Cyclone Bianca is the culprit, and while it’s quite common during the summer season (that’s now, here!) for cyclones to hit the north-west of Western Australia, just occasionally these cyclones kind of lose their way and come all the way down south to Perth. Over the weekend the news was full of warnings for Perth residents (and other areas up and down the coast), getting me and many others into our backyards to tie down and tidy up anything that could blow around.

But in Perth, all the warnings were the most exciting part. We had a little rain and it’s been grey and humid, but otherwise, no cyclone. This is a relief of course, as some country areas were very badly hit and a couple of people were killed in cyclone-related accidents.

Thanks to feli for this picture of Cyclone-Bianca-induced rain in Perth this weekend!

Go Perth! My lovely hometown is creeping up the rankings of the most popular tourist destinations in Australia and is now almost in the Top 5, according to a recent Wotif survey. Moving up from seventh place in 2009 to sixth place in 2010, Perth is clearly becoming a more popular destination as more tourists realise there is so much to see and do here. Given our slight disadvantage of distance and isolation, I think it’s incredible to be the sixth most popular destination in the whole country – I’m proud of you, Perth!

If you’re a bookworm kind of traveller who can think of nothing nicer than spending time browsing some great local bookstores while you’re on vacation, then Perth has just done you a favour by opening two great new independent bookstores. They’re both located in trendy cafe strips full of other interesting shops so you can combine a shopping and coffee afternoon with a good long bookshop browse.

The first is Beaufort Street Books in the Mount Lawley neighborhood, a gorgeous shop that just opened a few months back. They have plenty of good fiction, a great children’s section and are particularly keen on foodie books so if you’re interested in cooking it’s a great spot – they also have cookbooks from local restaurants which would make good souvenirs.

The other very new one, still counting its age in weeks, is Crow Books in East Victoria Park, very easy to get to from the city. It looks trendy (and is!) and includes comics and posters and stuff you might expect from a locally trendy spot.

Poor Oprah really missed out by not coming over this side of the country – I’m sure you won’t think I’m biased when I say it’s the best bit! – but at least you can take a look at what her guests saw on her special Oprah Perth and Beyond page. You’ll see they checked out places like the Swan Bells, Fraser’s Restaurant in Kings Park and Cottesloe Beach, obviously having a great time.

Flowers in Kings Park courtesy of Not A Ballerina

One of my all-time favourite places to visit while in Perth is Rottnest Island, and with our national day, Australia Day, coming up next week on January 26th, there’s an even better reason to go. To celebrate Australia Day, the newly-renovated Hotel Rottnest (previously known as the Quokka Arms) is hosting a great concert featuring bands You Am I and the Novocaines, kicking off at 3pm. That’s certainly to me a pretty Aussie way to celebrate Australia Day – relaxing to some Aussie rock at “Rotto”. If you’re lucky enough to be able to head over to Rottnest that day check out the concert details here.

Our local paper featured a lovely story about the hotel’s long term butler recently – including his reminiscences about the day Elton John came to stay. As the Sheraton and no doubt from now on as the Pan Pacific, this hotel has seen a lot of what’s going on in Perth.

(Thanks to askpang for the pic of the hotel lobby)

I love the Perth Zoo, and this morning I read about a major plan to make it even better. The Perth Zoo as it stands is located quite close to the centre of the city, in South Perth, just across the river from the main downtown area of Perth (a lovely ferry ride away, in fact). They’re talking expansion, but as you’d guess, there’s not much room left to expand right there.

Instead, the Perth Zoo has a long-term plan to have a second site which would be an open-range park style zoo, with areas for both Australian and African animals. It sounds like it’ll be a little bit safari-style but with large viewing areas rather than a drive-through track, and is likely to be between 200 and 400 hectares in size. Just where they’re going to fit that in within Perth isn’t clear – apparently they have several ideas, but they’re not telling yet!

The only downside is you don’t need to hurry to Perth if you want to catch our open-range zoo. Its likely opening date is around 2024, so that gives you plenty of time to save up the airfare, wherever you are in the world!

If you’re lucky enough to be on holiday here in Perth at the moment, then you’re probably noticing that our summer is really hot – but thankfully the next week is meant to be a bit of a “cool” relief. That means temperatures will be closer to 30 C than 40 C, and I for one am grateful for that.

In any case, it’s just another reminder that Perth is one of the sunniest cities in the world and as I’ve mentioned before, you’ll need your sunscreen and hat at pretty much any time of year here. Which in my opinion makes it a pretty great holiday destination – hope you’re planning a trip for 2011!

[Thanks to Michael Spencer for the picture]

As I’ve mentioned before, Christmas in Perth is a lot warmer than the typical snowy Christmas described in the songs. Fortunately that doesn’t make it any less fun – it’s just different. The council in the City of Perth – the central area of the city – are very proactive in making Christmas come alive and here’s a sample of some of their events this year:

• Roving Carollers – right up until Christmas Eve you can find groups of carol singers wandering the central shopping areas of Perth
• City of Perth Christmas lights – over 100,000 lights and decorations will remain up until 6 January
• Roving Santa – along with his helpers, you’ll find him wandering the city centre giving out presents
• Christmas Nativity – on the evenings of the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of December, this performance in Forrest Place will tell the traditional story of Christmas

Santa pic courtesy of Matti Mattila

It’s heating up here in Perth and I keep seeing messages on Facebook about local friends of mine who are heading over to Rottnest Island. I’ve mentioned “Rotto” often enough before but it really can’t be mentioned often enough: this is by far one of Perth’s most perfect attractions.

I shot this photo on one of my many trips over to Rottnest, and I think it sums up the kind of fun you can have at Rotto over the summer period. Families galore, bicycles everywhere, and everybody is enjoying themselves. It’s such a relaxing place for any time of year but it certainly sparkles in summer. A must-add to your list for things to do in Perth.