jad n rich

Gympie and Caloundra are also cities, can we add them to the exciting range of options available from brisvegas

spartacus

Who said anything about exciting? . . . This is ozstraya for Chris Sake!!

Rosewater

I think it just depends where you are at in life. Perth does have beautiful beaches - Waterman's, Trigg and Mettam's Pool are lovely and when I am in Perth a jog, swim at one of these beaches in a little rock pool followed by a coffee at the Wild Fig is one of my favourite things! Weekends in Freo with the markets, places like Little Creatures brewery and other shops, bars and restaurants can be fun. I think there are plenty of coffee shops and quirky boutiques (try Subiaco for good coffee and lovely shops, the City centre now has more upmarket shops like Tiffanys etc) Perth does have a lively music scene and while it doesn't always attract every single artist there are no shortage of live gigs and decent venues in and around town. Theatre not so good but improving....plenty of options to go out in the evening with places like Mt Lawley and Subiaco having a range of nice cocktail bars and pubs for a drink. About 3-4 hours away you have the elegant wineries of Margaret River and beautiful unspoilt beaches of the South West....very special places to me still and I've done a fair bit of travel!
Perth is a growing population and as such I think things will only get better and certainly have gotten considerably better since the late 90's. I grew up there, moved to London for 10 years and found a very, very different and more lively Perth on return. I think it's on an upward trend and will continue to improve over time.
I think it's a hard place to be in your 30's unless you have a family of your own. Most people are settled with children by this age and living a fairly suburban lifestyle so if you want lots of nights out in funky restaurants and bars living it up then that might pose a problem! It can be a hard place to meet girlfriends although if you have small children there are plenty of mothers groups etc to make that process a little easier. Not so easy for the single female in her 30's though!! The nightlife is predominantly for the young and the weekend pub lunches, backyard BBQs or playground picnics seem to be the favoured excursions out for those with families in their 30's and 40's. This was one of the reasons we chose NOT to live in Perth on our return to Australia although we visit frequently. I have a lovely husband but we don't have children as yet and we found that was considered quite weird at our age -we never thought we were weird in London! Melbourne and Sydney are probably a little less suburban and a little more cosmopolitan when it comes to these things (in my experience anyway!) I think boring is the wrong word as those that love Perth find that it fit's their lifestyle and expectations perfectly....more a matter of it offers what you need to be happy!

Kim67

Exactly right. I came back to Perth for eight months last year and wanted to get straight back on the plane and fly out again. Part of the problem was staying in suburbia with friends until our we found a rental close to my husband's work and my kids' school (South Perth). Once I was back living in civilisation I was fine - the first place we're heading when we go for our next Perth holiday is IGA Como and IGA Applecross for delicious food - my kids miss it so much. I think you have to seek out things to do initially, but once your into the groove, you'll find heaps to do. If you subscribe to theatre groups, WA Ballet, Opera companys etc, you'll get emailed loads of things that are happening. I get emails all the time from music teachers etc with attached flyers for local productions happening around Perth. Seek and you shall find.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Now that's not the best advert for Perth I have ever seen... your two must do attractions are the local IGA's !!!!!

Kim67

You've obviously never experienced their fresh made goodies - and you probably don't realise how deprived of it my kids are here in Dubai.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

I'm two hours from Wollongong, Canberra and Sydney. Does that make my bit of Oz exciting?.

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Correct on both counts.

Your kids not into dates and yogurt in a big way then?.

jimbo_d

I must say I find the weather here very boring too, it really drags you down being constantly sunny and warm/hot for 9 months of the year

Kim67

The dates are good, the yoghurt isn't - I still go through a couple of dozen small tubs a week though.

spartacus

Input or output?

Kim67

Well the input is into other people's bodies, so I prefer not to monitor the output.

BeachBassist

I think from posts like this that Perth is boring because of the lack of pub scene? There are other ways (healthier) to meet other singles than going to a pub or bar. I'm all for less pubs....only seems to encourage drunkenness and bad behavior.

mohogony

Well 20 million people live on the eastern side of OZ only 1.5million on the West that alone means the east will be a more interesting place to live. Also the cities are much larger and vibrant and the countryside alot more interesting and scenic then W.A.

Kim67

WA is a very large state, so the scenery is probably just as diverse as the whole of the east coast.