- Perth
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Australia
The Mint was one of the places where Australia’s coinage was produced but now it mints mainly commemorative medals and the like – the 2000 Olympics medals for instance – but it stages a ‘Gold Pour’ half a dozen times a day. This is industry as theatre, as a bloke melts down gold (and they do use real gold, unlike other mints that have a similar attraction) and pours into a mould, plunges that into a bucket of cold water and then presents the finished article for the audience to admire – all of this done with an informative and witty patter. It was fascinating and the Mint also has a very upmarket gift shop and tea gardens.
This was, I reckon, the best cuppa I had for the entire nine weeks I was away from home – a fresh pot of Orange Pekoe made with leaf tea not bags, slices of lemon instead of milk, piping hot water for top-up and a plate of excellent scones with raspberry jam and cream - terrific.
On the excellent free tram circuit
Yes, you heard correctly. Not much like the UK Scarborough beach, imagine laying on the beach watching dolphins about 1/2 mile offshore, the lifeguards having a quick check to make sure they 'were' dolphins. Fantasic, free car parks all they way down the miles of great beaches. Wish I was back there.
It's a hostel booking site that I used when I travelled to Perth. They have a quite a good selection and I found them to be cheaper.
Read the review of Northbridge below, and could hardly believe my eyes. I'm a fan of WA, so don't agree with all the east coasters that choose to give Perth a good slagging - BUT - and it's a big one - every time I've been there on a weekend evening it has been packed with, for want of a better word, utter w**kers, and if you know WA's lifestyle ethic at all, you know I don't mean workers.
I don't think I've seen so many people itching for a fight since a drunken night in Leeds many years ago - and I was a student with a southern accent, so I was asking for it.
I don't have anything against energetic and enthusiastic young people out to have a good time - but it's not normally the best envrionment for a nice meal.
Much better idea for the end of a rugby tour pub crawl.
Star Anise is a relaxed fine dining restaurant with chef David Coomer consistently creating exceptional cuisine. Some of it influenced by south-east Asia and all of it outstanding.
The degustation menu is fantastic giving you a little more than a taste of his favourite items on the menu. Ma hor a well known favourite with a slice of pineapple, caramalised duck, seared scallop with a mint, chilli and coriander dressing. Licorice ice cream is another established favourite but if it's not on the menu it's worth a trip back.
The wine list is dominated by Australian wines but there are generally a few international gems as well.
225 Onslow Rd
Shenton Park 6008
Tel: (08) 9381 9811
Fax: (08) 9381 9822
www.staraniserestaurant.com
If rain stops play I wholly recommend the art gallery. It's not so big, so it doesn't take long to get around but it's air conditioned and quiet. There is always a gallery of indigenous art and the other galleries are rotated often. One really exciting exhibition is the Year 12 Perspectives; the state's best (equivalent) A-Level art pieces which are breathtaking.
It's right by Perth train station, quite close to the museum too (gold coin donation for entry there) and on the Northbridge side - so easy to get dinner afterwards!
Northbridge is a suburb of Perth which is the place to go for bars and restaurants be they Italian, French, seafood or Asian and everything in between. Catch the free CAT bus from the city and they take you straight there, or you can walk it easily from the city centre too.
On sunday catch a train to Cottesloe and head for the beach and have a few drinks watching the sunset in the Cottesloe Beach Hotel.
Do it!
Cottesloe - catch a rtain from the city
Northbridge - catch the free Blue CAT bus from the city.
What do you want when you go on holiday? Great scenery, things to do, excellent restaurants... oh hang on, let's throw in some world class adventure sports and free wine, and not just some cheap plonk but some of the high-end stuff, too.
Despite its rather sedate sounding name, Margaret River, three hours drive south of Perth, has all of these.
It's the home of world-class surfing competitions with frighteningly large waves which break against the rugged coastline with awesome power and regularity.
It's the home of Moss Wood, Leeuwin Estates and a hundred other world-class wineries, many of which have cellar door tastings and attached restaurants.
The local produce is so fresh and tasty that most of the restaurants deliver something a little special. Vasse Felix is particularly good for a smart dinner, but most of them are interesting.
Margaret River Cheese Co. (yummy cheddar), Chocolate Factory, Simmo's Ice Cream and Bootleg Brewery are all good stops between wine-tastings.
And that's just inland. The coastline of this area is one of the most beautiful on this side of the continent - or any side of any continent to be frank.
And the coastline offers up plenty of places to stay: north to south you've got Dunsborough, Yallingup, Gracetown and Prevelly/Gnarabup, where you'll often get stunning sea views from your deck, as you sip your day's purchases.
Some of the comments on Perth are pretty critical - but they also miss one of the great advantages: when you've got an area this beautiful, you don't want it to get too over-crowded. Margs gets pretty busy around Christmas, but the rest of the year you can normal find a corner of it - a beach-break, a vineyard, a restaurant - to keep to yourself.
Margaret River is three hours south of Perth. We like staying at Bavu Beach House www.bayubeachhouse.com
Indian vegetarian restaurant run by volunteers. Good food. You pay what you judge the meal to be worth and the profits go to charities in India.
(NB No alcohol) Mon-Fri. Lunch and evening
Sat. Evening.
Barrack Street Jetty near the bell tower
www.annalakshmi.com.au
At Rottnest Island you can find wonderful beaches - we had the whole bay to ourselves. A bus service runs or you can hire a bike to get around as there are no cars on the island. Also, the Pinnacles has beautiful views and is worth a trip to see
Catch a ferry from Freemantle to Rottnest. The Pinnicles is about three hours' drive north of Perth
Microbrewery and bar in a huge converted boat shed on the Fishing Boat Harbour in Fremantle – you can sit and drink their Pale Ale while you watch it being made. Also has a restaurant and a harbourside terrace.
40 Mews Road, Fremantle;
tel: (618) 9430 5555;
open: 10am–midnight every day;
www.littlecreatures.com.au
I've read the comments on this website about Perth and have to disagree. I spent eight months here working and living and found it to be a great place. Yes it is full of expats who seem to have an opinion about everything, but why travel all the way to Australia to speak to them? You get the same thing in Canada, America and other parts of Australia. More people have been hurt or killed on the east coast than the west.
The weather is excellent, in my eight months there it rained three times. It can get hot, but no hotter than Thailand or anywhere else. It has amazing beaches that run the full length of the coast. There is plenty to do and see, Subiaco is a cracking little part of town with Markets and trendy bars. You are a short distance from Fremantle, which again is a lovely place. Cottlesoe beach is ace.
If you’re a sports fan then again there is plenty to choose from (rugby, rugby league, football, Aussie rules etc). Accommodation is cheap and cheerful. Kings Park is a great place to while away the day with free BBQ areas, and late night outdoor movie screenings.
Yes, it’s a remote part of the country, but give it a chance. Don't be so quick to judge a great part of Australia.
The city has free barbeques all over the place. Buy some meat and salad and enjoy an evening by the river at Point Walter or Kings Park, or by the sea at Cottesloe Beach.
Cycling around the Swan River between the Narrows bridge and Stirling bridge at Fremantle can be made into a half-day trip stopping at the excellent cafes at Matilda Bay, Peppermint Grove, the Left Bank (Fremantle) and Coffee Point (Applecross).
Bikes can be hired at many bike shops around the city. Go in the morning when it's less windy
There are many excellent courses around the city and the public ones are very cheap. Try the nine-hole at Point Walter for beautiful views of the river and $15 for a round.
Honour Avenue, Bicton, Point Walter, on the south side of the river; tel: 8 9330 3262
Perth is clean, fresh, sparkly, and efficiently functional. A bit like an unused toilet.
The city is sterile, boring and unpleasantly hot. You'll spend all your time hopelessly chained to wherever you can find an air-conditioning unit.
You would have a better holiday if you just stayed on the plane.
OK, so Perth is probably Australia's least interesting city, but you know there are worse places.
It is also a good jump-off point to go and visit Wave Rock, which is about 350km, or a four hour drive, due east. It is truely spectacular, less commercial than Ayres Rock and also serves as the main water source to the desert town of Hyden below.
OK, it is a long way to go just for a wind-eroded, 15m-high rock, but if you're in Perth you'll probably be bored and desperate.
Perth is the world's most isolated city (i.e. it's further away from any other city than well, any other city on the planet) and this (for some) unfortunately fosters some of the western world's most 'isolationist' thinking.
Sadly, the most bigoted major city in Australia, it's often the first choice for English and Scots of a 'particularly narrow mindset' if you know what I mean, who are looking for somewhere to retire. Perth folk (yes, sure there are ALWAYS exceptions) often don't seem to like ANYONE, but they seem to have a particular problem with Aborigines and Asians (not the Indians, Pakistanis etc. that Brits incorrectly call Asians, but the Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. - whom Brits often offensively refer to as Orientals).
Perth is not the city with the 'pioneer spirit' that most Brits seem to imagine. It's not the last great frontier, it's actually Australia's most conservative (culturally and politically) city whilst also being the home-town of our most notorious white-collar criminals!
I recommend stearing well clear of Perth but if you simply HAVE to visit Western Australia, then go to Fremantle, Margaret River, Busselton etc. instead. Then kick yourself repeatedly while booking a flight to Sydney, Adelaide or Melbourne, cities where you'll find the REAL Australia.
Head out to the Indian Ocean beaches at Cottesloe (15 mins on train from Perth) and go to the Blue Duck overlooking the beach. Time it late afternoon and sit on the outdoor terrace with a mango daiquiri and something simple to eat from the extensive menu (the potato wedges are great!). If you've timed it right you'll be able to watch a stunning sunset over miles of glorious beaches. A second mango daiquiri will prove to you life doesn't get much better than this!
The Blue Duck
Cotteslo Beach
Train from Perth to Cotteslo (also a bus buit not sure of the number - train is easiest I think)
www.blueduck.com.au
Not as well known as the Margaret River region for it's wines, but the Swan Valley is far more accessible - just 30 mins from Central Perth.
There's numerous wineries, most of which do tastings and some of the bigger ones (e. Lamonts, Sandalfords) have great restaurants looking out over the vines.
There's also breweries, chocolate factories and numerous other places of interest on the easy to follow loop around the valley.
30 mins N East of Perth
www.swanvalley.com.au
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