I am thinking about making a serious trip to Australia, and I just kind of assumed I would end up somewhere on the East Coast, probably Sydney or Melbourne. I didn’t even really think about anywhere else until I talked to a friend who just came back from Australia. He told me right away that I was wrong to go to the East coast.
“One word,” he told me. “Perth.”
My friend went on to describe Perth to me. He was so unabashedly pro-Perth, he sounded like a brochure. He’s from the U.S., and he told me that the West coast and East coasts of Australia are analogous to the West and East coasts of the States in that all the “chill, laid back people” are on the West coast. After talking to him at length, and getting a promise that he didn’t have some deal with the Perth tourism bureau to be a walking advertisement for the city (that’s how excited he was to recommend the place to me), I did some research and I think he might be on to something.
Perth is the capital of Western Australia and Perth is one of those medium sized cities that I love, about a million and half people, where there can be lots of culture and everything you need but it’s not so big to be overwhelming or unmanageable. There is just no shortage of space in Western Australia, so Perth is pretty spread out, but public transportation is really good. There is actually a few free bus lines in the center of the city. It’s seems like a culturally vibrant place, and there are plenty of Perth events.
The nature looks amazing as well. Lots of uncrowded beaches, big parks and nature reserves not far away. There’s even a place called Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park which is cemetery where semi-wild kangaroos live and you can go walk around. Sounds amazing. It really looks like a city I could spend some time in. I think I might try and spend some time in Fremantle and Northbridge hostels to get a feel for the city and the different neighborhoods.