Name: Lisa F Nationality: British Current Location: Australia Perth Date Moved to this Location: March 2005 Other Countries Lived In: Oman New Zealand Scotland England Greece Type of Expat Woman: Traveler Volunteer Mother Professional

I am a mother of two young children. My husband is a chemical engineer, working in the oil and gas industry, which is what, led me to become an expat – living in: New Plymouth, New Zealand; Muscat, Oman; and Perth, Australia over the past five years. From which I have gained a tremendous amount of experience.

Leaving school at sixteen, I went straight to work in the travel industry, where I have worked for a total of fourteen years in various roles. During this time I have also taken career breaks, spending one year backpacking round Australia, one summer as a holiday resort representative and a term as a cruise ship hostess. I got the bug for travel at a very young age and I’ve been very fortunate to visit many countries – Kenya, Switzerland, America and Lichtenstein, to name but a few.

I am a very sociable, fun-loving person who loves meeting people. I also enjoy going to the gym, swimming and photography. The adrenaline junky in me has led me to complete an army assault course, a tandem skydive, a bungee jump, a PADI open water diving course and a sunrise climb up Ayers Rock.

Currently I am not working; however I’m in the process of starting up a Women’s activity group based in Perth. I hope you enjoy reading my short biography and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Lisa.

1. Register with a dentist. Check out dentist first, especially if they have an agreement with private health care. If they are not part of a private health care scheme, they can charge what they want and you may find you have to have more work done than required.
   
   
2. Familiarize yourself with the local creepy crawlies. Put a chart up somewhere easy to see, so you can identify any intruders!
   
   
3. Research schools. You may need to put your children's names down up to a year in advance, depending upon the school and your children's ages.
    
4. Get out and about (Perth has an outdoor lifestyle), keep yourself active and meet people. Join one of the local yacht clubs, they are very reasonably priced, very sociable places and very good for families.
   
   
5. Watch your speed when driving. Mobile speed cameras are common. Be especially careful on public holidays when fines and demerit points are double.