TRAVEL AUSTRALIA
Marvellous Melbourne
A thriving cafe culture, chunks of nature, and an endless bazaar of arts, crafts and fashion make Australia's second largest city one of the world's great places to hang out. Text and photos by Gavin Nazareth SHANGHAI’S HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE IS DECIDEDLY WESTERN AND ITS PLEASURES WORLDLY. SHANGHAI’S HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE IS DECIDEDLY WESTERN AND ITS PLEASURES WORLDLY.
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ne school of thought suggests that you either love Melbourne or you love Sydney; that it isn’t possible to be keen on both. And rivalry between Australia’s two major cities, both perched on the southeast edge of the continent, is strong. Whereas Sydney is bold and brassy, Melbourne is conservative and refined and has an elegance that appeals to most visitors. Yes, it is less of a tourist city. There is no Opera House or Harbour Bridge, but the city still has presence. One traveller to the Antipodes noted that, “Nature has done everything for Sydney, man nothing; man has done everything for Melbourne, nature nothing.” This incisive observation encapsulates the fundamental disparity between these two cities. Grey skies and a muddy river notwithstanding, this lack of natural bounty has provoked Melburnians into indulging in manmade pleasures enforcing its reputation as a cultural capital of Australia where theatre, music, street sculpture, fashion, and other forms of artistic expression thrive alongside a cosmopolitan mix of cafés, restaurants, pubs, gracious gardens and architectural flair. And if that’s not enough, Victoria, the second smallest Australian state, is a far cry from the desert outback that marks much of the continent. Known as the Garden State, Victoria has flowering mountains, lush forests and a rugged coastline that offers face-to-face encounters with all sorts of wildlife, from penguins to parrots, gorgeous
beaches and scenery. “Marvellous Melbourne” was an accolade the city won with its show of wealth when it cashed in on Australia’s gold rush of 1850, an historical fact still seen in its many resplendent Victorian buildings. Today, the city prides itself on a sophisticated merger of today and yesteryear, where old-fashioned trams trundle past modern skyscrapers, while restaurants with multiethnic menus attract crowds of gourmands. Although Melbourne sprawls around much of Port Phillip Bay, it is bisected by the Yarra River, which, with its Victorian bridges, forms the southern parameter of the Central Business District. Planners laid out the city on an easy-to-navigate grid. So most attractions can be reached on foot or by tram.
On the Town When you visit Melbourne why not start at the top? Take the elevator to Rialto Tower’s Melbourne Observation Deck, 55-storeys high, for a breathtaking 360-degree view, stretching from the blue of the bay to the deeper blue haze of the Dandenongs. When your feet hit the ground again, jump aboard the free burgundy-and-gold City Circle tram, a fun ride that drops you right at the door of some of the city’s top destinations. To put a finger on the creative pulse of the city, head to Federation Square, an architectural tour de force with its prismatic buildings and angular forecourt that fuses art, architecture, events, culture, hospitality and open space into a striking public domain. Here one can browse through the Ian Potter Centre, showcasing the National Gallery’s Australian art, the National Design Centre and the Australian Racing Museum and Hall of Fame. If you have kids in tow, an absolute must-do is the state-of-the-art Melbourne Aquarium that harbours thousands of creatures from the Southern Ocean (don’t miss shark feeding time). Two other
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