Puuurrrfff (Thoughts about living in Perth)

The highly annoying Australian Little Crow

Having only lived in Perth for a couple of months, I can't claim to be an absolute expert on the area. Nevertheless here are some factoids and observations about Perth.

Perth:

* It's dry and hot, has population of 1.6 million and is the most isolated and sunniest capital city in the world. Located in Western Australia, Australia's richest state.

*It has heaps of Universities. Auckland, which is is a similar size (1.4 million), has two Universities. Perth has five.

*A very rich place, wealth is evident everywhere. The average house size is enormous.

*Perth has the highest concentration of self-made millionaires in the world.

*Fucking swearing.. I don't think this is particular to Perth but I have encountered a lot of f-bombs here. A manager at one of my jobs said the following, nearly verbatim:"I can't fuckin go selling this fuckin baby food to the fuckin babies cause the fuckin mothers will be going: 'You've fuckin poisoned my fuckin babies!'" This is at the extreme end of the scale but in general I think ozzies curse more than other cultures.

*Many British, South African and Asian Immigrants have chosen Perth as their home.

*Most of the city is near Swan River and it has some beautiful scenery. Also a lot of nice beaches.

*The preferred sport of the state in Aussie Rules (which I still don't get). Rugby and league play second fiddle but cricket is popular too.

*It's safe, peaceful and clean but a tad light on things to do.

*The club and restaurant scene seem good but not a whole lot of stuff to lure tourists here(in my view).

*When it's hot - it's stinking hot. Sometimes it's 20 degrees in the middle of the night. I have to drink a lot more water than I do in my hometown. 

*Flies - They drive me to the verge of insanity sometimes. They land on your face or in your ears forcing you to do an obligatory hand wave to get rid of them, but it's only a momentary reprieve before they land again.. Not many people walk the footpaths, except in the city.

*Crows - In movies, they are used as a foreboding symbol of peril. The "little crow" variety has an evil look about them but they don't make a "cawww" noise. It's more like a frog vomiting, if I had to imagine what it would sound like.

*Most people I've met here have been friendly.

*Freemantle - Gorgeous place, very artsy. Nice beaches and markets and a vibrant music scene. Only takes about 25 minutes to drive to from the central city

*Very few places accept eftpos for transactions under 10 dollars, which means you have to find an ATM for your bank before you can buy stuff.

*A lot of shops and banks close at 4pm on weekdays! Many shops are closed on Sunday.

*All police carry tasers, better than guns but kind of imposing.

*Food is much more expensive than in NZ, so is alcohol. Petrol is cheaper.

*Western Australia has no Warrant of Fitness scheme for cars meaning there are a few scrap heaps on the road that wouldn't be road legal in other countries.

*Perth is sprawling - it takes a while to get from one place to another.

*Has patches of greenery but not particularly lush. Average rainfall per year in Perth is low about 400 mm.

*Mining is the big thing in this state. It's one of the reasons the Australian economy continues to perform strongly while economies around the world crumble.  Many students at Perth Uni's do degrees in engineering or qualifications that are in some way related to the mining and oil/gas industries.

*Perth is the only Australian state to have a Liberal Government. The rest are Labor.

*There are no daylights savings here (they trialled it for three years, took a vote and decided not to have it). As such it gets sunny at about five in the morning and dark in the early evening.

*You can become obscenely wealthy if you get a job in the mining industry but it's difficult to crack into. A lot of people do fly in/fly out missions where they'll work solidly in a remote area for a week of 12 or more hour days, then fly home for a week.

*Wages are generally much higher in Australia than NZ. Minimum wage is about $18 an hour AUD but nearly everyone gets more than that. Tax rate is also lower than NZ.

*The Perth accent isn't as strong as other parts of Australia, especially when compared to Brisbane.

Hope these thoughts were interesting to you. Comments and questions welcome