the outer suburbs such as Mandurah/Rockingham in the south (where i live) or go north and live in Joondalup/Yanchep. There is fairly consistent surf to be had around both areas out of the city and it is really only half an hour to an hour car/train trip into the city. You also have Rottnest Island about 15min ferry ride from Freo. Good surf there pretty much all year if you can learn the conditions under which all the breaks break under. Expensive to get there though with a ticket being between $30-$50.

Yalls/Margs (3 hours) to the south and Lannos(1 hour)/Gero(4 hours)/Kalbarri(5 hours) to the north all have sick surf and are only a couple of hours drive either side of Perth. Can go to either for day trips or weekenders if your keen on the drive.

Fire away if ya have any more questions

[caspian]

A good idea- this is what I'm doing and it works alright- is to live in Perth and get a job in mining. Sure, the week I'm mining sucks, but on the week I'm off I have enough coin to travel around WA and chase swells whether north or south (and with a decent amount of money left over, pays a lot more then animating).

I guess Margaret (or perhaps around Gero, but I've always had a soft spot for up there) would be the ideal place to live if you're doing some 9-5, 5 days a week and want to surf as much as possible; good luck finding an animating job there though.

Secret Harbour is a pretty cool break that's relatively metro-ish; not all that crowded in winter and you occasionally get some real nice 4 footers; even when it's small the waves are still pretty fun.

If you want to get really isolated then yes there's heaps of 4wd breaks worth going to (some of which are really, really amazing) but a 2wd and a willingness to explore will still get you plenty of decent, uncrowded breaks.