Perth - Isolated, Independent and Individual

In 1962, the citizens of Perth turned all of the city’s lights on to acknowledge John Glen’s pass overhead in the Mercury spacecraft. This brought a nickname to Perth - the City of Lights. While this display offers an insight into the hospitality and comradeship of the population, Perth is much more.

Perth, Western Australia’s capital city, is a place of amalgamation. Here, the clear waters of the Indian Ocean meet the dry land of Australia and the fresh water of the Swan River. Coast meets bushland. City meets beach. Cultural experiences of theatre and classical performances intertwine with world-class sporting events, all while separated from the rest of the cities in Australia by thousands of kilometers of sparsely inhabited land.

Perth, one of the most isolated cities in the world, embraces the ethnic diversity of its population and its separation from the rest of Australia. The city’s remote location has forced its citizens to bring the World’s best to them.

HISTORY AND CULTURE

In 1697, after thousands of years of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia occupying the area, Dutch explorers surveyed the coast of Western Australia. As they explored, they found what is now called the Swan River, naming it after the unique Black Swans that lived there. It wasn’t until 1829 that the area was claimed by the British Empire where, soon after, Perth was founded and the Swan River colony was established.

The Swan River colony was first populated by free settlers but, with a lack of labourers, British convicts were brought to Perth. With a new and inexpensive labour force, Perth grew quickly, being proclaimed a city in 1856 by Queen Victoria. A number of historic, Victorian buildings remain in Perth today including the Old Courthouse, Government House, and Perth Town Hall.

Over the next few decades, even with convict labour, the city grew slower than its eastern counterparts until the discovery of gold in nearby Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie and the ensuing goldrush during the 1890s. Within 10 years, the population exploded and construction within the city boomed. A further boom came to the city in the 1960s with Iron Ore and Nickel mining in Western Australia.

Perth today is a mix of relaxed, beach living and cosmopolitan city life teaming with world-class film, theatre, music, and dance. Thrown together with this is the Aussie love of sport.

CLIMATE

Perth is Australia’s sunniest state capital, meaning that there is always a good time to visit the city. The Mediterranean climate dictates that temperatures are rarely cold and there is no real rainy season like tropical Australia. Scorching summer temperatures are cooled by the Fremantle Doctor, a sea breeze that blows in from the direction of Fremantle. The term Doctor has been used around the world to name a refreshing, local, and regular wind (Information provided by the Climate and Consultancy Section, Bureau of Meteorology, Perth, WA).

TRANSPORTATION

Getting to Perth can be achieved in many ways. By land, you can reach Perth either from a southern route from Adelaide and Sydney or the northern route from Darwin. Driving or taking a motorcoach from the East along the Eyre highway across the Nullarbor Plain is a long trip since Adelaide, the nearest city to Perth along this route, is roughly 2700 km (1675 mi) away. From Darwin, Perth is approximately 4100 km (2550 mi) away along the North West Coastal and Great Northern Highways. The 65-hour trip from Sydney to Perth by rail is another method for getting to Western Australia’s capital by land.

Perth International Airport is a hub for international, regional, and domestic airlines. As well, Perth’s port of Fremantle is the chosen stop for a number of cruiselines.

ORIENTATION

Perth straddles the Swan River along the west coast of Australia and overlooks the Indian Ocean. The Central Busines District (CBD), or downtown region, is located on the north shore of the Swan River. Along with the office towers, central Perth offers numerous historical attractions, a Jetty on the river, and the distinctive Hay Street and Murray Street malls.

Adjacent to the west side of the CBD is Kings Park, a 400-hectare (988-acre) Park and Botanical Garden with natural bushland and ornamental gardens overlooking the city and the Swan River. As well, the park is home to Honour Avenue, a memorial to service personnel who died in World War I, World War II, and the Korean Conflict.

Immediately north of downtown is the community of Northbridge, host to diverse restaurants and nightclubs. Sharing in nightlife duties are the communities of Leederville, a little further north and west, and Subiaco, to the west of Northbridge, directly north of Kings Park.

Further west, on the Indian Ocean, are Perth’s beach communities of Cottesloe, Swanbourne, City Beach, and Scarborough.

Fremantle lies 20 km (12.5 mi) to the southwest of downtown Perth where the Stirling and Canning Highways meet and where the Swan River enters the Indian Ocean.

FEATURED ATTRACTIONS

The Festival of Perth

Perth’s premier event is a festival of festivals. The Festival of Perth (also known as the Perth International Arts Festival) presents a month of international dance, theatre, film, and music including the Fremantle International Jazz Festival, the Perth International Chamber Music Festival, the Mandurah International Opera Festival, the Lotteries Film Season, the WA Fringe Festival, and much more. When it began in 1953, the festival was used as a means of entertaining students during summer sessions at the University of Western Australia. Now, hundreds of thousands of people attend the Perth Festival each year. There is a world-class show or performance to experience almost every night from the middle of January to the middle of February.

The Swan Bells

Completed as part of Perth’s second-millennium project, the Swan Bells tower contains the original bells from the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields of London, England. After surviving for over 600 years in England, the bells were given to the University of Western Australia, the City of Perth, and the people of Western Australia to celebrate the bicentenary of Australia in 1988. With the arrival of the new millennium, six new bells were commissioned to join the original twelve in a combination bell, viewing tower on the Swan River.

The Sunset Coast

A trip to the city could hardly be complete without a trip to the 80 kilometers (50 mi) of beach that lines the coast of metropolitan Perth, otherwise known as the Sunset Coast. Trigg Island, Swanbourne, Port, City, Floreat, Scarborough, and Cottesloe beaches provide a mixture of family, surf, and swimming beaches along the Indian Ocean. Find a spot to lay your beach towel or try your hand at swimming or body surfing in the clear waters of the Indian Ocean.

The Swan Valley

Following the Swan River inland from Perth’s CBD will find the wondrous Swan Valley, home to Western Australia’s oldest vineyards. Wine tours of the region are offered by a number of companies, allowing you to enjoy Swan Valley’s best wines in comfort and safety.

Fremantle

South of Perth’s CBD is the port of Fremantle. While still aware of its maritime and convict past – as seen at the Western Australian Maritime Museum and the Fremantle Prison (which housed prisoners from 1855 to 1991) – Fremantle has become a social hub. On the weekends, many residents of Perth find their way to the patios of Fremantle’s thriving Cappuccino Strip, an avenue full of restaurants, nightclubs, and cafes, for a leisurely meal – sometimes a leisurely day. The lively Fremantle Markets offer local produce, souvenirs, ethnic goods, crafts, and art in a Victorian building.

Rottnest Island

Located 30 minutes by ferry from Fremantle is Rottnest Island, an A-class reserve with only walking, bike, and tour bus traffic allowed. The island earned the name Rottnest because it seemed to be infested with rats when Dutch explorers first saw the island. The Dutch Captain who named the island could not have known that the rats were actually marsupials – Quokkas. Still thriving, but hardly an infestation, Quokkas are visible throughout the island, usually at night due to their nocturnal nature. Rottnest Island has become a holiday spot because of its coves, beaches, and wildlife. A variety of accommodation options are available, or the island can be seen during a day trip.

Australian Sport

Sport is an important part of Australian culture. Visitors can participate in this culture in Perth throughout the year. Watch both international and top-level domestic cricket at the WACA (the Western Australia Cricket Association grounds) during the summer months, or from March through September every year, take in home games of Western Australia’s only two Australian Football League (AFL) clubs – the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers. The atmosphere of an AFL crowd is something that can only be felt at a live game.