Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
May 4th 2005, 2:41 pm
#1
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Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
A short review of our whirlwind tour of Perth.
We arrived in Perth on Friday night at 23:50 having taken the 22:20 flight from London. At the moment we live in Germany but had to fly to London as we couldn’t get a sensibly priced flight from Frankfurt at relatively short notice. We flew with Singapore Airlines at cost of £545 each. I like Singapore airlines since as well as being the cheapest, the staff are also very pleasant and the food reasonably good. There is also the advantage that they also allow you to reserve your seat online and offer “on-demand” movies in flight. The downside is that the planes and furniture in the planes feels rather old and because the flights are cheap they are full hence feels rather cramped. I personally prefer Quantas but at the price I don’t think Singapore can be beaten.
Anyway with only two days to look around before my interview on the Monday and return flight at 01:05 am on Tuesday morning, there was a lot to cram in. Our overall objective was to have a look at as many suburbs as possible focussing on those where we might want to send our children to school so we decided to head south on the Saturday and north on the Sunday. We hired a car and overall throughout the weekend covered over 300km.
We stayed in the Parmelia Hilton in downtown Perth which is not the cheapest hotel on the planet but as I had points for the Hotel is was cheap enough. Do not have breakfast is the hotel as it’s very expensive at $32 per person. A much better option is to go to a nearby café. We had breakfast at the nearby “44” which was recommended by the concierge. This was excellent and half the price of the hotel breakfast although still not exactly cheap.
Downtown Perth is probably one of the cleanest cities I have ever seen, there is very little by way of litter and / or graffiti and generally it’s very pleasant. It is however quite small as the actual centre probably covers no more than 1-2 square miles (I think it’s probably a similar size to Frankfurt – but that won’t mean a lot to a lot of you!). On Saturday night there is quite a buzz around the local restaurants (of which there are a number) but on Sunday the place is absolutely dead. On Sunday evening we decided to go and see Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and I expected, as a new release, that there would be some sort of a crowd. Not a chance. In fact there were only 10-12 people in the whole cinema including us. We did see the occasional drunk and yob but this was certainly a lot less than elsewhere. Apart from doing a little bit of shopping we didn’t have that much time in the city centre as we wanted to spend most of our time checking out where we might live.
On the Saturday we headed south and firstly to Rossmoyne, Bull Creek and the surrounding areas. Rossmoyne sits on the bank of the Swan River and north of the “7” is quite nice with some very expensive looking real estate. We could only look at the schools from the outside but our view of the Rossmoyne School was that the area if was in did not look particularly nice, although I know it has a very good reputation. Bull Creek and Willeton are both very nice areas and the Willetton High School and opposite shopping centre both look good (clean and nice housing) although the pick of the bunch is definitely All Saints school which sits in the middle of the most expensive estate in the area (name forgotten!).
I could see us living there but as the nearest beach is some way away that would be a definite downside for me and I would feel less comfortable about water sports in the Swan river as it seems there are a lot of jellyfish there (mostly harmless I understand but not pleasant nevertheless).
From Rossmoyne we headed way south down to Rockingham stopping at various beaches along the way. Although the beaches are very nice (very clean and nice soft sand) overall the southern area down to Rockingham is dominated by industry and particularly the large oil refinery, grain terminal and docks. Rockingham itself felt to me a little like a retirement resort and whilst it was very nice and property a lot more reasonably priced than the northern suburbs, it wasn’t really for us and too far away to be a realistic commuting distance to Perth.
We headed away from Rockingham and up to Freemantle where we stopped for a wander around the town, the markets and the seafront. Remember that Freemantle is one of the busiest commercial ports in the world first and a tourist attraction second and you won’t be disappointed, expect the opposite and you definitely will (be disappointed that is). In contrast to Perth ‘Freo’ is really quite buzzing and there are lots of street cafés full of people soaking up the atmosphere. I thought the markets were not great (compared to those I have visited elsewhere in Oz) and there was a genuine feel to me that the place was a slightly upmarket version of Southend (I will leave you to conclude whether that is a complement or a criticism).
We had planned to conclude our Saturday tour there but ended up getting a little lost on the way back to Perth and therefore concluded our day looking around Cottesloe, Swanbourne and City Beach. The northern beaches are a marked contrast to the south mainly because the views are not interrupted by industry. Cottesloe in particular is very nice but also very expensive. We headed inland briefly to take a look at Carine which is also one of our possible locations and were definitely impressed. Carine high school looks good, has a very good curriculum and sits in a very nice area with reasonable (relative) priced housing. It is surprisingly “English” looking in that it is very green whereas I had expected that most suburbs would be rather arid.
Our Saturday had been a little bit spoilt by the clouds, rain and general miserable weather so we were glad when we woke on Sunday to brilliant blue sky and rising temperatures. We decided to head up to the top of the freeway (Joondalup) and gradually work our way back towards Perth. It has been said before that Joondalup looks and feels a little Stepford Wives and I think this is a very apt description, very modern, very neat but a little artificial. There is a very nice park by the (half-full) lake and the country club is spectacular (although at $140 per round, not cheap). Joondalup has the advantage of reasonable house prices but the sacrifice is a long way from the beaches.
From Joondalp we headed west and out towards Ocean Reef for the first jaw drop of the day. Ocean Reef is very nice (if you like immaculate suburbs and spectacular beach views) and I was truly impressed. Ocean Reef senior high school also looks very nice. We headed down the cost through Kalaroo and Mullaloo both of which are similarly blessed with beautiful sea views, before getting out of the car again for a stroll through Hillary’s beach park (slightly north of the harbour) and along the beach. Again very nice, a spectacular beach and soft clean sand.
From Hillary’s we headed inland briefly to have a look around Padbury and the high school there. Padbury is probably the least attractive of the suburbs in that vicinity for no particular reason other than it looks a little scruffy. We decided to head back through Hillary’s to have lunch at Hillary’s boat harbour. Hillary’s itself is one of the nicest suburbs we visited (in our opinion) and is full of very modern looking homes although it still has the feel of being reasonably well established, however, probably not for those who are looking either for a character property or for that matter those who want to spend less than $400-500,000. The harbour was very busy (as might be expected at Sunday lunchtime) and quite touristy although not at all tacky and full of nice places to eat or just people watch.
From Hillary’s we headed inland again to Duncraig and Cragie. Duncraig is a bit of a mixture, certainly more established than some other suburbs and has the same feel as Carine (well they are neighbouring suburbs) certainly some parts were very nice but others less so and there was a feeling that it would be a nice place to live IF you chose the “right” street. The school also looked very nice. Cragie was much the same a Padbury i.e. a bit scruffy.
At this point we had intended to head back into town but as the weather was so nice we decided to head up north and to Iluka. Iluka is quite a new suburb but again feels quite established, property wise it has the same feel as Hillarys but about 10-15% cheaper. Just outside Iluka is Burns Beach which is very very nice. It is not a patrolled beach and is quick rocky, but it is very pretty and quite quiet. Our feeling is that it will not stay like this for very long.
In conclusion.
We would have liked more time to spend as the above are just some impressions and we would have liked to visit some of the schools internally to see what the learning environment was like however I think we got a good impression of the areas as a whole.
Probably no shock to say that overall we liked the north more than the south and but more of a surprise that the coast was so much better than the inland suburbs. With the exception of Carine and Duncraig I would say the coastal areas are nicer and although more expensive I would say worth paying the premium for (if you can afford it).
Hope to be there soon!
We arrived in Perth on Friday night at 23:50 having taken the 22:20 flight from London. At the moment we live in Germany but had to fly to London as we couldn’t get a sensibly priced flight from Frankfurt at relatively short notice. We flew with Singapore Airlines at cost of £545 each. I like Singapore airlines since as well as being the cheapest, the staff are also very pleasant and the food reasonably good. There is also the advantage that they also allow you to reserve your seat online and offer “on-demand” movies in flight. The downside is that the planes and furniture in the planes feels rather old and because the flights are cheap they are full hence feels rather cramped. I personally prefer Quantas but at the price I don’t think Singapore can be beaten.
Anyway with only two days to look around before my interview on the Monday and return flight at 01:05 am on Tuesday morning, there was a lot to cram in. Our overall objective was to have a look at as many suburbs as possible focussing on those where we might want to send our children to school so we decided to head south on the Saturday and north on the Sunday. We hired a car and overall throughout the weekend covered over 300km.
We stayed in the Parmelia Hilton in downtown Perth which is not the cheapest hotel on the planet but as I had points for the Hotel is was cheap enough. Do not have breakfast is the hotel as it’s very expensive at $32 per person. A much better option is to go to a nearby café. We had breakfast at the nearby “44” which was recommended by the concierge. This was excellent and half the price of the hotel breakfast although still not exactly cheap.
Downtown Perth is probably one of the cleanest cities I have ever seen, there is very little by way of litter and / or graffiti and generally it’s very pleasant. It is however quite small as the actual centre probably covers no more than 1-2 square miles (I think it’s probably a similar size to Frankfurt – but that won’t mean a lot to a lot of you!). On Saturday night there is quite a buzz around the local restaurants (of which there are a number) but on Sunday the place is absolutely dead. On Sunday evening we decided to go and see Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and I expected, as a new release, that there would be some sort of a crowd. Not a chance. In fact there were only 10-12 people in the whole cinema including us. We did see the occasional drunk and yob but this was certainly a lot less than elsewhere. Apart from doing a little bit of shopping we didn’t have that much time in the city centre as we wanted to spend most of our time checking out where we might live.
On the Saturday we headed south and firstly to Rossmoyne, Bull Creek and the surrounding areas. Rossmoyne sits on the bank of the Swan River and north of the “7” is quite nice with some very expensive looking real estate. We could only look at the schools from the outside but our view of the Rossmoyne School was that the area if was in did not look particularly nice, although I know it has a very good reputation. Bull Creek and Willeton are both very nice areas and the Willetton High School and opposite shopping centre both look good (clean and nice housing) although the pick of the bunch is definitely All Saints school which sits in the middle of the most expensive estate in the area (name forgotten!).
I could see us living there but as the nearest beach is some way away that would be a definite downside for me and I would feel less comfortable about water sports in the Swan river as it seems there are a lot of jellyfish there (mostly harmless I understand but not pleasant nevertheless).
From Rossmoyne we headed way south down to Rockingham stopping at various beaches along the way. Although the beaches are very nice (very clean and nice soft sand) overall the southern area down to Rockingham is dominated by industry and particularly the large oil refinery, grain terminal and docks. Rockingham itself felt to me a little like a retirement resort and whilst it was very nice and property a lot more reasonably priced than the northern suburbs, it wasn’t really for us and too far away to be a realistic commuting distance to Perth.
We headed away from Rockingham and up to Freemantle where we stopped for a wander around the town, the markets and the seafront. Remember that Freemantle is one of the busiest commercial ports in the world first and a tourist attraction second and you won’t be disappointed, expect the opposite and you definitely will (be disappointed that is). In contrast to Perth ‘Freo’ is really quite buzzing and there are lots of street cafés full of people soaking up the atmosphere. I thought the markets were not great (compared to those I have visited elsewhere in Oz) and there was a genuine feel to me that the place was a slightly upmarket version of Southend (I will leave you to conclude whether that is a complement or a criticism).
We had planned to conclude our Saturday tour there but ended up getting a little lost on the way back to Perth and therefore concluded our day looking around Cottesloe, Swanbourne and City Beach. The northern beaches are a marked contrast to the south mainly because the views are not interrupted by industry. Cottesloe in particular is very nice but also very expensive. We headed inland briefly to take a look at Carine which is also one of our possible locations and were definitely impressed. Carine high school looks good, has a very good curriculum and sits in a very nice area with reasonable (relative) priced housing. It is surprisingly “English” looking in that it is very green whereas I had expected that most suburbs would be rather arid.
Our Saturday had been a little bit spoilt by the clouds, rain and general miserable weather so we were glad when we woke on Sunday to brilliant blue sky and rising temperatures. We decided to head up to the top of the freeway (Joondalup) and gradually work our way back towards Perth. It has been said before that Joondalup looks and feels a little Stepford Wives and I think this is a very apt description, very modern, very neat but a little artificial. There is a very nice park by the (half-full) lake and the country club is spectacular (although at $140 per round, not cheap). Joondalup has the advantage of reasonable house prices but the sacrifice is a long way from the beaches.
From Joondalp we headed west and out towards Ocean Reef for the first jaw drop of the day. Ocean Reef is very nice (if you like immaculate suburbs and spectacular beach views) and I was truly impressed. Ocean Reef senior high school also looks very nice. We headed down the cost through Kalaroo and Mullaloo both of which are similarly blessed with beautiful sea views, before getting out of the car again for a stroll through Hillary’s beach park (slightly north of the harbour) and along the beach. Again very nice, a spectacular beach and soft clean sand.
From Hillary’s we headed inland briefly to have a look around Padbury and the high school there. Padbury is probably the least attractive of the suburbs in that vicinity for no particular reason other than it looks a little scruffy. We decided to head back through Hillary’s to have lunch at Hillary’s boat harbour. Hillary’s itself is one of the nicest suburbs we visited (in our opinion) and is full of very modern looking homes although it still has the feel of being reasonably well established, however, probably not for those who are looking either for a character property or for that matter those who want to spend less than $400-500,000. The harbour was very busy (as might be expected at Sunday lunchtime) and quite touristy although not at all tacky and full of nice places to eat or just people watch.
From Hillary’s we headed inland again to Duncraig and Cragie. Duncraig is a bit of a mixture, certainly more established than some other suburbs and has the same feel as Carine (well they are neighbouring suburbs) certainly some parts were very nice but others less so and there was a feeling that it would be a nice place to live IF you chose the “right” street. The school also looked very nice. Cragie was much the same a Padbury i.e. a bit scruffy.
At this point we had intended to head back into town but as the weather was so nice we decided to head up north and to Iluka. Iluka is quite a new suburb but again feels quite established, property wise it has the same feel as Hillarys but about 10-15% cheaper. Just outside Iluka is Burns Beach which is very very nice. It is not a patrolled beach and is quick rocky, but it is very pretty and quite quiet. Our feeling is that it will not stay like this for very long.
In conclusion.
We would have liked more time to spend as the above are just some impressions and we would have liked to visit some of the schools internally to see what the learning environment was like however I think we got a good impression of the areas as a whole.
Probably no shock to say that overall we liked the north more than the south and but more of a surprise that the coast was so much better than the inland suburbs. With the exception of Carine and Duncraig I would say the coastal areas are nicer and although more expensive I would say worth paying the premium for (if you can afford it).
Hope to be there soon!
May 4th 2005, 3:52 pm
#2
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Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Perth, Since Jan 05
Posts: 708
Re: Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
Originally Posted by MartinH
Just outside Iluka is Burns Beach which is very very nice. It is not a patrolled beach and is quick rocky, but it is very pretty and quite quiet. Our feeling is that it will not stay like this for very long.
Your feelings were right see www.burnsbeachestate.com.au
May 4th 2005, 4:06 pm
#3
?????????
Joined: May 2003
Location: Gold Coast
Posts: 1,974
Re: Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
good post, k sent. 
May 4th 2005, 9:29 pm
#4
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Joined: Aug 2004
Location: Perth
Posts: 516
Re: Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
Really enjoyed your view of the area's.
May 4th 2005, 10:07 pm
#5
Joined: Dec 2003
Location: Hillarys, Perth
Posts: 3,973
Re: Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
So.... did you get the job?
May 5th 2005, 1:09 am
#6
(It's not my real name)
Joined: Sep 2002
Location: Ilukapool. WA
Posts: 12,467
Re: Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
Good post, very accurate description of the places you visited.
May 5th 2005, 6:24 am
#7
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Re: Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
Originally Posted by Siren & Brian
So.... did you get the job?
May 5th 2005, 6:58 am
#8
Cheeky member
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: West Side
Posts: 16,204
Re: Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
Originally Posted by MartinH
I received the job offer verbally on the day and confirmed in writing yesterday........but still no news on salary (which is a factor!). I will have to take a cut on what I earn at the moment (which I expect) and provided its not too deep a cut then I expect we will be on our way to Perth in the very near future.
Like the post,hoping to head out north too!!
May 5th 2005, 7:02 am
#9
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,818
Re: Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
Excellent post -I'm going there for my validation trip in 6 weeks...!!!
SS
SS
May 5th 2005, 8:43 am
#10
Superfreak!!
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Thornlie, Perth, W.A.
Posts: 1,177
Re: Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
Originally Posted by MartinH
We headed away from Rockingham and up to Freemantle where we stopped for a wander around the town, the markets and the seafront. Remember that Freemantle is one of the busiest commercial ports in the world first and a tourist attraction second and you won’t be disappointed, expect the opposite and you definitely will (be disappointed that is). In contrast to Perth ‘Freo’ is really quite buzzing and there are lots of street cafés full of people soaking up the atmosphere. I thought the markets were not great (compared to those I have visited elsewhere in Oz) and there was a genuine feel to me that the place was a slightly upmarket version of Southend (I will leave you to conclude whether that is a complement or a criticism).
Grrrrr. Everyone makes that mistake on this forum And yes, that is a criticism... Southend is a chav-ridden place full of gaming arcades along a tacky beachfront full of imported french sand... Fremantle only has the one gaming place (Timezone), and is full of arty shops, restaurants, bars, a nghtclub and a market.... all by a not-so-beautiful beach but with a beautiful pier (also with some great restaurants). There`s no comparison between Freo and S`affennnn (innit).
I lived and went to school in Fremantle and also lived in Essex for 3 years (so went to Southend quite a few times). Southend is nice in the shopping district I think, and reminded me a bit of Perth city shopping (just not as nice looking), but anywhere else and it`s a dump.
Tell us when you hear about the job and what job is it anyway???
May 5th 2005, 9:29 am
#11
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Re: Review of our whirlwind trip to Perth
Originally Posted by Stormz
It`s FREMANTLE, not Freeeeeeeeeemantle Grrrrr. Everyone makes that mistake on this forum
Grrrrr. Everyone makes that mistake on this forum
