When I started making a list of all the things I did in Perth, I thought, damn, I should make this 50 Things to do in Perth, instead of 10. But for now I’ll just name the 10 best ones, and that should make you want to get you backpack and go. Australia is amazing, and I even listed it as a cheap place to backpack, just because of how easy it is to work while traveling. The west coast of OZ blew me away. This list isn’t in any order, either by most fun or best place, they are all great.
Perth Zoo- The zoo here was pretty cool. They had different ”geunres” sections of animals, like African, Americas, and of course Australian. Once a day they get the big elephant out and walk it around the park for exercise. pretty cool.
Bars and Nightlife- Northbrige street is the center for everything, and that’s exactly where I stayed. Within short walking distance is a ton of bars, pubs or whatever your fancy. With my Irish friends I haunted pubs like The Cure, Durty Nelly’s, Rosie O’Grady’s, Brass Monkey and more. For night clubs there was Ambar, Mustangs, Hip-E and Ruby Room at the Burswood casino (casino, another thing to do!). Just around the corner are strip clubs like Exotica, The Doll House, the Voodoo Lounge and the 2 dollar peep show. There was always something to do, and most of the establishments had cheap nights, so we had somewhere to go every night of the week. During the day the pubs were good for watching football and rugby games on the telly.
Things to do in Perth
The Beaches- This would be the most worthless list in the World if it didn’t mention the world-class beaches around Perth. There’s Scarborough, Cottesloe, Freemantle, City and Floreat Beach, to name a few. All the beaches are awesome, and all are good for snorkeling, diving, sunbathing, sunset-sunrise watching, kite surfing and relaxing. Scarborough is one of my favorite beaches in the world, although, the sand is so fine and perfect, that it’s hell on cameras.
Perth Aquarium- AQWA- The aquarium in Perth is awesome. The main tank is listed as the 10th largest in the world, and has a lot of everything in it. For a little extra, you can go diving in the tank and get up-close and personal with some big sharks. My favorite part was the glass tunnel under the aquarium with the moving walkway, that makes a big circle around the tank. I must have made 4 trips around before moving on. Even getting to the aquarium has nice views. It is located at Hillary Harbor, and the whole area is pretty nice.
Rottnest Island- Rottnest is one of the most popular getaway destinations in Western Australia, and for good reason. One look at this photo should be enough, but if not then be assured there is great diving, snorkeling, beaches, restaurants, pubs etc. The great thing is it’s only a ferry ride away from Perth.
Zebra’s African Steakhouse
Eating- Just like pubs, there are many eateries around Perth. There is a ton of Asian restaurants and food courts, like Old Shanghai, Ten Ten and others, and then there’s a lot of mid-east kebab places as well. One of my favorite places was the Lucky Shag down by the Bell Tower on the river front. Another cool place is the Zebra’s African Steakhouse, where some of the crazy things on the menu include crocodile, kangaroo, ostrich, and buffalo. Pretty originaly themed place.
Kings Park- There are actually a lot of parks in Perth, including one filled with bean-bags and a giant movie screen, but Kings park is my favorite. It is a giant park that is a little high up, so is looking down on the entire city and harbor. It really is a postcard view. It’s also a favorite place to take the sweetheart to view the sunset.
Cheap Tuesday- To be more specific, everything on Tuesdays. Most businesses worked together to make Tuesdays the day everything is cheaper. We usually went to a Pizza place and got pizzas half off, then went to the cinema to watch a movie half off. The rest of the week, pubs had their cheap nights on separate days, so we always had something to do. When I say ‘we’ I mean me and other backpackers I met.
Footie- Australia rules football, or footie, which is a weird mix of Rugby and American football, always had a local or national team playing in the stadiums around Perth. I could never get into the sport, but it was still fun to go watch with the buds.
Penguin Island- Penguin Island is Perth’s premier, ‘must do’ ecotourism destination. Located just a 5 minute ferry ride off the coast of Rockingham (45 minutes south of Perth). You can feed penguins and even see a sea lion colony. There are a lot of our companies working the island, but backpackers can do it on their own too.
My friend just spent Christmas in Perth and loved it, I must admit I only stuck to the East Coast when I visited Australia but it’s always a good excuse to go back.
Perth looks great and especially the magnificent beaches. Yes, I agree that it offers variety of thing for its tourists. I am heading to this place next month.West coast is definitely something I will be checking out.
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