Perth travel guide

Banks

The major banks have ATMs on Hay St Mall and Murray St Mall. They are also liberally located in all the central suburbs. Foreign exchange: American Express, Hay St Mall, T9221 0693. Mon-Fri 0900-1700, Sat 0900-1200. Thomas Cook, Hay St Mall, corner of Piccadilly Arcade. Mon-Fri 0845- 1645, Sat 1000-1400.

Embassies and consulates

Canada, 267 St George’s Terr, T9322 7930. Germany, 8th floor, St George’s Court, 16 St George’s Terr, T9325 8851. Irish Republic, 10 Lilika Rd, City Beach, T9385 8247. Italy, 1292 Hay St, T9322 4500. Japan, Level 21, The Forrest Centre, 221 St George’s Terr, T9480 1800. Netherlands, 1/88 Thomas St, T9486 1579. Spain, 23 Barrack St, T9225 5222. Sweden, Courier Australia, 23 Walters Dr, Herdsman, T9204 0900. UK, Level 26, Allendale Sq, 77 St George’s Terr, T9224 4700. USA, 13th floor, St George’s Court, 16 St George’s Terr, Perth, T9202 1224.

Internet

Free at Alexander Library, 1 hr only, bookings required, T9427 3104. Traveller’s Club, 499 Wellington St, T9226 0660.

Medical services

24-hr chemists: Beaufort Street Chemist, 647 Beaufort St, Mt Lawley, T9328 7775. Dentists: Lifecare Dental, 419 Wellington St, T9221 2777. Daily 0800-0800. Medicare, T132011. For claims or to register visit city office in Wesley Arcade (upstairs) off William or Hay St. Hospitals: Royal Perth, Wellington St, City, T9224 2244. Sir Charles Gairdner, Hospital Av, Nedlands, T9346 3333. Medical centres: Perth Medical Centre, 713 Hay St, T9481 4342, bulk bills. Mon-Thu 0800-1800, Fri 0800-1700, Sat 0900-1500.

Police

1 Hay St, East Perth, T9222 1432.

Post

Forrest Pl, Mon-Fri 0800-1730, Sat 0900-1230, Sun 1200-1600. Poste Restante: (take photo ID to collect mail) Mon-Fri 0800-1700.

Perth has just one major festival and lacks major sporting events due to its isolation and small population. Most events are held during spring and summer.

Jan: Hopman Cup, http://www.hopmancup.com. A tennis championship held at Burswood Dome running for a week. International teams of 1 man and woman from each country, compete against each other. Attracts some big tennis names but there are fears Perth may lose the event to another state in the next few years.

26 Jan: Skyworks. Held every Australia Day, this is a fireworks show set to music broadcast on a local radio station. It is Perth’s most popular event, attracting 400,000 people who picnic in Kings Park and along the Swan River foreshore to watch the fireworks. Get a position many hours before the show starts.

Feb: Rottnest Channel Swim, http://www.rottnestchannelswim.com.au. About 1200 people race from Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest (20 km). It’s all over pretty quickly but fun to watch the start and finish.

Feb-Mar: Perth International Arts Festival. The main event of the year, including hundreds of events all over the city. This includes the best local and international theatre, opera, dance, visual arts and music. The cultural centre acts as a focus point, alive with activity from 1730-0300. A film festival is also part of the programme, held outdoors from Dec-Apr at the Somerville at UWA and Joondalup Pines at Edith Cowan University. Programs are widely available from Dec, all festival tickets from BOCS or the festival website. For more info T6488 2000, http://www.perthfestival.com.au.

Early Aug: Avon Descent, http://www.avondescent.com.au. A 133-km white water competition on the Avon River from Northam to Perth. It’s always an exciting event, involving some portage, but gets hairy when water levels are low and kayaks or rafts get stuck on rocks.

Sep: Kings Park Wildflower Festival. A huge indoor and outdoor display of native plants and flowers. This is a good way to see the state’s incredible variety of wildflowers if you’re not able to get to the wildflower country (mid-west region) during the Sep-Oct wildflower season. Held for about one month. Information can be found at http://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au.

Oct: Pride Festival. A celebration of gay and lesbian arts, culture and entertainment. Ends with a fantastic parade through the streets of Northbridge and a dance party. For more info T9427 0828, http://www.pridewa.asn.au.

Nov-Dec: Artrage Festival, T9227 6288, http://www.artrage.com.au. Bi-annual alternative arts festival including theatre, dance, music, street performers, comedy and visual arts. Perth and Fremantle.

Perth Airport, http://www.perthairport.net.au, a little over 10 km east of the city centre, has two terminals – domestic and international. With no direct link between the two, transfers are via the perimeter highways (shuttle $8, transfer vouchers for passengers flying with Qantas or OneWorld available at Qantas ticketing counter, T9365 9777). The domestic terminal, Brearley Avenue, has a wide range of services including ATMs, Travelex foreign exchange, luggage lockers, cafés and all the major car hire firms. Transport to Perth is via taxi (around $26), the Airport Shuttle minibus, T9277 7958, which meets all flights ($15 one way, $25 return, you’ll need to phone and book to get out to the airport), or the Transperth bus No 37 (bus stop opposite Qantas terminal, $3, 35 minutes) to the City Busport. Buses leave at least every 30 minutes (hourly after 1900) Monday-Friday 0530-2300; every 30-60 minutes on Saturday from 0700-2300; and hourly on Sunday from 0900-1900. The international terminal, Horrie Miller Drive, is slightly further out. Facilities are just as comprehensive, the Thomas Cook foreign exchange counters remaining open before and after all flights. There is, however, no public bus route from this terminal, so it’s either the shuttle ($20 one way, $30 return, details as above) or a taxi (about $30-35). There are also shuttles to Fremantle, T9335 1614, and Scarborough, T9307 4382.

Transport

Air

Skywest operates flights daily to Albany, Broome, Carnarvon (Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun), Esperance (Sun-Fri), Exmouth (Sun-Fri), Geraldton, Kalgoorlie (Sun-Fri), and Port Hedland (Wed-Sat). Qantas provides daily direct flights to Broome, Kalgoorlie, Karratha and Port Hedland. It also has daily flights to most state capitals (except Hobart) and Alice Springs. Virgin Blue flies daily to Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.

Airlines

Air New Zealand, 178 St George’s Terr, T9442 6077. British Airways, 77 St Georges Terr, T9425 5333. Garuda Indonesia, 40 The Esplanade, T9321 8796. Malaysia Airlines, 56 William St, T9263 7007. Qantas, 55 William St, T131313. Royal Brunei, 216 St George’s Terr, T9321 8757 or 131223. Singapore Airlines, 178 St George’s Terr, T9479 8166 or 131011 Skywest, Perth Domestic Airport and 146 Colin St, T9478 9999 or 131300. South African Airways, Perth International Airport, T9477 1314. Virgin Blue, T136789.

Bicycle

Perth is ideal for cycling. Pick up detailed maps of cycle routes, Bikewest Perth Bike Map Series ($6) is good.

Cycle Centre, 282 Hay St, near Perth Mint, T9325 1176, sells new and second-hand bikes from about $100 and offers visitors a buy-back scheme. Mon-Fri 0900-1730, Fri 0930-1900, Sat 1000-1600.

Bike hire costs around $33 a day.

About Bike Hire, T9221 2665, www.about bikehire.com.au, Causeway car park, corner Plain St and Riverside Drive, East Perth. Open daily 0900-1700 and 0900-1800 during daylight saving.

Bike Force, 365 Rokeby Rd, Subiaco, T9382 1663, http://www.bikeforce.com.au, Mon-Wed, Fri 0900-1800, Thu 0900-2000, Sat 0830-1700, Sun 1100-1600, other branches in South Perth, Midland and Fremantle.

Bus

Local

The free city centre buses, CATs, T136213 take 3 circuits. Blue Cat travels around Northbridge, through city centre, and around Riverside Drive and Mounts Bay Road. Buses every 8 mins Mon-Fri from 0650-1820, and every 15 mins on Fri from 1820-0105, Sat 0830-0100, and Sun 1000-1700. Red Cat heads to East Perth just short of the WACA, and to West Perth as far as Outram St. The service runs much of the length of Hay St in a westerly direction, and Murray St the other way. Buses every 5 mins Mon-Fri from 0650-1820, and every 45 mins Sat-Sun from 1000-1815. The Yellow Cat operates in a loop from East Perth to West Perth, from Claisebrook train station along Wellington St to the Princess Margaret Hospital. Buses every 10 mins Mon-Fri from 0650-1820, and every 30 mins Sat-Sun from 1000-1810. All three services run within 200 m of the Wellington St Station, the Blue Cat stops at both the City Busport and Barrack Square (for the Barrack St Jetty). No CAT services on public holidays. Selected bus services from Wellington St Bus Station: Airport (domestic terminal), 37; Fremantle (Queen St and/or Railway Station) via East Perth, 103, 106, 160; Kalamunda, 283, 296, 299; Kings Park Rd, Nedlands, Claremont, 102, 103.

Long distance

The majority of services are run by the state-owned company TransWA, Perth Business Centre and main stations, T1300 662205, http://www.transwa.wa.gov.au, whose routes extend right around the southwest, east as far as Norseman, and north as far as Kalbarri and Meekatharra. There are a handful of other operators that may prove more convenient. South West Coachlines, 3 Mounts Bay Rd, T9324 2333, http://www.southwestcoachlines.com.au, has a couple of southern routes, including one terminating at Dunsborough, and another to Manjimup. Integrity, 554 Wellington St, T1800 226339 and T9226 1339, http://www.integritycoachlines.com.au, runs a route up the Great Northern Highway via Meekatharra and Newman to Port Hedland (departing Perth Thu 2100, arriving in Port Hedland Fri 1900). Given the sparsity of land transport in some parts of the state, McCaffertys/Greyhound, 554 Wellington St, T1300 473 946 and T9481 7066, http://www.greyhound.com.au, usually considered an interstate operator only, provides a few further, very useful options. Their main northbound service leaves Perth (Wellington St bus station) at 0930, travels up the Great Northern Highway through Geraldton, stops at Carnarvon and Port Hedland on the way up to Broome. This continues on via Kununurra and Katherine to Darwin (60 hrs). A separate service heads up to Exmouth on Thu, Fri and Sat at 0930, calling at all the major coastal towns from Cervantes northward.

Selected services

TransWA routes from Perth Railway Station or East Perth Terminal:

Albany via Mt Barker, daily, GS1, GS2; Albany via Timber towns, daily, GS3; Bunbury, Cape-to-Cape towns, Sun-Fri, SW1; Geraldton via Dongara, Sun-Fri, N1; Geraldton via Kalbarri, Sun-Fri, N1; Northam, York, Sun-Wed, Fri, GS2; Pemberton via Cape-to-Cape towns, Sun-Thu, SW1; Pemberton via Bunbury, Mon, Wed, Sun, SW2.

Car

Perth is a fairly easy place to get around by car and there are no special restrictions or toll fees. The freeways are the arterial routes and entry and exit points are marked by large green signs. Kwinana Freeway services the southern suburbs, the Mitchell Freeway services the northern suburbs. The Graham Farmer Freeway is a short stretch just north of the city centre that connects the Mitchell Freeway to the Great Eastern Highway (and airports). The speed limit in built-up areas is 50 kph, unless signposted otherwise.

Car hire

Bayswater, 160 Adelaide Terr or 381 Guildford Rd, Bayswater, T9325 1000 or T9221 1122, www.bayswatercarrental. com.au, is one of the best value of many operators in the city, though they do not have a depot at either airport terminal.

Car parking

Council car parks in Roe St, behind train station. Restricted meters in the city centre, several car parks off Riverside Drive and better value ones by the WACA.

Car servicing

Ultra Tune, 25 Newcastle St, Northbridge, T9227 5356, http://www.ultratune.com.au (many other branches around the city).

Ferry

Transperth operates ferries from Barrack Street Jetty over to South Perth. Those to Mends St are the best for the zoo and main restaurants. Take the Coode St ferry for the Boatshed and for surfcat hire. The former leave every 20-30 mins daily from 0750-1915, and also to 2115 on Sat-Sun in Sep-Apr. Last return ferry is at 1930 (2130 Fri-Sat during Sep-Apr). Coode St ferries depart a few times a day Mon-Fri from 0705-1805, and Sat-Sun at 1230, 1530. No returns on weekends, last return Mon-Fri 1820.

Taxi

There are dozens of taxi ranks around the city. A few are: outside Perth Station on Wellington St, southwest corner of junction of Adelaide Terr and Hill St, opposite the Melbourne on south side of Hay St. Also Black & White, T131008, www.blackand whitetaxis.com.au. Swan, T131330, http://www.swantaxis.com.au.

Train

Local

There are 5 suburban lines radiating like spokes from Perth station. All run regular services from early morning to past midnight. To the north the Joondalup line stops at Leederville and Stirling (change for Scarborough Beach) on the way, while the Fremantle line calls at Subiaco, Claremont and Cottesloe (with a 15-min walk to the beach). The Midland line has stops at East Perth (for TransWA services) and Guildford (the Swan Valley), and trains to Armadale call at Burswood. The Mandurah line runs via Murdoch, Cockburn and Rockingham. Fares are as per the bus services.

Long distance

TransWA, Perth Business Centre and main stations, T1300 662205 or 9326 2600, http://www.transwa.wa.gov.au, most useful rail services are the Prospector line to Toodyay, Northam and Kalgoorlie, the Australind line to Bunbury and the AvonLink to Avon Valley. The Indian Pacific, T132147, http://www.gsr.com.au, heads out to Adelaide (43 hrs) and Sydney (70 hrs) at 1155 every Wed and Sun.

The core of the city lines the banks of the Swan River from its mouth at Fremantle to the central business district (CBD), 19 km upstream, just north of an open basin known as Perth Water. Perth is contained by the coastline to the west and the low ‘Perth hills’ of the Darling Ranges to the east, a corridor about 40 km wide. However, sprawl to the north and south is unlimited and in the last 10 years the city has expanded quickly along the sand dunes of the north coast to Joondalup and to the south almost as far as Rockingham. The northern suburbs, which are serviced by the freeway and the Joondalup train line, are a sea of new brick bungalows and modern shopping malls.

The oldest suburbs are those close to the river, particularly on the northern side such as Dalkeith and Peppermint Grove, and these have always been the most wealthy and desirable places to live. The beach suburbs close to the city centre such as Cottesloe and City Beach are also affluent. Inner-city suburbs like Subiaco, Leederville and North Perth have become increasingly gentrified and sought after for their location and attractive old architecture.

The city centre is a small grid, just north of the river, of about 2 km by 1 km. The river is bordered by a strip of green lawn throughout the entire city area, and there is a walking trail alongside the river on both north and south banks. However, although the central business district faces the river, it is cut off from it by busy roads and freeways – so the foreshore is not quite the asset it could be. South Perth is an attractive area with a wide grassy foreshore heavily used by joggers and picnickers. This is a fashionable suburb with many apartment blocks, making the most of views of the city skyline. Further south lies a large area of well-established middle-class suburbs around the Canning River and inland from Fremantle.