 By Carolyn Batt: Perth is renowned as the world’s most isolated city, and revels in this status. Its residents see themselves as a different breed to their cousins in Australian cities “over east”, and are proud of anything West Australian, especially their own city’s stunning beaches and magnificent year-round weather.
Most visitors to Perth will at some stage find themselves in Kings Park. At 400 hectares, it is the world’s largest city park, even bigger than New York’s Central Park (340 hectares) and more than double the size of London’s Hyde Park. An appealing mix of bushland, gardens and picnic areas, Kings Park offers unrivalled views towards the city and over the Swan River.
Boat cruises are available from the centre of Perth down to the river mouth at Fremantle, giving intimate views of magnificent cliff-top houses and, if you’re lucky, the dolphins which cruise the waterway.
Fremantle, officially a separate city but effectively a suburb of Perth, is famed for its café strip and weekend market, where visitors can buy anything from local organic produce to wooden wind-chimes and didgeridoos. Also worth visiting are the Western Australian Maritime Museum and the Fremantle Prison, built by convicts in the 1850s and operating as a jail until 1991.
Of the beaches, the stretch of white sand at Cottesloe is the most popular, but pristine strips can be found for kilometers in both directions. Or head to Rottnest Island, its turquoise waters a magnet for snorkelers and divers, just a half-hour ferry trip from the mainland. No cars are permitted, but bicycles and child carriages can be hired on the island. Go!
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