Perfect Perth! (Perth (Australia))

Member Name: nursingstudent

Product:	Perth (Australia)
Date:	09/08/02 (525 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A lively city, Lots of different things to do, Value for money

Disadvantages: Long way to go!

People who live in Perth, Western Australia tend to be fiercely proud of their city and with good reason. It is a thriving and prosperous city with beautiful and diverse surrounds with an exciting mix of peoples who have settled there from across the globe. It is a warm city, both in climate and also in spirit, the locals are friendly and welcoming, especially to those who understand their national pride and respect it. Perth is unusual in that although it is a major capital of an Australian state, it is in fact closer to Southeast Asia than it is to any other Australian city. Perhaps this is one reason why those who dwell in Perth are very proud of their city, it has survived throughout years of colonisation and the building of business whilst being very remote, although they are part of Australia you can sense their feelings of independence and strength.

The first person to realise the potential of the Perth area as settlement potential was Captain James Stirling, who in 1826 arrived from England. Later, and more famously perhaps, the convicts started to arrive in 1850 and these were the people who began to build Perths infrastructure, the first roads, prisons, civic buildings and bridges. These people came believing that they had a return ticket once their sentence was served, never realising that no-one was ever to return. Maybe this was a blessing for some as the gold rush in the 1890’s certainly worked in their favour and with this new prosperity in the area Perth started to grow. With the Group Settlement Scheme in the 1920s that was set up to attract WW1 servicemen and the migration scheme of the 1970s - the £10 Pom scheme as it become known, the people started to pour in Perth in greater numbers all seeking a new life.

So why is Perth such a great place, either to live or to visit? For me personally it is a place of contrasts, a city where you can be standing next to an old Victorian style building or old church and yet be
straining your neck looking up at a huge shiny skyscraper. Within minutes of walking through the hustle and bustle of the Central Business District you can be strolling leisurely alongside the banks of the Swan River taking in the sights of the pelicans and jellyfish. Or you escape to the wonderful Kings Park overlooking the city itself and enjoy the panoramic views of not only Perth itself but also South Perth, the river and the hills beyond, simply stunning. You can find a vast array of eateries from all corners of the globe, Thai, Malay, Indian, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Irish, or even MacDonalds if you want to play safe! You can stop at a juice bar on the street and sample beverages freshly made from grass or stick to more conventional cappuccino bars. Stop awhile and watch the excellent street entertainers, the statues that come to life for a small donation, the acrobats and clowns, the musicians and the magicians. Sample the Italian ice creams and American hotdogs and then spend the afternoon cruising through the many arcades and shopping precincts where you will find exceptional value for money, especially with such a good exchange rate.

The city itself is laid out in an organised fashion, somewhat of a grid system, so it is very hard to lose your way around. The main shopping street is Hay Street which has been pedestrianised and has many arcades and malls leading off it, each with its own character and type of shops, my favourite has to be London Court, a mock Tudor style street with clock tower entrance. Many Australians find England very quaint and this street has been created to represent olde worlde London, many English people may accuse it of looking out of place and tacky but it seems to be very popular with locals. The highlight of the arcade for me, apart from the good value souvenir shops with their quality tee shirts and cuddly toys, has to be the cafe half way along, sitting outside drinking excellent coffee and eating thei
r incredible scrambled eggs with bacon... well, almost worth travelling across the world for! This place is always our first stop when we go to Perth and our last when we have to leave. Turned into a bit of a ritual!

History abounds in Perth, particularly interesting are the Perth Mint where you can have a guided tour and watch a live gold pour, you can also attempt to lift a gold bar - harder than you think! For a souvenir you can have a gold coin (plated) made with the Perth Mint swan emblem and a message of your choice then have it encased in a jarrah wood frame, or if you fancy something a bit more pricey you could get your credit card out and purchase a gold nugget or piece of jewellery. Security is very tight here due to the value of the gold in the building and the fact that it is still a working mint and you are not even allowed to take photographs but you can buy postcards. Other interesting old buildings are mainly the old churches and cathedrals but also Government House, a stately building with wonderful gardens which used to be open to the public but seem to be undergoing some work at the moment.

So apart from visiting the Perth Mint, what other attractions are available in Perth? One of the most popular places has to be the aforementioned Kings Park, just a short walk or bus journey from the centre of the city. A huge avenue of native trees leads the way into a beautiful park overlooking the city, many trails and paths lead around the huge 1,000 acre site which has been kept part wild and part cultivated. You can choose to walk through native bushland and experience the feel of wild Australia or roam the more structured botanical gardens with their spectacular fountains, lakes and specimen trees. Look out for the wildlife too, we had a huge stumpy tailed lizard cross our path much to the delight of the children. Also in this park you will find the War Memorial with its eternal flame, a poignant place to be on Anzac Day (
incidentally, the atmosphere on this day in the city is phenomenal, a very moving experience). After all that walking it is good to know that there is the fantastic Frasers Restaurant to go to or the more reasonably priced tea rooms, refreshments are certainly welcome after walking just a fraction of the trails available here. Particularly good is the view of the city from here at night, they call Perth the city of lights and for good reason, a beautiful sight when it is all lit up.

If walking is not your thing, how about wildlife? Just a short journey across the Swan River by ferry is South Perth which is home to the Perth Zoo, an exceptional wildlife park which has many animals roaming free (don’t worry, they keep the dangerous ones behind glass!) If you are lucky enough you can get to touch the kangaroos and wallabies as they go about their daily business. As well as the usual elephants, giraffes, orang-utans and lions you are treated to a special Australian Walkabout section which shows you the diversity of the native animals, from dingoes to numbats, from possums to koalas, from wombats to crocodiles. This zoo has an excellent breeding programme as well and all the animals look very contented, their living conditions and habitats appear to be well thought out and maintained. The gardens are a pleasure to walk around and the facilities are very good, well worth a visit. Or how about going to Underwater World just a short distance up the coast, or AQWA as it is known as - the Aquarium of Western Australia. Prepare to be amazed by this place, it truly is a breathtaking experience to be surrounded on three sides by a tank full of the strangest and largest sea creatures, sharks, turtles, rays, all swimming up to take a look at you, swimming over you in a huge tunnel that takes 30 minutes to travel through. This tank has been established long enough for the environment to look very realistic and the creatures to have reached a very impressive
size. As well as this there are numerous other smaller tanks with strange and exotic critters, a touch pool where you can get your hands wet and touch rays and starfish etc. Or marvel at the antics of the seals, both from above and below the water. Another notable place to see wildlife is Caversham Wildlife Park in the Swan Valley, where you can have your photo taken with a wombat, cuddle up with a koala or lounge around in the dirt with the huge red kangaroos - great fun!

For a bit of intellectual refreshment you could visit the Perth Western Australia Museum, just off the city centre in North Perth, a great place to take the kids to see drawers full of insects (dead ones of course!) and skulls and artefacts from days gone by. There is a collection of butterflies, stuffed animals, minerals, spacey things, and dinosaur displays. More interesting is the permanent Australiana collection, a huge room full of historical artefacts ranging from early colonists belongings to important documents and letters. There is a room which hosts exhibitions on a changeable theme, the first time we went it was all based on Anne Frank, the last time it was all about the Dutch colonists, also there was a small display of the work created by immigrants being held in camps in the north of Western Australia. Also, very close by is the Perth Art Gallery which hosts a varied selection of art work, from the traditional to the modern.

Other activities - how about a boat trip? Leaving from Barrack Street Jetty there are numerous ferry operators who take people on trips up the Swan River to the numerous wineries in the Swan Valley, or down to Fremantle, another town well worth a visit for its history and good shops and eateries. Or how about a trip across to Rottnest Island, just off the coast, an island paradise where there are no cars, just bicycles to hire, a place of long sandy beaches, bright blue oceans, little creatures called quokkas which the early settlers t
hought were rats (hence Rottnest, or Ratsnest Island, they were Dutch and said it funny...) but are in reality little wallabies who are very friendly and will let you stroke them if you bribe them with a little treat! Here you can also book an underwater boat trip to view the many wrecks and the abundant sea life that fills these beautiful waters.

Or how about cricket? The Perth Oval is in the centre of the city and it may be possible to get to see a game. Or how about hitting the beaches? Good for surfing, excellent for just lazing on, some better for kids than others, some for the naturist, some for those who want to whale or dolphin watch. Our favourite has to be Cottesloe, a golden beach beside the Indian Ocean, clean, safe and next to the Indiana Tearooms which are full of Raj character and serve the most wonderful non-alcohol cocktails.
Or maybe you prefer the countryside, a walk around Mundaring Weir might be more your scene, getting away from it all in the woods, picnics, running water, strange birdsong that you don’t recognise. Wonderful! A lot of these attractions can be visited by using one of the tour operators based in the city, they take you on coaches for half day or full day trips but these can work out to be quite expensive, often it is cheaper to hire a car and get a map and go on your own. Just read the small print if you do hire a car....

So how do you get around this marvellous city? Well, if you don’t want to hire a car then walking is one good option, it is a very compact city centre and easy to navigate, the roads are safe to cross and the pavements are wide. Otherwise the public transport system is excellent, the city operates a CAT bus system, a free inner city service with lots of stops where you can hop on and hop off at your leisure for no charge. Buses going on one route on a clockwise circuit of the city centre are every 3 minutes, buses going from top to bottom are every 5 minutes. Very
efficient, very clean and very reliable. And free!! This is the same with the train system, travelling is free in the city limits and even when you travel outside the boundary the fares are minimal. Likewise, buses travelling outside the city limits charge fares which are verging on the ridiculous, very, very cheap. Taxis are always available but are obviously more pricey.

For food I would recommend going to the Carillon Food Court, a vast underground food mall in Hay Street. I was astonished by the concept of this place when I first found it, lots of food outlets all around the rim of a huge hall full of dining chairs and tables. The choice of food available should be enough to satisfy anyone, and this is a good place to go for us as a family because hubby likes Italian food, the little guy likes Red Rooster (bit like Kentucky Fried Chicken), one daughter likes salad and the other shares my passion for Chinese! The Chinese selection is vast, you simply choose your plate size and then proceed to pile on as much food as you can from the varieties offered, honey chicken, sweet and sour pork, curries, rice, noodles, things you can’t recognise but you simply have to find room for on your plate! And then for dessert you can find fruit salads, ice-cream or cakes. Our favourite is the Italian cheesecakes..... we have learnt to just order one slice and get five spoons as it is so rich you could not possibly eat half a slice, let alone a whole one!

And where do you stay? We have stayed in various places during our times here, one place of particular note is talked about in another op, namely the City Waters Lodge, right on the banks of the Swan River, cheap, clean and convenient. Otherwise, another good option for the budget-conscious traveller has to be Baileys Parkside Lodge, just minutes from the city centre behind the hospital. Good spacious family self catering units with a pool and breakfast included in the tariff, very helpful sta
ff and a supermarket next door. Or how about the Terrace Hotel, a bit more luxurious, a bit more expensive, but very nice, again it is central and caters for families. There are hotels, motels and units available in the city to suit every pocket, or even backpacker motels for those who don’t mind sharing in return for extremely low rates.

How about souvenirs? What are the good buys in the souvenir shops of Perth? The T-shirts are good quality and good value, often greatly reduced at the end of the season (March/April time), aboriginal art products are interesting, native dried flower arrangements, macadamia nuts, soft toy kangaroos and koalas, and of course the obligatory pens, spoons, coasters, stubby holders (drink can holders!), tea towels and zillions of different tourist photographic books and postcards. And maybe the odd bottle of excellent Western Australian wine from either the Swan Valley region or the Margaret River region, highly recommendable! Just remember that you have to carry it all home!

So, to sum up Perth... very difficult in a few words, it is a city of great character and spirit, it has a brilliant climate and a diverse culture. It welcomes visitors with open arms and really shows them a good time. It is good value for money and offers something for everyone whether it is beaches, countryside, shopping, history, architecture or sport. Perth is exciting, vibrant and dynamic, it is stimulating enough for the adventurous yet can be relaxing enough for those who just want to sit back and let life pass by. Perfect Perth!

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