Perth, home to 2 million people and the birthplace of quokka soccer

EVERY city has it quirks, and its inhabitants display telltale signs. Here are 25 that say you’re from Perth.

Suburb Snapshot

PERTH, capital city of Western Australia, and the place where characters from Home and Away and Neighbours were sent to live if they didn’t die.

For decades it was regarded as the ‘big country town’ but is now home to 2.02 million people, and according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is the fastest-growing capital in the nation.

While this influx of new blood has helped to cosmopolitanise (I just made that word up) the wild west’s capital, there are just some things that scream you’re from Perth.

Here are 25 that I (and a couple of my mates) think are typically Perth.

(NB: I am from Perth).

1) You know who Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr are. The broadcasting duo have co-hosted Channel Seven news in Perth for a staggering three decades.

Rick Ardon and Susannah Carr. The pair have hosted Channel 7 news for 30 years. Pic Tom Rovis-Hermann

2) When someone mentions Sandgroper, you know what they are talking about.

3) If you’re not from WA then you’re from “over east”.

4) You never heard of a schooner until you visited “over east”. Beer comes two ways; in a pint or a middie.

5) You buy a coffee and are surprised when you get change from $5.

6) You are obsessed with shark attacks. WA is the shark attack capital of the world after all.

7) Holidays = Bali. It’s a 3.5 hour flight away.

Bali, the holiday destination for West Aussies. Pic: Thinkstock

8) When someone mentions they are waiting for the Fremantle Doctor, you know they don’t need medical attention. (For those that don’t know, it’s the seabreeze from the Indian Ocean that sweeps over Fremantle first. It’s called the Fremantle Doctor because in WA’s blistering summer, it’s a relief when it arrives).

9) (a) School camps were spent at Rottnest Island.

(b) You know about quokka soccer — and agree that it’s evil.

How could anyone play quokka soccer. Sadly, they have. Picture: gwiltypleasure/Instagram

10) You have been to Adventure World.

11) Everything is 30 minutes away (even if it’s not).

12) You always complain about traffic jams on the Kwinana/Mitchell Freeway.

13) Summer is when it finally hits 34+ degrees.

14) Summer also means this....(see below).

Perth enjoys sunsets like these almost every day of the year.

15) You refer to the Margaret River region as “down south” or “douth”.

16) You refer to everywhere north of Perth as “up north”.

17) You know what the WACA is.

The WACA.

18) You know the America’s Cup (and Alan Bond) put Freo on the map.

19) You know what a water desalinisation plant is.

20) The acronyms FIFO (fly-in fly-out) and CUB (cashed up bogan) are part of your vocabulary.

21) When you are overseas or interstate and you meet someone else from WA, you immediately ask them if they are an Eagles or a Dockers fan.

22) Even if you’re not an AC/DC fan, you know that Bon Scott is buried at Fremantle Cemetery.

Bon Scott, buried at Fremantle Cemetery. Pic: Michael Putland/Getty Images)

23) You know what a Sunday Session is, and understand that it really only took place at the Cott or the OBH.

24) You are either from north of the river or south of the river.

25) You think WA has the best beaches (well, it does).

Cottesloe Beach, Perth-ection.