But I must say I'm intrigued by the idea of Perth. I spent nearly an hour last night on the Australian equivalent of Rightmove, looking at property in Perth (a bit expensive) and Secret Harbour.

I'm a sucker for colonial Anglican cathedrals. The cathedral in Perth has at least one claim to fame...

St George's is one of only a few cathedrals constructed of handmade bricks.

Believe you me, I've seen pictures of St. George's Cathedral, and we ain't talking about just a few hundred bricks...

I'd like to visit Australia, but I have no desire to live there, especially Perth.

I was waiting for one of you guys to suggest a poll similar to the 'is Houston shit or not' poll we had, except it should be 'is Perth boring or not'?

I always wanted to live in Australia...after a visit in 2001 I changed my mind.

No way boring. that place is overloaded with museums and Victorian-era churches. It's a paradise on earth.

I'll bet you can buy decent bacon there too.

Depends on which State you are in- getting unsmoked bacon in Queensland is nigh on possible for instance

But doesn't Queensland have forests, wildlife, bats, 'n' stuff??

ps. just re-read your post and it is a bit ambiguous? this is not lelping me choose between WA and Queensland?

And koalas. Don't forget the koalas.

Perth looks very pleasant but a bit bland - Fremantle on the other hand looks like the kind of place I'd like to visit. The Victorian architecture you get in OZ is awesome.

You just want to go and visit Bruce n Sheila, don't you?

Not quite sure about Sheila though. I wonder what Bruce is like?!

Apparently there is a regular bus service out to Secret Harbour from Perth..

Given that essentially all cathedrals through the 19th century and even beyond were constructed out of stone that was cut and shaped by hand that really doesn't seem that remarkable in the annals of cathedral construction ...

very scared I should imagine

Filing for divorce, as we speak, I expect.

Lived in Melbourne for a year before moving to the US, I'd take OZ over the US any-day - people are much more friendly and less " up themselves" as it were and it had enough Englishness about it to make it feel familiar.