Perth

Australia's fourth largest city is situated way over on the west coast, a long way from any of the other major cities. Perth gets its name from Perthshire in Scotland, after a British naval captain dedicated the new settlement to the birthplace of the Secretary of State for the Colonies at that time. Queen Victoria gave it city status back in 1856 and it remains to this day one of Australia's most beautiful.

The city grew and prospered as it was the nearest major city for many of the natural resources industries, such as gold, nickel, alumina, diamonds, coal and gas, and still today the majority of the world's most important mining and engineering companies have offices here.

That's not to say it's a typical, grey industrial town. Far from it. Perth is a beautiful city on the Swan River, which flows into the Indian Ocean. This river is characterised by the black swans which live on it and which give their name to the locally brewed beer. Specially built paths along its banks mean that you can walk, skate or ride next to this wonderful waterway. For those who'd rather spend time on it rather than next to it you can sail, canoe and windsurf , paying attention not to get caught up in the numerous fishermen's lines. 1.3 million people call Perth home, and a good part of them enjoy the city's many green areas - 140 hectares in total. One of the best is Kings Park with wonderful views of the city.

Visitors to the city like to visit the Perth Mint, a mint being a place where money is made, literally. The locally mined gold is made into coins, bars and jewellery and I'm sure that at least some of the 120,000 visitors per year leave with something gold from the souvenir shop. Another popular tourist attraction is the Town Hall, the only one in the country to have been built by convicts (remember that Australia was originally a penal colony). A more recent addition to the tourist trade is the Science centre which includes a planetarium - well worth a visit.

If you rent a car, or indeed use the excellent public transport system, you can head a little out of the centre to find some really nice areas. Freemantle is a little port with a relaxed, old fashioned atmosphere and was host to the America's Cup sailing competition some years ago. Or you can go to Hillarys Boat Harbour where you'll find nice beaches, a water park and best of all an aquarium where you can stand face to face with sharks! If you have time a trip to Perth Zoo is also worthwhile. It's been open since 1898 and is an interesting and very well looked after attraction.

Just a final word of advice if you do find yourself here. Don't wait too late to have your dinner. Perth is quite well known in Australia as being a city which goes to bed pretty early. That's not to say that everything is shuts when the sun goes down, but you'll be hard pushed to find a restaurant open after 10.00 in the evening. There are also relatively few bars and clubs considering the city is the fourth largest in Australia. But hey, at least you can get up early and take a stroll along the Swan - there are worse ways to start the day!