British Expats - First 10 months in Perth

I know it should really be first year, but can't see anything exciting happening in the next 2 months.

Arrived in September with the kids, my husband came out a month before and found a house to rent and a teaching job. I really wouldn't recommend flying from the UK alone with small children (my twins were two at the time).
My husband could only get one day off from work when we arrived so the first few days were quite overwhelming. I was lucky that our next door neighbours were so friendly and invited me out for a girls night out on the first weekend I was there, and I was able to meet new people who are still friends now.

The older kids started school after a week and really settled in, the students and teachers were so helpful and friendly. In the spring school holidays we took the kids on a trip to Monkey Mia and Kalbarri, glad we did it but wouldn't bother again, cost a fortune and could have had 2 weeks in Thailand for the same price.

We decided to buy a house as soon as poss as the prices were rising quickly. Found a 5 bed house just down the road from where we were renting and even though not perfect decided to buy as I did not want to move the kids to other schools. The settlement came through really quickly and moved in the day before Christmas Eve. Felt a bit low as was missing family and had no Christmas decorations up and packing boxes and mess everywhere, then on Christmas Eve our old neighbours came round and bought us a tree and decorations, really cheered us up and made our Christmas.

The New year arrived and I finally passed my driving test at the 2nd attempt. The day after I bought my car my son broke his arm and had to have an operation at Joondalup hospital, again can't fault how kind all the staff were (mostly British).

By now all our savings from England had just about gone and with our mortgage higher than we really wanted, we decided to rent a room out to a student, and are now on our third Japanese student, who are so polite and quiet it's not really been any hard work. I also found myself a part time job in a local hotel which has really helped and has been a good way to meet new people.

Pros living here - kids love it, they have made friends, are much more active (don't watch so much TV), the weather I really suffered from the cold in England, being able to drive, would never had bothered if we'd stayed in England, friendly people and made some good friends, the wildlife - am still amazed by the birds, kangaroos etc, everywhere is clean, beautiful beaches and parks which are child friendly. Loads more but can't think at the moment.

Cons - the obvious of missing friends, family, crap TV. I find general living expensive - hence having to work, winter nights are very cold in our uninsulated house, clothes are not really very well made and find my toddlers clothes tearing easily.

Hope this is not to boring, not too good at expressing myself. The first year has been harder than we thought it would be, but it can only get easier and I think we made the right decision in coming here. Good luck to all coming out soon.

Jules