If you love a big gay Aussie parade (you know, the one that adds a little color to the mainstream media each year) and a crushing number of near naked guys out for fun, Sydney has what you’re looking for.
However, if you’ve “been there, done that,” or are looking for a different kind of Aussie adventure, head south, and take a chance on the States of
Victoria and
Tasmania.
AUSTRALIA’S “SECOND CITY”
If Sydney is Marsha, Melbourne is Jan (but we all know the later was really the cool Brady girl, right?).
Women at a street festival. All photos are by Michael Hammet.
Australia’s “second city” is expected to steal the spotlight from its big sister when it becomes the country’s most populous city within the next 20 years. It is already considered by many to be the arts and culture center of the country.
It’s an urban hub with cool clubs, top restaurants, historic architecture, museums, and fantastic shopping. The locals are so friendly I felt like Brad Pitt walking the streets with all the smiles and g’days (take a shot every time you hear “no worries” and you’ll be drunk in about five minutes).
Oh, and a river runs through it.
Since it’s birth in the mid-1800s, Melbourne has been growing up along the edge of the Yarra River. Early city planners designed within a central corridor as a way to curb future sprawl, so everything is just a short walk or tram ride away.
“They were way ahead of their time,” according to Dennis Newcombe, a phoenix-based urban planner.
I preferred the Yarra Tram system to a cab (the mostly foreign cabbies didn’t seem to know their way around town). Every bit of space is maximized.
This might explain the unique use of the city’s lanes – the alleys behind the main streets (with names like AC/DC Lane), lined with café tables, packed with people, and leading to the entrances of basement pubs, restaurants (Robot Sushi was a cool discovery) and cozy cafes.
At night, when the main streets are empty, the lanes are hopping. There also are tiny parks throughout town, called “green wedges,” that infuse nature into the cement and brick urban center.
CHECKING IN
I set my bags down at Hotel Lindrum – a cool boutique accommodation within a circa-1900 Romanesque Revival building, once owned by a family of tea merchants. Hotel rep Damian Hill says, “We’re in the center of Melbourne – so everything is just 20-minutes away.”
The space feels more like a home than a hotel, with modern finishes and warm colors complimenting the building’s original bricks and beams. There’s a professional pool table (from its days as a pool hall) and a pillow menu for the perfect night’s sleep.
Plus, there’s a library of the American Film Institute’s top 100 films of all time.
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