Foreign visitors must get a little confused when they arrive in Australia and ask locals here about the destinations they’re considering visiting. What’s Sydney like, they might ask. Should I go to Brisbane? What do I need to know about Perth? And they will get a whole lot of answers from Australians that are absolutely untrue.
Because though I’m sure we all mean well, unless you’ve visited certain places in this country recently, you probably wouldn’t realise that some of the old cliches and stereotypes about our favourite cities just aren’t true any more. If you’re telling foreign visitors any of the following, you’re giving them the wrong information. Myth 1: Perth is the world’s most isolated capital city Perth: not as isolated as you think.
Credit: iStock This is a fact people love repeating, whether they’re from the east coast or the west. It feels correct, given the vastness of Australia, and the emptiness of the Nullarbor Plain. A decent boast.
But firstly, Perth is only a state capital, so what does this statement even mean? And secondly, if we’re doing states, what about Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii, where you have to fly five and a half hours over the Pacific Ocean to find the next major population base? (Perth to Adelaide, for reference, is three hours.) Those in, say, Reykjavik, on a tiny island on the edge of the Arctic Circle, might also feel more isolated than Perth. Myth 2: Sydney has Australia’s best weather Sydney in summer.
Credi.