The Second City, Australian-Style

After living in Melbourne (pronounced ‘Mel-bun’ by the locals) for a month and a half, I feel as if I’ve just about moved here. I’ve become quite familiar with this lovely city on the Yarra river and some of its finer offerings over the last few weeks. In so many ways Melbourne has been competing with its older brother, Sydney, since the 19^th Century. Just as in the U.S., Chicago will always be second banana to New York City, hence its oft-used nickname: The Second City. Here, it seems Melbourne could be called the same thing.

Currently, Melbourne has about 3.7 million inhabitants, but was once Australia’s largest city thanks to a gold rush in the mid 1800s. Sydney was first claimed for the British by Captain James Cook in 1770 (of course the Aborigines were here first—for, oh about 50,000 years) and, it’s no rumor, many of its first inhabitants were British convicts. This Island nation was first seen as a harsh and horrible place—and in many ways it still is very tough for folks to live here—case in point—the horrible drought they’ve been suffering for several years now.  Unlike the U.S., Australia has NO water running through the middle of it.  More than 168,000 convicts had been ‘shipped’ to Australia by the time the practice was abolished in the mid 1800s. Sydney now has a little over 4 million, mostly law-abiding people who get to admire the Opera House and stunning Harbour on a regular basis.

Melbourne hosted the first Olympic Games in the Southern Hemisphere in 1956 and became the country’s sporting capital. Of course, Sydney ‘one-upped’ Melbourne with the 2000 Games.  Since the Australian people are very proud of their hometowns, you can imagine the on-going debate over which is a better city. Just through personal experience alone, I happen to prefer Melbourne. I am the first to admit this is all based on simple personal experiences and if I’d gotten a job in Sydney and had met more people there, I may feel the reverse.

It’s summertime in Melbourne and this city comes alive with moonlight movies in the park , outdoor concerts put on by the symphony, cricket matches, the Australian Open, and Melbournians just getting outdoors for the sake of getting outdoors.

I mentioned in an earlier entry how ethnically diverse this city is. Like most big cities, it’s a veritable melting pot of the world.  And there is no day better to celebrate this than on Australia Day.  Multiculturalism is the theme here and the live concert on Australia Day was a random mish-mash of local performers—Asian, Maori, Aboriginal, Spaniards,  right down to the “robot man” known as—get this—the Sonic Manipulator, who literally is a well known street performer here. Sounds like the next Arnold Schwarzenegger flick—today the California Governator, tomorrow the Sonic Manipulator.

Just like everywhere else I’ve lived, the weather here is the butt of many jokes and is known for its changeable conditions. Here, they always say, “four seasons in one day.”   One morning it can soar into the 100s and then later that afternoon it’s 60 degrees and rainy. This January’s 43.9ºC (111ºF) day broke a record and was Melbourne’s hottest since 1939. I think Maria Sharapova was sweating her pants off because she was playing that day (wouldn’t all the guys like to see that?)!  

Melbourne’s famous tramway system is the largest outside of Europe and the fourth largest in the world. It stretches along 244 kilometers (152 miles) of track, and has 450 trams.  A free city circle tour tram circles the central business district forming a ‘loop’ around it.  

The mostly flat city has been named one of the best cycling cities in the world and is criss-crossed with hundreds of bike lanes and paths. Bike lanes here are marked in bright green and when I say bike lane—I really mean it—a solid line separates you from the cars and in some cases there are even traffic lights for bikes! They will soon be trying out some European style bike lanes (commonly used in Copenhagen) where the traffic lanes and bike lanes are separated by parked cars.  I took advantage of this Chicago-like cycle friendly city by renting a bike for a few weeks and using it to tour around and as my main transport method to and from work. I also was lucky enough to score an excellent deal on the rental ($50 for 2 weeks instead of $25/day) thanks to the fact that all the Brunswick Street Cycle Shop   guys and gals come in to the café where I work to get their lunches and coffees. Apparently TV jobs aren’t the only ones with perks!

Melbourne is often referred to as Australia’s garden city, and the state of Victoria is known as “the garden state” just like my home state of New Jersey.  Melbourne is chock full of lush green spaces—The Botanic Gardens, Carlton Gardens, Fitzroy Gardens.  These are all huge parks with towering trees and bricked curving paths where locals can laze the day away with a picnic of vegemite sandwiches or just play some fetch with their pooches. Sounds nice, but in actuality many are just hanging out smoking. Lots of smokers here. Cough.

Also, like many cities, there is a huge revitalization going on. The Docklands, Southgate and Crown Complexes are all new areas to eat, shop, and stroll around in what was once old industrial port and shipping yards. There is also some pretty amazing public art sprinkled throughout the city—in parks, on bridges, and on sidewalks.

One day I also swapped roles here and took a Melbourne Greeter Tour.   I was a Chicago Greeter Volunteer back in Chicago for a couple years.  Many cities in the world now offer this great service where a local will take around tourists for a few hours and show them their city from a real local’s perspective.  On the tour we discovered one of the best and most defining characteristics of Melbourne–its “little laneways:” Degraves Lane, Hardware Lane, the Block Arcade, the Royal Arcade—these are all virtually glorified alleys that have been closed to traffic, filled with charming European-like cafes and outdoor table seating.  They offer the illusion of being secret and hidden even though they are quite famous. Some are darker and narrower than others and some barely feel like much more than an alley except the fact that they lead to an inconspicuous bar—like the Croft institute that is literally at the end of a combo trash/urine-smelling, dingy, dumpster filled alley.  What a challenge to get past that and know a cold drink is waiting for you at the end, even if it is in a beaker.

So, Melbourne will no doubt continue to struggle to come out from the shadow of big brother Sydney’s striking yet obvious beauty. But I like to think Melbourne’s beauty is just more ‘hidden’ and more than just skin deep. And, I think one of the reasons I like Melbourne so much is its ‘down to earth’ similarity to my adopted home and my ‘second city’…that I think is number one.