Hey All,
I'll get straight to the point... We fly into Perth next month and I've been looking for somewhere to stay while we get ourselves sorted with buying a campervan. Wow, talk about expensive!!!!! After I picked myself up off the floor, I'm now looking at other options.
Housesitting was one but the dates are normally very specific and I'm not sure how long we'll be in Perth for. The other option is couchsurfing..
Now clearly with two small children in tow, sleeping on a couch is out of the question but I'm assuming some people have actual rooms to sleep in, we all share a bed most of the time here in Asia so all sleeping in a double is normal for us.
So here's a question for people who either host or surf... Would you consider hosting a young family or have you met a young family surfing couches?
I've signed up, but the connection here at the moment is terrible so I'm having real trouble exploring the site. Hopefully there will be some young families on the site I can ask, but I'm not even sure how I would look for them as profiles are for individuals, I didn't even see an option for traveling as a couple.
Mike.
Reply to this Hiya, i'm in Perth so thought i'd add some info but ive never heard of couchsurfing so cant help on your actual question...sorry. For housesitting most people want police clearances and references and lots of other stuff like that so it might be difficult being transient and without a job 😊
Perth is expensive...sorry, you'll need to blame the mining boom for that. Definitly no recesion here... the cheapest hotels i can think of would be 2 or 3 stars like 'Formula 1' or 'Motel Burswood' along Great Eastern Highway near the airport. They have adverts for about Aud$90 a night. Doing the maths though you'd be better to go for a short term apartment or long term apartment... you can often get 2 bedroom apartments for $350 or so a week in the city - probably a better deal? Have a look at www.stayz.com.au as they have houses/apartments that people rent out that are holiday homes and are privately owned so you might get some good deals on there especially longer term.
If you dont mind where you stay maybe try the caravan parks...there is one north at capricorn resort that has 2 bedroom cabins for $130, there is one in forrestfield east of the city that has 4 people cabins for $140 and there is an excellent park just below leighton beach to the south... There are some youth hostels in the city that advertise $25 a night so you could maybe get a private room cheaper than any of the prices i've mentioned????
or take a look at wicked campervans...they are cheap as and if youre happy to share a mattress might be a good option as then you have a car to get around australia too 😊 They come with heaps of extras and it'll be alot cheaper to stay in caravan parks on empty lots than look for accomodation.
Let me know if you need any other info or on how far things are etc...and hope you have a great time!
tam
Reply to this Tam, thanks for the reply...
I hadn't even looked into the possibility of apartment rental while there... I could only have a short look (my weak connection is so damn infuriating) but found a few possibilities. Nowhere near as cheap as $350 a week, but that may be because of the season.
I did look at hiring a camper, but they're not that cheap either, it would be about the same price to hire a car (which we planned to do anyway) and get a hotel. And I'd rather start our adventure in a real bed before we hit the road.
Jo,
Thanks so much for this... When we move on hopefully we'll have a better connection and I can browse the site better. It is good to know it's a possibility though. I think we'll stay in a hotel the first few nights we're there and maybe try giving couchsurfing a go after that if our stay in the city gets longer than we expected...
Mike
Reply to this We would absolutely consider hosting a family - I could see it being a fun, positive experience and give us a welcome excuse to (re)experience local things that are more appropriate with kids in tow. The majority of our hosting has been done when we have a) a spare bedroom for our surfers and b) almost always have an additional blow-up mattress, so this makes it more logistically feasible. You might want to limit your search to those who denote their sleeping arrangements as "shared room = no" rather than public.
Of course, we don't live in Perth, so our opinion doesn't help you out in this particular situation - just to say it's a possibility and that I've seen families host before also during my searches. Worth looking into and I definitely wouldn't count it out. Good luck!
[Edited: 2011 Dec 23 18:43 - Stephanie and Andras:35953 ]
Reply to this Hey Michael, Faye, Nate and Gabe,
We are a couch surfing family. We have surfed with our daughter (she is currently 15 months old) and have hosted lots of families with kids. It is a fun experience and does make you look differently at what there is to do. I would definitely recommend you give couch surfing a go. Are you planning to come over to NZ in this trip? If so, you are welcome to come and surf with us. Assuming we are home.
We couch surfed in Perth, but this was when I was only pregnant, so we didnt have to worry about finding someone who would host kids. We did easily find a great place though. We hired a car and did a mix of surfing and hostels as we tiki-toured up to Exmouth for the Whale Sharks and back.
If you want to talk CS with kids more, feel free to get in touch.
Karen
Reply to this Karen - I actually thought, "pity they weren't looking for places in NZ" - you guys would have been the first on the list of suggestions :-)
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