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Perth, Australia: An International Traveler's Guide

A charmed isolation

BCD Corporate Travel presents to you the most isolated capital city on Earth:

Perth lies upon a similar latitude to Sydney but over 3,400 kilometers (2,110 miles) to the west – as far away as London is from Beirut.

The capital of the state of Western Australia, located in the southwest corner of the Australian continent, Perth sits on the banks of the Swan River, and is probably the most outdoorsy of all Aussie cities. The climate, Perth's brilliant setting along both the Swan River and the Indian Ocean, and the abundance of parkland mean that it's almost obligatory to get outside and enjoy the sun and fresh air. One of Perth's great advantages is that virtually the entire river and seafront is public land; everyone can stroll, cycle, or picnic along the waterfront – and they do.

With four universities, a modern, well-designed city center and a culturally diverse population, Perth manages to project a cosmopolitan atmosphere while at the same time being disarmingly friendly and laid-back. The city is home to 1.47 million people. Nearly 200,000 of them are emigrants from the U.K., but there is also a considerable number of New Zealanders, Italians, Malaysians, Indians and South Africans.

Commercially, Perth provides the distribution point for West Australia’s wheat industry, the growing wine industry and the state’s vast mining operations.

Go for a wander, if not a walkabout

Perth seems to have been designed with people in mind. Its attractive malls and elevated walkways make it pleasant to navigate on foot.

Kings Park & Botanic Garden
Covering 990 acres, the park, a true wilderness in the heart of the city, is crisscrossed by walking trails and bicycle paths (bikes are available for hire). Particularly popular is the Lotterywest Federation Walkway, which opened in 2003 and allows visitors to walk among the park's treetops while enjoying spectacular views of the city skyline and the park. The walkway extends 620m (678 yards) along a combination of on-ground pathways and a spectacular elevated 52m (170ft) glass and steel arched bridge suspended among a canopy of tall eucalypts.
Kings Park Road, West Perth
www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/kingspark
Free admission

Perth Zoo
Perth's small but popular and conveniently located zoo boasts an Australian Bushwalk (where visitors can observe native animals in their natural habitat), Rainforest Retreat and African Savannah among other interesting exhibits. Visitors should keep an eye out for the numbat, the marsupial that is the symbol of Western Australia. Daily keeper talks allow the public to get close to the animals.
20 Labouchere Road, South Perth
www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au
Admission charge

Art Gallery of Western Australia
Perth's major gallery has a permanent collection of Australian and international art and one of the finest collections of Aboriginal art in the world. The gallery is also the venue for major national and international touring exhibitions. Free guided tours are held every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday – bookings are required.
Perth Cultural Centre, James Street, Northbridge
www.artgallery.wa.gov.au
Free admission; charge for special exhibitions

His Majesty's Theatre
Arguably the most beautiful theatre in Australia, His Majesty's still stands in all its Edwardian glory, including ornate gilded foyers, a magnificent marble staircase and a domed, three-tiered auditorium. A venue for plays, opera, musicals and dance, the theatre is also home to the Museum of Performing Arts. Guided tours available. 
www.hismajestystheatre.com.au

Perth Mint
A well preserved remnant of the gold rush era, Perth's Mint, which is over 100 years old, offers an entertaining public tour. Visitors can see A$225,000 pure gold bars being poured and can also mint their own personalized medallions and witness the production of gold, silver and platinum coins.
www.perthmint.com.au

When the night has come

From Wednesday to Saturday, there is no shortage of night-time hotspots to visit in Perth. The larger dance clubs are concentrated in Northbridge, Subiaco and Fremantle and are friendlier epicenters for the over-30 crowd. Perth is home to a healthy indie rock scene and the 'craic' is good at several Irish pubs.

Some venues demand a smart standard of dress and some have a cover charge. Free entertainment weekly XPress (www.xpressmag.com.au) is the best resource when planning a night on the town, while Teknoscape (www.teknoscape.com.au) is a useful clubbing guide.

Lounge bars have taken off in Perth, with hip venues such as Base, corner of Lake and James Street. Must Winebar, 519 Beaufort Street, offers a cool atmosphere, a comprehensive wine list, slick cocktails and smooth grooves. Luxe Bar, 446 Beaufort Street, Mt Lawley, is a cool, happening and stylish contender for the title of best bar in Perth.

If you’re in the mood for a laugh, you’re in luck – Perth has nurtured some of Australia's finest comedians. The Brass Monkey pub, 209 William Street, Northbridge, boasts handcrafted beers, food, music – and comedy on Wednesday nights. The Lounge Bar at the Hyde Park Hotel, corner of Bulwer Street and Fitzgerald Street, features comedy on Thursday nights. Burswood Casino on Great Eastern Highway hosts international touring acts.

Souvenirs galore

Popular Perth souvenirs include dried wildflowers, Western Australian wine and sheepskin and crocodile leather products. Perth is an ideal place to obtain authentic Aboriginal art – the best commercial showcases are Indigenart, 115 Hay Street, Subiaco, and Creative Native, 32 King Street.

There is an abundance of markets. The Subiaco Pavilion Markets, 2 Rokeby Road, Subiaco, are open Thursday to Sunday, selling jewelry, pottery, giftware, clothes and art. Galleria Art & Craft Markets, Art Gallery and Museum Concourse, Perth are European-style markets, open Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00.

Feeling a bit peckish?

Given Perth’s geographic isolation, Visitors may be somewhat surprised by the wide range of sophisticated restaurants available to them.

Fraser's
The dining room looks past towering lemon-scented gums to Perth's panoply of skyscrapers and the Swan River – and the food lives up to the view. The menu changes daily to focus on fresh produce, with seafood and fish especially prominent. "Fraser's three taste" brings together beef, lobster, and salmon in a great starter, while crisp fried soft shell crabs married with turmeric and pumpkin curry comes as a starter or entrée.Ask for a seat on the terrace.
Fraser Ave. (near the Information Kiosk), Kings Park
08/9481 7100

Jackson’s
Understated contemporary design and ambience only help to emphasize the quality of the food here. Chef Neil Jackson has won a host of awards for his ability to bring out the best in local produce, with some quirky touches based partly on his English background. His degustation menu, called "the dego," offers nine courses, with suggested matching wines.
483 Beaufort St, Highgate
08/9328 1177

Annalakshmi
While the 360-degree views of the Swan River and the city might be romantic, Annalakshmi is actually a curry house run by volunteers. Paying by donation, assorted hippies and others line up for spicy potato-and-pumpkin curries and dahl.
Jetty 4, Barrack St, city center

Thanks for reading - we hope you find our travel tips useful!

If you would like to stay up to date with more of our travel guides, subscribe to the BCD Australia blog.

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Posted 28 days ago by Mark 

Charter for safe overseas travel

If you're an Aussie thinking about traveling overseas, you may or may not have noticed that there are new travel intiatives in place in order to prevent sticky situations overseas. The Australian government led initiative, known as Smart Traveler, is a comprehensive list of the do's and don't's of activies within certain cultural enclaves around the world. There is some seriously interesting stuff on the website which is updated regularly. Here are some of the Smart travel tips, as reciporocated on the BackChat Mobile website providing information for global roamers.

1. Check the latest travel advice for your destination and subscribe to receive free e-mail notification each time the travel advice for your destination is updated.
2. Take out appropriate travel insurance to cover hospital treatment, medical evacuation and any activities, including adventure sports, in which you plan to participate.
3. Before traveling overseas register your travel and contact details online or at the local Australian embassy, high commission or consulate once you arrive, so we can contact you in an emergency.
4. Obey the law. Consular assistance cannot override local laws, even where local laws appear harsh or unjust by Australian standards.
   Check to see if you require visas for the country or countries you are visiting or transiting. Be aware that a visa does not guarantee entry.
5. Make copies of your passport details, insurance policy, travellers cheques, visas and credit card numbers. Carry one copy in a separate place to the originals and leave a copy with someone at home.
6. Check with health professionals for information on recommended vaccinations or other precautions and find out about overseas laws on travelling with medicines.
7. Make sure your passport has at least six months validity and carry additional copies of your passport photo with you in case you need a replacement passport while overseas.
8. Leave a copy of your travel itinerary with someone at home and keep in regular contact with friends and relatives while overseas.
9. Before departing Australia check whether you are regarded as a national of the country you intend to visit. Research whether holding dual nationality has any implications for your travel.
10. And lastly, don’t forget to stay contactable on your mobile with a BackChat GlobalSIM

Source: http://smartraveller.gov.au/index.html

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Posted 2 months ago by Mark 

Social Media: Understanding the rules of engagement

Recently, I was asked to create a social media guidelines document for a reputable management college in Sydney. They've recently just embraced social media as a means of increasing a more interpersonal element to the interaction with their students, in coming to this realisation they also recognized the importance of adopting the latest technoology as well as harness the sheer power of the exponentially growing social media communications medium. I'm not going to show you the document, because it was uniquely generated for the College (and is yet to be published), but I thought I'd outline a couple of idiot-proof rules of engagement that should always be adhered to as a business interacting with customer through social media...

Things to remember when engaging:

1. be ethical
2. be honest
3. take leadership
4. don't promote or aggrandize
5. try to add value when posting
6. apply social etiquette

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If you're a backpacker looking to save money when traveling to australia, check out the Turtle Passport Discount Card. Sign up to receieve massive discounts on popular tourist attractions, restaurants and bars.

peace.

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Posted 2 months ago by Mark 

Sydney, Australia - Why Is It So Expensive?

According to Mercer Human Resource Consulting and a review published by the Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Australia ranks at a cool number 19 on the world's top 50 most expensive cities to live - and living here myself, I can totally see justification with regards to why Sydney is so expensive to live in....

Feel like a beer? No worries, whether it's a highly prestigious bar you go to or a quiet, run-down pub, you'll be paying on average around $6-$7 for a bottle of beer with a minimum of $4.50 for your average schooner. Fancy dining out for the night? No problem - just make sure you have a couple of 50 dollar notes with you and try to avoid tipping the waiter. When you live here however, you get used to it... That being, not getting value for your money... But if you're traveling to Sydney on the fiscal rations of a backpacker, you might want to be a little more conservative when it comes to the placement of your dollar in the hands of a product or service of little value, especially if you're coming from the likes of Wellington, New Zealand - not only will you be up against the poor exchange rate against the Aussie dollar, but you will also struggle to come to grips with the expenses of living in Sydney with your beloved Wellington ranking at number 105 on the expensive cities list.

So where does this leave you? You desperately want to bask in the sunshine and warmth of Sydney but can't quite seem to muster up the money to meet the demands of a financially vacuous holiday destination.

There is now a solution.

Turtle Passport discount cards offer huge discounts and savings on a myriad number of products and services Sydney-wide. Discounts range from 10-50% off and cover a diverse consortium of goods and services from popular entertainment venues, tourist attractions, bars, restaurants, accommodation, transport, hair and beauty, shopping... You name it, and it's there. Finally someone is offering a solution to get around the expensive costs of living in and exploring the city of Sydney, Australia. For a complete list of participating goods and services, check out the Turtle Passport website.

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Posted 2 months ago by Mark 

#FML - Global Roaming Travel Costs

This is a regular topic of interest for me, not only because I'm your run of the mill average mobile phone user who knows nothing about sim card technology, but also because so many people discuss this issue all over the internet. The whole concept of mobile roaming is actually more complex than it sounds on the surface, and one trend that I've picked up from my short time on this planet is that people love to buy into things because they appear to be easy on the surface. Now, if you're not wary of the costs of international mobile roaming, this is just a heads up that you should probably do some research before you get crucified by the ridiculous costs of international mobile calls - especially if you're intending to use iPhones or any other tech savvy internet-compatible phones for data roaming overseas.

Oh yeah, the subject line of this post... FML? Highly appropriate when I just got hit with a $500 mobile phone bill because I failed to look into this issue before my travels to America. For god's sake man, take it from me, buy a travel sim if you need to keep in touch with the motherland!!

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Posted 3 months ago by Mark 

London, London, London

I normally write these posts myself, but I think this article sums up London's best features:

"No visit to London would be complete without a pint or two of real ale. It's hard to go more than a hundred meters without stumbling across a pub, but two neighborhood favorites include Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (145 Fleet Street, Blackfriars tube) and the Charles Lamb (16 Elia Street, Angel tube). The first is haven of old dark wood, open fires and flagstones that's been around since just after the Great Fire of 1666; the second is tucked into a quiet street in Islington, a newly popular residential area just north of the financial district. Don't be surprised if pub dog Masha arrives at your table asking for a chin scratch.

Several ways to see the city

If you're on a corporate travel trip and your days are packed with meetings and conference calls, try an evening tour. London by Night offers nightly tours of the city starting at Victoria Rail Station and taking in Oxford Street, Trafalgar Square and St Paul's Cathedral. Open-top buses are used, weather permitting. See www.london-by-night.net for a list of pick-up points.

If you're a photo buff and have brought along your camera, London Photo Tours offers weekly walks focusing on views of Westminster Bridges, the London Eye and St Paul's Cathedral. The tour goes at a slow pace to allow time to compose well-considered photos. www.londonphototours.co.uk.

Fancy a bit of grub?

English gastronomy is enjoying an extraordinary renaissance, fuelled on the one hand by a renewed interest in seasonal, local ingredients and by an influx of exciting culinary influences from abroad. You'll be hard-pressed, for example, to find better Indian restaurants outside of Delhi and Mumbai (but stay away from the tourist traps on Brick Lane!). For many Brits, in fact, a good curry is a national staple! Classic English specialties include the "full English breakfast" or "fry-up" (with sausages, bacon, eggs, fried bread, baked beans and grilled tomatoes and mushrooms); smoked fish (from salmon to kippers); pies and Cornish pasties; and fish and chips. High tea, complete with scones and clotted cream, can still be enjoyed at many of London's top hotels; the Dorchester is a classic afternoon destination."

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Posted 6 months ago by Mark