Personal Impression about Perth CBD

I posted yesterday a picture from the London Court, which breathes a strong English air, but I said that it made me feel that Aussies are 
still looking for their identity. At least from architectural and urban points of view… To continue my thought, London Court is on the side of a regular shopping
 mall and a street with office high-rises of non-descript architecture. It is the trophy that sits on a dull pedestal. The surrounding areas of Perth CBD are new with some modern touches
 on St Georges Terrace, but except for the very British London Court,
 the rest of the city has a common urban flavor, with nothing standing 
out. Quite unfortunate, we stayed in a hotel in walking distance from
 the mall, right in the middle of the CBD, but it felt as out of place 
as the London Court, because the neighborhood consisted in more office 
buildings and small chain cafes that were mostly closed due to the 
holidays. About 15 minutes away from the Hay Street hotel was the nicer area of
 Northbridge, with the cultural district and a concentration of cafes, discos
 and restaurants. Another 15 minutes in the opposite direction 
from Northbridge were some gardens, the Perth Bell Tower and the jetties
 for the boats to Fremantle. We took a scenic ride on the
 Swan River (today’s picture) and admired private villas, the Swan Brewery and an infinite number of 
small boats and windsurfers. A good 15-minute drive from the hotel
 were the Kings Park and Botanic Gardens, about which I will write
 more tomorrow. I found a common feature of the major Aussie cities, 
including Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, which is
 their layout around big bodies of water. I guess this is actually 
their identity, which is not necessarily architectural, but 
"locational." And although this country is so dry, most major cities 
disguise this characteristic by being built around rich bodies of
 water.