My Visual Travel Experience: Perth

I spent an eventful month in Australia in 2011. In addition to covering the main towns in the eastern end of the country (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Gold Coast and Cairns), I also flew across to the western end of Australia to visit Perth, one of the most isolated big cities in the world. It turned out to be a good visit, and I enjoyed exploring Perth. The only thing that left me totally shaken was being at the receiving end of a racist gang that consisted of half a dozen youngsters. This happened while I was visiting one of the city's sites, Swan Bells, and it was bang in the middle of the day. They heckled me verbally, asked me what I was doing in their country and started following me. I picked up pace and walked briskly towards a crowd, fearing that I may be assaulted or mugged. The moment I was in the midst of other people, the gang backed off. I shudder to think what could have happened, for absolutely no fault of mine! Within the limits of my human biases, I try not to hold this against the city, because I guess these kind of unfortunate isolated acts can happen to travelers anywhere.

Perth is the capital of Western Australia, and is a city with about 2.0 million inhabitants. In 1826, British captain James Stirling arrived in what is now Perth and that set off the urbanization of the area, with convicts being called a few years later to help with development work. It was initially the administrative center of the Swan River Colony. The gold rush in Western Australia in the 1890's saw a further surge in development. Today Perth is an attractive city, with enough sites to keep a visitor busy for several days. To the south of Perth is the Swan River, and to the north lies the Northbridge district, known for its nightlife, entertainment and restaurants. The city center lies between the river and this district.

Perth's Central Business District has its towering skyscrapers, prominent among which is the Bank West Tower. Situated on St George Terrace, the building is a 50 story office building that rises to a height of 247 meters. It was completed in 1988 and till 2012, was the headquarters of Bank West. It is one of the city's tallest and best recognized landmarks.

Central Business District with the Bank West Tower

King’s Park is a large green belt rising above the city, and offering very good views. The park has a war memorial dedicated to soldiers from Western Australia who died in the world wars. There are also several other memorials and sculptures spread across the large park. The 990 acre park has a large number of varieties of plants and birds.

State War Memorial, King's Park

South African Memorial, King's Park

St George’s Cathedral dates back to 1888. There was an earlier, smaller Anglican church at the venue since 1845, but it was demolished and replaced by the present one. The cathedral is an impressive one with a red-brick exterior.

St George's Cathedral

High Altar, St George Cathedral

Lectern, St George Cathedral

St Mary’s Cathedral dates back to 1844 when it was built by Benedictines. It was modified in 1929, and today has a very modern interior with bright stain glass work

St Mary's Cathedral

Interior, St Mary's Cathedral

St George’s Terrace is the main road that cuts across the center of Perth. The central business district with the Bank West building lies along it. The road has an interesting sculpture of a group of kangaroos.

Kangaroo Sculpture, St George's Terrace

Dating back to 2000, the Swan Bells have become among the most popular tourist attractions of Perth. The tower consists of a series of 18 bells. 12 of the bells are from St Martin In The Fields in Trafalgar Square, London. The other six are from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The ones from London date back to the 14th century AD and were gifts given to the state during Australia’s bicentennial celebrations in 1988. The tower is 82.5 meters high and is made out of copper and glass. From the top, one gets great views of the city. In the lawns below, there are sculptures of swans.

Swan Bells

Carillon, Swan Bells

Swan, Swan Bells

Perth Mint dates back to 1899. It was under British control and was used to turn gold found in the mines of Western Australia into British coins. The mine still produces specialist metal coins, though it no longer produces coins for general circulation. The mint has a museum that has exhibits on mining. Every hour, there is an exhibition in which one can see a gold bar being made from pure molten gold.

Perth Mint

The Old Fire Station now serves as a museum, with interesting exhibits on fire fighting equipment and fire engines. Perth’s fire station moved to a new location in 1979 and a decision was taken to convert the original station into a museum.

Old Fire Station

Figure of a Fire Fighter, Old Fire Station

The Brass Monkey Hotel lies on James Street, where a lot of Perth’s night life is. The hotel is a great example of colonial architecture from the gold rush period. True to its name, the hotel has brass sculptures of monkeys near the entrance.

Brass Monkey Hotel

The Town Hall with its soaring tower is a city landmark. The Gothic building was built by convicts and completed in 1870. 

Town Hall

The Western Australian Museum is in the same complex as the Perth Cultural Center. Highlights of the museum are exhibits on natural history as well as on the history and culture of the region.

Birds Section, Western Australian Museum

Dinosaur, Western Australian Museum

Hay Street Mall is the city’s main pedestrian street, and is a vibrant street with department stores, shops, cafes and restaurants. Running parallel to Hay Street Mall, Murray Street Mall is a pedestrian street filled with shops and restaurants.

Sculpture of a Street Performer, Hay Street Mall

London Court is a charming shopping arcade opening out to one side on Hay Street Mall. Shops and restaurants line the beautiful alley between the two gateways, one on either side. There are also sculptures of St George & the Dragon, as well as figures from the Tudor period in medieval England.

London Court

Perth Zoo is a ferry ride away from the city. One of the main highlights of the zoo is an African savanna exhibit. The zoo has kangaroos and wallabies roaming around without cages, and one can touch them. For children, there are also other attractions like a carousel next to the café.

Galapagos Tortoise, Perth Zoo

Kangaroo, Perth Zoo

Rhinos, Perth Zoo

Carousel, Perth Zoo

The Aquarium Of Western Australia lies at Hillary’s Boat Harbour, a little outside Perth. It is quite a spectacular aquarium. The star feature is a transparent tunnel one walks through, in which one can see a range of marine life including sting rays and sharks. There is also a shallow touch pool, where one can touch marine animals like sting rays.

Fish in the Coral Reef, Aquarium of Western Australia

Lion Fish, Aquarium of Western Australia

Sting Rays, Aquarium of Western Australia

Sorrento Quay Boardwalk is a plush shopping centre next to the Aquarium Of Western Australia. Also close by, there's Hillary's Boat Harbour, where the rich and famous dock their boasts.

Sorrento Quay Boardwalk

Hillary Boat Harbour

I'm glad I made the effort to go all the way to Perth and explore what this isolated city had to offer. The incident I mentioned upfront left me quite shaken, but that didn't dampen my spirits much and I managed to cover large parts of the city.