Melbourne

Despite knowing what Melbourne was going to be like, I was struck by how metropolitan and busy it was. It felt similar to a large European city, with beautiful architecture. After spending three weeks in small “cities” with lakes and mountain backdrops in New Zealand, the change was jarring. But I was excited for a change in scenery and I love to explore cities, so I embraced it.

After dropping my large backpack off at my hostel, I took a walk around the city. I spent some time checking out the beautiful graffiti artwork in the famous Hosier Lane. I later learned from my walking tour that graffiti is largely accepted by the city, as long as it's in alleyways and especially in the few streets that are known for their artwork. Afterward, I walked through the Fitzroy gardens and then relaxed in Federation Square.
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After checking into my hostel, I decided to take a walking tour of the city. I found a free afternoon tour with Walking 101, where you pay the guide as much as you’d like. The tour started at the old treasury building, where we learned that when Australia become one united country Melbourne and Sydney fought to be the capital. In the end, they decided to create an arbitrary city between the two, Canberra. 
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We walked by an old gentlemen’s club that is still running today, with its archaic membership rules. Basically, you must be a rich, white man to be a member. Politicians used to meet at this specific club to decide the next head of parliament. 

Our tour guide, Ben, then took us to AC/DC street. AC/DC is from Australia and the street is home to some beautiful graffiti, as well as the famous Cherry Bar. Cherry Bar is debatably the most famous rock bar in Melbourne, so famous that even Lady Gaga was turned down to play a show because they already booked that night with another band — how punk rock of them.

Then, we visited the Yarra River where we learned a bit of Australia’s history. In aboriginal language, Yarra means river. The British asked the aboriginals what the river was called and they told them Yarra, as if to say, “Obviously, it’s a river.” The British then named it Yarra River, which I find quite funny. To keep a long story short, the British found gold in Australia nearby Melbourne and decided to claim Australia as their own, despite the aboriginals living there. The aboriginal culture is similar to the Polynesian cultures of New Zealand and Hawaii, where they believe they do not own the land but are one with the land. Despite this, the British convinced them to sign a contract — that they clearly did not understand — saying the British now own the land and they have to move further into the country

​Ben then took us through the old arcades, which is British for a covered street, where there are shops with a glass roof over the beautifully tiled streets. The mosaic tile work is original. We learned that when they first discovered gold here, several men volunteered to come to Australia in exchange for six years of service gold mining. The boat ride took eight months, as did sending letters back home. So the first time they could read a response from family could be over two years. The Irish even held a wake for men who decided to leave, celebrating their lives as if they were dead to them now that they’re leaving.

​We also learned that the British were not kind to other races, specifically the Chinese who were also interested in getting rich off the gold in the area. Apparently, the British used to require anyone who wanted to come on the land to take a European language test. Which was all fine and dandy for the Europeans who wanted to come over. A German would translate German into English, etc, but the Chinese also had to translate European languages into English. And if they succeeded in the one language they were asked to translate, they would be given another language until they ultimately failed. There was even an Asian, European languages teacher that was given several tests until they made him fail using Irish Gaelic. After several years of this, the British eventually acquired Hong Kong and started to let the Chinese and other Asians into the country. Ironically, some huge areas of the city now feel more Chinese than Australian. Even the signs in Melbourne have both English and Chinese.

​The other interesting story we learned was about the infamous Australian outlaw, Ned Kelly. Ned Kelly and his gang were known for robbing banks and holding people hostage for ransom. You may think people hated them, but they actually loved them. The police were the only ones that did not like them. The gang would rob banks, but also steal all the peoples' mortgages and burn them. And they would hold people hostage at bars, but pay their bar tabs afterward. In the end, there was an epic shootout between the gang and the police. Ned survived and was inevitably sent to the galleys. Before Ned was hung, it was said his last words were, “such is life”. As if to say, “Sh*t happens”. We visited the prison that he was held in, as well as the bar they brought him to the night before his hanging — in case the Irish tried to help him escape from prison.  

When I was in Hawaii, I met my friend Brittany who lives in Melbourne. On Saturday, she took me on a road trip to Phillip Island. We started the day with a visit to Phillip Island Nature Park, which is home to all kinds of native Australian animals (I later learned that the Nature Parks in Phillip Island are trying to buy back the private land on Phillip Island to turn it back into its natural habitat). While I was in Australia, I thought I might see a kangaroo hopping along or a koala in a tree from far away, but I got to experience literally interacting with them. We got to feed the kangaroos and wallabies, which I loved. A lot of them even had baby joeys in their belly pouches and I was freaking out a bit. The babies usually had their little heads peeking out or all you saw was some feet sticking straight upwards. We also got to hear a koala talk, which sounded like a bizarre grunting noise. The koalas’ mannerisms really reminded me of Yoda, all hunched over and slowly moving.

Afterward our visit to the nature park, we walked the Pinnacles Lookout coastal hike. It was really beautiful and refreshing after spending time in the city. I’m so thankful to have met Brittany and for her to spend the day with me outside the city. She even packed us delicious vegan sandwiches, which we happily devoured after a day of activities.

The next day, I explored Queen Victoria’s Market and the hipster neighborhood Fitzroy. The highlight of the day was most definitely Brittany’s recommendation to visit the vegan restaurant, Smith & Daughters. Holy moly the breakfast pizza was ridiculously good. It was a thin crust pizza with pesto, buffalo mozzarella, creamy egg scramble, prosciutto, arugula, chilis, capers, and parmesan. I will be dreaming of that pizza for awhile.

On my last day, I booked a Great Ocean Road tour. The Great Ocean Road is supposedly one of the most visited attractions in all of Australia. It is a long, coastal road that was built by retired soldiers after WWI, to give them a job and a sense of purpose. The men were paid through tolls on the road, which were later removed for tourism. My favorite part of the tour was surprisingly not the twelve Apostles — even though there are technically only eight apostles left standing. I loved the last stop at the Loch Ard Gorge. The rock formations were ginormous, colorful, and breathtaking. And the water was a beautiful turquoise.

​Despite thinking I was going to love the city of Melbourne before visiting, I fell more in love with its outskirts. Phillip Island was really lovely and the Great Ocean Road was beautiful. The city itself is also beautiful and international with lots to offer, but I couldn’t get a feel for its vibe. After talking with other travelers about this, we think it’s because the city is probably better to live in than visit.

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