Where Postcode 6011 meets the Indian Ocean is not yet nicknamed “The Rhodium Coast”, but the “cap” would fit.
Pleasingly, however, this beachfront belies the extraordinary “effluence” (as Kim would say to Kath) of the folks who live closest to it.
Beachside, “the vibe” is much more egalitarian than is usually true of suburbs so “exclusive” that some of their billboards are placed by Sotheby’s real estate division.
Rhodium is currently “worth” more than eight times as much as Gold.
Queensland’s “Gold Coast” is not even in the Top Ten of Australia’s wealthiest suburbs.
Unsurprisingly, eight of Australia’s ten wealthiest Postcodes are in Sydney.
Numero Uno, however, is Perth’s 6011 – Cottesloe and Peppermint Grove.
According to the ABS, it is the only Postcode where a resident’s annual average income exceeds $300,000.
(Its richest resident – “Twiggy” Forrest – may have single-handedly skewed 6011’s “average”)
I took the photo at 3.41 pm on 03 July 2022 – a not-atypical Perth winter’s day.
As you can see, the scene does not not exactly scream, “wealthiest postcode in one of the world’s wealthiest nations”.
Looking south from the Cottesloe Groyne toward Fremantle, one sees no very tall buildings; the tallest visible structures are Fremantle Port’s container cranes.
If I were surfing a wave, looking ahead, I would be looking toward a non-snooty, idyllically located golf course; Cottesloe’s Seaview Golf Club is “private”, but members of the general public can and do book in to play there.
The less idyllically located, more “elite/exclusive” Cottesloe Golf Club is nearly 2ks away, lacks sea views, and is not in Cottesloe. (it is in Swanbourne, Postcode 6010, the next suburb north)
Immediately below the pictured surfers’ boards – and immediately in front of the Groyne’s south side, where I stood – is a healthy reef, in which dwell some of the world’s more exquisite sea creatures.
(of which, more in #15 in this series)
The very existence of such a reef, “right on the doorstep of a metropolis”, is “highly unlikely”, in world terms.
So too is the happy fact that those of us who cannot remotely afford to buy any 6011 “dirt” are nonetheless able to enjoy all of its best natural assets, gratis.
(this is as true of Peppermint Grove’s Swan River foreshore and the river itself as of Cottesloe’s beachfront and ocean waters. You may or may not be surprised to know that if 6011’s wealthiest resident gets his way, this happy state of affairs will no longer hold true of the beachfront)
Those of us who do not own cars can easily reach “the Rhodium Coast” by bus or train, whilst those who drive to “Cott” have a fair chance of finding a convenient, free/cheap parking space.
Another pleasant surprise: both of Cottesloe beachfront’s pubs are unpretentious, non-extortionate, and serve decent food.