Week 574 · Perth, Western Australia
Settling into
After a long layover in Melbourne for the Australian Open, we finally arrived in Perth in late January. Perth is booming as it is the centre of mining in Australia and the growth in lithium and other rare earth minerals — and has a housing shortage.
We struggled to find temporary accommodation with very few AirBNBs available and couldn't even get real estate agents to return phone calls. After a couple of weeks, we found a place in a solid but not perfect car-free location — 15-minute walk to everything we need but nothing closer. The place is on a great street and near a great park and about a 20-minute Uber from several world-class beaches. We were a little surprised when we checked in on a 110-degree day and the host said "don't worry about the air conditioning, you have the Fremantle Doctor" — the daily breeze coming from the sea. But it was pretty accurate and the breeze, a window air conditioner, and a fan works. When I mentioned the story at work, the locals were like "the doctor goes away in March — you'll want AC."
If you compare Australian states to their US counterparts — Victoria is like California, Queensland is like Florida, and Western Australia is like Texas. WA wants to be independent, relies on natural resources, and "everything is bigger in WA." But Perth has a vibe more like San Diego or Orange County than anywhere in Texas. People in Melbourne and Sydney say the time zone is 3 hours and 25 years behind — but as we have explored the city, there are a lot of non-quiet areas, the main one being Northbridge.
We explored living walking distance from the beach but couldn't find the right balance of walking community, easy access to work, and apartment size. Most of the areas around the beach are in a park setting — there really isn't a beach town situation — and the adjacent neighbourhoods are large single-family homes. In addition to the beach, the Swan River winds through town and a lot of the nicer areas are along the river, including the most expensive houses in Perth, instead of on the beaches as you would expect. We arrived during the Perth Fringe — which had some edgy shows but we saw tributes to Elton John, Billy Joel, and the Beach Boys.
