Perth

• New Here? No Worries Mate - Beginners Guide
• Daydreamer Believer - Daydream Island, Great Barrier Reef
• Wonders of Wilderness Island - Fraser Island, Great Barrier Reef
• The Lizard of Oz - Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef
• 700-mile hop on Kangeroo Highway - Melbourne to Sydney
• Bush Tucker... without the trial - Outback
• Primeval Pamering - Queensland
• Sydney is Supreme - Sydney
• It's simply the best, Mate! - Sydney
• Continent Please Carol - Top End
• Whirlybird Wine Tours - Victoria
• Home from home for me Down Under - Sydney
• I can’t get enough of Melbourne! - Melbourne
• Blazing a nature trail - Great Barrier Reef
• Follow our new Aussie rules - Australia
• Heaven on Perth - Perth

PERTH IS A LOVELY, relaxed city with a stunning waterfront and a yearround Mediterranean style climate. Which is probably why so many Brits (15 per cent of the population) live there.

And while it may lack the major attractions of Sydney, it is not without its hot spots. The Mount Lawley and stylish Subiaco districts have plenty of lively bars and restaurants. However, Perth’s major charm lies around the Swan River, which twists its way through the city past manicured lawns, skyscrapers and million-pound apartments.

Perth, in Western Australia, isn’t cheap – you pay at least UK prices for most things – but there are good deals to be had. There is a free inner-city bus service. And a delightful £6-a-head hour-long bike ride we took along the side of the Swan, admiring the views and the black swans which gave the river its name.

You could call in on the way at the Lucky Shag, a riverside bar which is the favourite haunt of England's boisterous travelling hordes of cricket fans, the Barmy Army, when they are in Perth.

After dropping off the bikes, take a £20-a-head hop-on, hop-off bus and tram ride around the city. It lasts two hours, your ticket is valid for two days, and they employ incredibly well informed drivers such as our man Ron, who can tell you anything you want to know about the historic sites such as the Old Mint and the magnificent Kings Park.

The vast King's Park is a botanical must

This is a must, a vast botanical, memorial, and recreational area above the city which is full of attractions such as the open-air cinema where we spent a delightful evening lounging on a bean bag with a picnic and a bottle of wine. Mosmans, a restaurant on a pier on the river, is in an even more idyllic setting.

It is owned by Brent Pollard, a former Burnley businessman who, with his wife Fiona and four children, emigrated a couple of years ago.

A friend and I shared a seafood platter that could have fed four, while Mrs S drooled over her succulent Red Emperor fish. All was accompanied by an excellent and reasonably-priced local sauvignon.

Less than half an hour's drive south from Perth, lies the old port of Fremantle, which is rich in maritime history and beautifully preserved from its colonial past. We stayed at the Esplanade Hotel, built on a site where convicts were first housed.

Its magnificent Victorian exterior is at the heart of the action, being just around the corner from what the locals call Cappuccino Street - the hub of the town's nightlife. Street entertainers, bands, and show-offs cruising up and down in highly polished custom cars join locals and tourists in its thriving bars and restaurants.

Mile upon mile of unspoilt beaches

And lying between Perth and Fremantle lie four gorgeous beaches, of which Cottesloe is my favourite. Temperatures here can hit the mid thirties centigrade, but the ‘Fremantle Doctor’ – a gentle breeze - means that you never feel uncomfortably hot.

But even better beaches can be found on Rottnest island, or ‘Rotto’, a half-hour ferry ride out of Fremantle. Cars or motorbikes aren’t allowed on the island so you walk, hire bicycles, or take the local bus to visit its various bays.

You can stay on Rotto and we wish we had, at least for a night or two, if only to see more of the quokka - a cute little creature indigenous to the island that looks like a cross between a rat and a kangaroo.That, incidentally, is how the island got its name.

The Dutch who discovered the place thought the quokka was a rat and called the place Rats Nest. Three hours’ drive to the south of Perth lies the Margaret River wine region, an area of rolling green hills, thick forests and rugged coastline.

There are 200 vineyards, most of which are open to the public, offering free tastings. Many go to the region just for those, plus long lunches in the picturesque restaurants. It is also a Mecca for surfers, with mile upon mile of unspoilt and almost totally deserted beaches.

Our favourite was Gnarabup, just outside the town of Margaret River itself. There are also caves to visit, such as Ngilgi near Yalling up - one of 350 in the area - which are well worth a look.

But for us, the best value in the region was, rather surprisingly, a trip to Steve Butterly's sheep shearing shed, also at Yallingup.

There are 100-million sheep in Australia and Steve has 4,000 of them. And for just over a fiver a head (children are half-price) he lays on a hugely informative and highly amusing one-hour display of shearing. We stayed nearby at Cape Lodge, a boutique hotel that sits in its own vineyard and 40 acres of gardens and forest. The rooms are beautiful and the food is first-class.

If you want somewhere posh and you are prepared to pay premium prices you are unlikely to be disappointed. Western Australia is bigger than the whole of Europe, yet has a population of just two million. Of those, 1.5 million live in or around Perth.

So it was perhaps hardly surprising that when we flew 800 miles north, to the Outback town of Exmouth, we found, well, not a lot - apart from a few emus and kangaroos wandering up and All right, it was out of season and a time when temperatures can reach 40° centigrade.

Marine life is within easy distance of the shore

But all year people travel through the local airport to work in the booming mining industry to the north and the east. Some chill out – if that is possible in temperatures like that – where we stayed at the Novotel, which has well appointed, spacious apartments, friendly staff, and a good restaurant.

A 45-minute drive from Exmouth, there is the much acclaimed reef at Ningaloo which boasts 250 types of coral, 500 kinds of fish, and – between July and November – humpback whales. down the main street.

Much of the marine life is within easy distance of the shore in water only 6ft to 12ft deep. But be warned - the currents can be very strong. Further out to sea, between April and July, the world's biggest fish, whale sharks, congregate. And three of our group swear blind that they saw either a reef or leopard shark close to the beach.

Locals assured us these creatures, like the whale shark, are highly unlikely to attack – unless they are provoked or extremely hungry. Fortunately, this one wasn’t. Reassuring, yes. Dull? Hardly.