Melbourne: Final impressions
Saturday 24, January
What do you think about Melbourne? Are you going to stay here? How does it compare to London? From uber drivers to friends of friends in pub gardens, these are the questions I was peppered with over the last month and a half. That may come across as ungrateful; I always appreciated people asking and having a chit-chat but I often disappointed them with my answer - I don’t know! If I had to fumble for one I’d say I’ve been gently pondering living here over the last couple of weeks but ultimately I think I’d miss my life back in the UK too much.
Yet, the real question underneath it all was a lot more pertinent - what’s important to me when it comes to lifestyle and what do I want from a city? I was chatting to friend of a friend of a friend in a glorious sun-trap of a pub called the Royal Oak Hotel in North Melbourne. Side note: I was often confused why pubs are called ‘hotels’ in Australia and apparently it’s because in order to obtain a liquor license in the 80s pubs were required to be functioning hotels and provide accommodation for the drunkards bent double over the bar.
Anyway, I was chatting to this interior architect and we were talking about the different periods of housing we’d like to live in - Victorian, Modern etc. In Melbourne, she explained, that for a house to be considered ‘heritage-listed’ (essentially where you can’t knock it down without getting challenged by the local authorities) the building only needs to be older than 100 years, dating back to the Victorian gold rush boom. You compare this to London and it’s a whole different kettle of fish. When we think of heritage-listed housing we think of a Georgian house from the 1700s, well at least I do. And that’s before you get to the grade-listed housing. This sounds like a bit of a tangent, granted, but it represents what I was struggling to put my finger on. When you walk through Melbourne, if you close your eyes to the colonial-style buildings (see photo), you feel like the city was born yesterday rather than 2,000 years ago. Some London houses were built before Melbourne even existed, at least as a European settlement. Ultimately, I think I took this for granted living in London where you might turn a corner and come across a Tudor castle or Roman ruins. It’s exciting to feel like I’m a part of something much bigger.
What doesn’t lack depth in Melbourne is the people. Now, I need to preface this (of course) with the fact that I’ve been mixing with young-ish people in the pubs and cafes of North Melbourne, the fact I have been here for one month and whether or not one ever really ‘knows’ a city. I’ve met some lovely, fascinating people but what I’ve been inspired by the most is how many people have creative pursuits once you dig a little deeper. Many of them are exploring their interests in photography, writing music, painting and so on alongside working in cafes, pubs or corporate gigs. Some have plugged away at these pursuits long enough to make it the sole source of their income. This really challenged the way I thought about a typical 9-5.
Beyond this, I think the fact that I was able to find these things out about people is indicative of a general friendliness in the city. It made me think about how British people, often out of stubbornness or anxiety or both, walk with the heads down and refuse to ask for directions for example. On many occasions I’ve seen this strife, often between couples. Typically it’s a heterosexual male who wants to soldier on and try to find a spot to park the car or find a restaurant down an alleyway, despite his partner’s protests of ‘let’s just ask someone’. Admittedly, I struggled with this for the first two weeks. Yet, when I pushed past this and started to regularly initiate conversations I found that many locals (after hearing my accent) wanted to help me and wanted to have a chat. So I’ve learnt to always ask for directions. People like to help, are often interested and sometimes you walk away feeling like you’ve connected with someone.
I think this creativity and openness is reflected in the very design of the city. I loved how murals would take over the walls of fire departments and apartment blocks; they are imposing and often subversive yet normally condoned by local councils. The parks are incredibly floral and tropical and they exist in harmony with the city. Often the paths felt like they were gently guiding you to the city rather than creating a little enclave away from it. The parks are super clean too; visitors are respectful and quiet, so much so you can quite easily fall asleep on a grassy hilltop reading a book (which I did on New Year’s Day in Fitzroy Gardens - pictured). Not only did I feel relaxed in Melbourne, I enjoyed walking around a city where its residents seem to care for their environment - does that sound old and snooty of me? Maybe.
To poke this point a little further, and granted this is a bit of a weird thing to focus on but there is literally no litter in the streets! Dom, a friend who was one of the six of our road trip crew, mentioned how clean the streets are in Melbourne and then I really started to notice it. After walking around for a whole day the only bit of rubbish I saw was this can (pictured). In Australia more generally there’s a real respect for the land. There’s a deep irony here of course as it’s not actually a land that ‘belongs’ to the white settling population. It was stolen, a familiar tale in Commonwealth countries. In fact, what separates Australia from the rest of the Commonwealth countries is that it remains the only nation without a national treaty with its Indigenous people. So I talk about ‘respect’ with a healthy dose of salt, but I have to admire how everyday Aussies take care of the place they live in.
Finally, I have to give serious kudos for how Melbourne approaches sport. There’s a deeply ingrained cultural passion for sport which is propped up by the Victorian Government’s ambition for Melbourne to be the sporting capital of the world. I was lucky enough to watch England vs. Australia in the Ashes Cricket Tests at the colossal Melbourne Cricket Ground and later went to Day One at the Australian Open. The Open is a major tennis tournament which could give Wimbledon a run for its money; perhaps not in terms of prestige and tradition but in terms of infrastructure, investment and passionate atmosphere. Ol and I paid $50 and the calibre of players we got to see…from Norrie and Cobolli to Tiafoe was genuinely impressive and we weren’t stuck in the back of the stands either!
Ultimately, if Melbourne wasn’t so goddamn far away, its creativity, welcoming vibe, approach to work and appreciation for sport puts it right up there as one of the most attractive and liveable places I’ve ever been.
