Located on the banks of the Swan River Perth is the capital and largest city in the state of Western Australia. While it is quite a distance from Adelaide, Darwin, Melbourne and Sydney, the state government is undertaking a large scale public works project that will help ease the travel by rail and motorway to Perth.
Perth has became known as the City of Lights when the while city turned on all its lights in February 1962 when Friendship 7 passed over the city. This was repeated when the Space Shuttle passed overhead in 1998 also.
One of the best streets in the city is St George Terraces providing one of the largest office spaces available in the Central Business District. Many of the retail and entertainment facilities of the city are located on Hay and Murray Streets. Many of these developments have been fueled by the mining business.
The cost of living in Perth is similar to the other cities in Australia. There are many shops that offer Broome pearls, Argyle diamonds and Perth mint gold.
For the high end stores like Louis Vuitton and Gucci, King Street is the place to be. The north end of the street has many local boutiques that provide top notch goods at very reasonable prices. There are also many malls that provide household items from appliances to clothes for the everyday shopper. Shoppers can also take their pick from malls located in the suburbs. One of these many malls is Northbridge where clothing lines for hip clients are available off the rack.
Northbridge also has many restaurants that offer Continental, European as well as Asian cuisines. Aside from the formal places, there are many other stalls, stores as well as take away outlets for the many hungry diners. Another good place to dine and unwind is Fremantle where there are many seafood restaurants catering the finest of local Australian cuisine.
