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A little bit of late mail for you on a Thursday morning, but yesterday Condé Nast Traveller’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards ranked Perth as the sixth friendliest city in the world! While many of us commuting on the freeway between the hours of 6am and 9am on any given weekday may disagree, we’ll take the plaudits nonetheless.
In other news, expect to see a few more drones hovering above our beaches over summer, a few of those beaches are back open now that bacterial contamination from the whale carcass has cleared, and there’s a heap of food news to chomp through.
Troy Mutton, Editor-In-Chief, Perth is OK!
NEWS
Increased helicopter, drone patrols for WA beaches in $5m shark safety boost
Drones will patrol more Western Australian beaches this summer, and the State will look at whether AI-powered drones could help spot sharks, as part of an extra $5 million investment in shark safety measures.
On Tuesday, Fisheries Minister Jackie Jarvis announced the multi-million-dollar funding would be spread across a range of shark hazard mitigation measures across the State.
“This means more helicopter patrols. It means expanded aerial coverage… It means more lifeguards on duty, more drone patrols at those high-use metropolitan and regional beaches over summer,” she said.
THE LATEST FROM PERTH IS OK!
EXPLORE
Balmy Nights returns to Esperance with a big weekend of music, art and more
Esperance arts and music festival Balmy Nights is returning this November, bringing together live music, contemporary art, DJs, markets and more across a huge weekend of events.
NEWS
Beaches back open after whale carcass caused ‘unusual’ levels of bacteria
Three western suburbs beaches have opened back up to the public after high levels of bacteria were detected in the water following the removal of a whale carcass.
NEWS
WA travel group acquires three popular Rottnest Island venues
Three popular Rottnest Island venues have changed hands, with WA tourism operator Pinnacle Travel Group acquiring The Lane Café, Simmo’s Ice Creamery and Havza.
TODAY/TONIGHT
High Wycombe Twilight Food Truck Market
The warmer weather means food trucks are back baby, including High Wycombe’s fortnightly food truck bonanza on Thursdays at Elmore Park from 5-8pm.
EAT & DRINK
Cuccini opens another store!
Last week, we were letting you know about the ever-expanding empire of DripHouse coffee – this week, it’s the incredibly expanding empire of Cuccini Gelato!
Their Freo store opened just a few months ago in June, closely following the opening of their Karrinyup store in February and their Vic Park store in December. The latest Cuccini instalment? A new outpost within Crown Perth’s Urban Food District, which officially opened their doors this week. A scoop of saffron pistachio gelato before hitting up the baccarat tables? How very chic.
Read on for a deliciously snackable selection of the latest in Perth food news…
STAFF RECCOS
What we’re eating…
Lil hot tip for Teihla for your weekend adventures:
“Now I know it's a common place we go but I tried Corner 33 for the first time — the pancakes and the fried chicken sandwich, the marry me hash browns and the matcha coconut cloud are DELISH!”