First Impressions: Melbourne

Wednesday, 10 December

I’ve now spent the last five days exploring Melbourne in all its glory. It’s been exciting - at times feeling a giddiness bubbling up inside me as I ventured down new streets - but also daunting, as often being in a new city can be. Thoughts pinballed around my head - will I meet some nice people? Do my clothes make me look English? How do the self-checkout tills work?!

One thing was for sure, however: having travelled to the other side of the world to the ‘sunburnt country’, I was not expecting to be met with rain at Melbourne Airport on my first day. Feeling more like Manchester than Melbourne, I suddenly felt the clothes I’d packed for this trip were hopelessly wrong. Turns out Melbourne weather is rather temperamental, even during the summer months. My rain jacket got some early action.

However, as the rain subsided, I jumped in an Uber from Terminal 2 to Ol’s house in Brunswick East, a quirky suburb in the north of the city. And as I pulled up to his house, it was as if the clouds themselves had decided to part and the sun poured down to celebrate this momentous reunion. Having not seen him in over a year, it was a bizarre feeling walking straight into his house as the door was left open and peeping round the corner to announce my arrival. It was great to see him again after so long and to see him happy in his new Aussie life. It was also great to see Maggie, a lovely girl that Ol is seeing out here. Maggie works at the Northcote Bakeshop (which you must try if you’re ever in Melbourne), and who, having learnt I can’t resist a sweet treat, presented me with a box of cookies with a sweet message inscribed (see pictured).

After dinner I headed to Collingwood to check into my hotel for the first night. On the way over, a couple of things struck me straight away. Firstly, how easy it was to gain entry to Ollie’s house - apparently the locals often leave doors and windows ajar and unlocked. There’s a real feeling of trust which was a shock to the system having been in London for so long. Secondly, in the suburbs, most of the houses are bungalows and the commercial buildings are no more than two storeys high. The streets are wide and telephone cables dangle across storefronts. As soon as you stray outside of Melbourne’s CBD it feels a lot less developed than a typical urban city. The only way I could comprehend it was to imagine a fusion between a city like London with a slightly less developed city in Indonesia.

Zoom in a little more and you start to notice how incredibly varied the architecture is. Every street is different, with a real hodgepodge of cute houses boasting Victorian verandas (pictured), wooden bungalows and punchy street art. The art murals, in particular, are widely celebrated and you’ll see one on every street corner, adding a splash of colour as you go.

A young man taking a selfie outdoors wearing a black waterproof jacket with a hood, with part of a brick chimney and a tree in the background.
Brown paper takeout box with handwritten message celebrating Brewin's 'Austin's Day' featuring hearts and a smiley face in place of the dot over the 'i' in happy.
Colorful mural of a woman with flowing hair, surrounded by flowers and abstract elements, on a brick building wall; a bicycle with a green basket is parked in front of the mural.
Brick building with signs for Goldy's Tavern and hotel, with a window and part of a sidewalk in front, blue sky with clouds overhead, and some greenery on the side.
A man plays pool at a wooden table in a pub with a green felt surface, with billiard balls scattered on the table and holding a cue stick, in a room with wooden paneling and a chalkboard sign in the background.
A menu board outside Goldy's Tavern listing weekly events and specials, with a brick wall background.
A historic Victorian-style building with ornate black and white ironwork balconies, surrounded by lush green trees and bushes, with a clear blue sky above.

One thing that definitely preceded its reputation was Melbourne’s pub culture, so I was eager to check it out. Having braved a gym class on Sunday, I met a guy who had just relocated to Melbourne. After working out that we were staying in the same neighbourhood, he suggested we grab a pint at Goldy’s tavern in Collingwood, a five-minute walk from where I was staying in Fitzroy. The pubs here take their hospitality very seriously and most of them will have a weekly agenda (see picture). They try to tempt locals with chicken parms on ‘Parma Nite’ or with ‘meat raffles’ - yes you read that right. But if you’re like me and you like organised fun, Melbourne pubs are definitely for you.

It’s like they’ve used London pubs as a template and made all the right tweaks. One thing I really like is that you can an either order a pint, a ‘schooner’, or a ‘middy’ (also known as a ‘pot’). Essentially, beer is served in three different sizes to avoid it getting warm. This attention to detail, alongside a free game of pool and a beer garden with dependable sun coverage, means there really is no competition. It also helps that people who work in hospitality, or ‘hospo’, are incredibly friendly. Everyone greets each other like they know each other. Rather than feeling like an annoyance, the whole interaction caters to conversation and possibility. This may be due to the fact that hospo jobs pay well out here, sometimes up to around $35-$40 per hour before tips.

Later that night, I met up with Ollie ahead of our first night out in Melbourne. He had arranged for us to go to Miscellania - a cool venue tucked away in the CBD. It had a great rooftop bar (pictured), where the light-speckled skyscrapers loomed above us. It was a great setting for us to not really pay attention to the music and catch-up on any drama/nonsense that we’d experienced over the last year.

I was worried that, after not seeing each other for a year, we’d have to build things back up, but as the photo clearly shows it didn’t take long for our usual dynamic of winding each other up to resume. Later today we’ll be starting our road trip in our rented 2014 Volkswagen Golf - not exactly a road-ranging jeep made for conquest, but I’m sure it’ll be a trusty companion for the next nine days.

A lively outdoor evening scene in a city with tall skyscrapers lit up, a group of people socializing and smiling at a rooftop bar, with vibrant pink and red lighting.
Two young men standing on a city sidewalk at night, one touching the other's chin, both smiling. Behind them, a brightly lit neon sign reads 'Melbourne' and 'CBD' with colorful lights, and a moving car passes by.