...As Heaven that you take me to. Life in Melbourne Part Two.

Bernie. In Simon's cube. On some chairs.

Going Out ...and Staying In
It's fair to say that Melbourne is not a cheap place to drink, especially if you rock up with the ever dwindling Pound Sterling. It is however a fantastic place to drink, with a range of locally brewed  beers on offer that really blow your mind – and in our case, the bottle-shop-running beer connoisseur Bernie to guide us through them all! Add to that several excellent wine growing regions in the area an you have the start of a good night. Throw in the food and good pubs already mentioned by Luke and Melbourne really is a great place to go out.

One of the best places for a night on the tiles are Smith and Brunswick Streets where not only are the good bars too numerous to list, but there is always some sort of live music, comedy or dancing to be found. Yah Yahs is a great place to for crazy dancing and our unbelievably messy last night out finished off in a random club with the ancient looking Northern Soul legend,  DJ and Warrington native Vince Peach on the decks.

Luke, Dee and Vince Peach. 'Nuff said.

With all this dancing and drinking to be done it's
surprising that we found so much time for trivia, but find time we did, with our team Quiz On My Ten Dollar Jugs (Aka BARRY).  The aforementioned Great  Northern pub has a decent quiz night on a Wednesday which we frequented, however our team and knowledge base was better to suited to the Sunday Night music quiz in the Empress - which we won several times. Our favourite quiz of all the quizzes, however, was Tuesday night in the Railway with Greg. The epitome of an old school quiz master, he gave us a few nudges in the right direction when we were simply too Anglo to cope with the Aussie rules questions (and before Crispi and Chris joined the team!). He also seemed genuinely sad to see us leave on our last night, and we were – the beer might have been pretty terrible, but the Railway was a bit of home away from home. Also worth a mention a a trivia alternative is the excellent Bogan Bingo (also on Wednesday nights) which is bingo with a distinctly bogan twist.

After seven months on the road it was great to not only have a place we called home, but a garden to go with it and -as we might have mentioned fabulous flatmates. This resulted in an array of fun packed, and often messy, nights staying in as well as going out, from the traditional Aussie barbie to fancy dress Eurovison night! We also celebrated and watched the royal wedding with a fancy dress British themed house party at Chris and Kate's, and celebrated Luke and Bernie's birthdays with Seventies VS Eighties themed house party.

Looking back I can't remember how I found the time to work or save any money! (Louise)

The People
Though we lived in Australia for close on six months, we travelled relatively little. As such, I'm in no place to pass sweeping judgement on the nation's psyche, or pretend to have crawled under the skin on the Australian people. Having said that, there's no escaping the fact that – aided and abetted by a print and broadcast media that, with the honourable exception of ABC, SBS and The Age, are uniformly repugnant in their right-wing zealotry -  quite a few Aussies have a beef with their indigenous peoples. And foreigners in general. And immigrants. And climate change. And Greenies. And 'scroungers'.  And....

Now Melbourne is by no means free of such prejudices – perceived or real – but as a city and a people, both Melbourne and Melburnians seem far more at ease with themselves and their history than some of their fellow citizens in other states. As home to the fabulous Immigration Museum, Melbourne retains a quiet pride at its history of accepting, if not always welcoming, peoples from around the world. Indeed, as the vibrant Greek and Chinese areas of the CBD show to this day, much of Melbourne's reputation for great food and culture is thanks to these very people. And even though the Liberals recently took control of the State legislature, most people reacted with thinly-veiled disgust when the new administration tried to axe the Aboriginal 'Welcome to Country' given at the start of Government events and visits. Indeed, such was the backlash that there was a hastily-beat and amusingly cack-handed retreat beat.

And though the locals might not have the unbeatably sunny chipperness of the Kiwis (which is not always a bad thing), they are a pretty welcoming bunch, usually keen to help new arrivals get the most out of their city. From the pubs – and quizzes – we frequented, to the local cafés and eateries, through to our local shops, we were made to feel like we we were not only welcome to stay a while, but would be welcome to make the place our home. To such an extent that, was we've already said, we very nearly did. (Luke)

Museums and Galleries

Melbourne could be described as the cultural capital of Australia, whilst it doesn't have as many tourist hotspots as Sydney it does have a great selection of galleries and museums - many of which we didn't fit in during our five months there.

The Melbourne museum had a rather overpriced Tutankhamen exhibit on whilst we were in Melbourne which we skipped in favour of its better permanent displays. It has a great outdoors section on Victorian natural history, a fantastic history of the city and a truly brilliant section on Aboriginal art and history. Less interesting for Brits is an entire display on a famous horse, and an obsession with excavating “really old” ruins from as far back as 150 years ago.

The Immigration museum gives a fantastic history of the development of Australia through immigration and its immigration policy - still very much a hot topic in Australia today. It described the multicultural city that Melbourne was even a hundred years ago, and outlined the shocking All White Australia policy that even the Australian Labor party held until the mid seventies. Fun can be had trying out the different boat cabins from different eras, but the highlight for was trying your hand at being an immigration officer, where you get to decide whether someone should be given right to remain. Whilst taking a neutral stand on modern day immigration policy the museum does subtly point out that (aside from the Aboriginal communities) the majority of Australians today are themselves descendants of the dreaded boat people.

The Melbourne Jail is well worth a visit, Though full ticket prices are very expensive. With your ticket you can visit  both the original Victorian jail and the more modern jail which only stopped functioning 1990s. The jail provides an insight into Australia's much loved (by tourists as much as Australians) history of  criminality. The jail is particularly popular because national hero and folklore legend Ned Kelly was imprisoned and eventually executed here. What great cause did he champion that makes him still so popular with Australians today? Well as far as I can tell, thieving, mainly.

The modern Federation Square in the centre of Melbourne is a good place to start if you like museums and galleries. Opposite the main Flinders Street Station, with several cafes, restaurants and the tourist office, all the trams stop here and its always busy. It has a good vibe and hosts many of the many festivals, showing how good a new build square can be when you get it right.

Melbourne is a wash with galleries with something for everyone's tastes. Personal highlights included the Ian Potter Gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria, and a great temporary art exhibition made from Lego.

Working in Melbourne
While Lou coasted through her working life in Melbourne – found a job early on, never loved it or hated it, end of  story – my employment history was a little more varied. My first job, making fresh pastas and sauces for a bunch of right shithouses in Carlton North, was an utter nightmare that makes me shudder to this day. Second gig with a portly, constantly wired but very lovely Croatian-Australian and his fledgeling ad agency was amusing enough, though it was pretty clear that he was paying me from his overdraft and I'd already tired of writing articles about stainless-steel work surfaces and industrial chest freezers.

Melbourne - and St Kilda - icon, Luna Park

And then came City of Port Phillip Council. My three month placement as Media Advisor, covering while the full-time post holder worked at the UN in New York, was in itself a highlight of my time in Australia. Though I'm sure that already time has dimmed some of the frustrations I felt during my time there, it was a real pleasure to work with so many talented, committed and – to my eyes at least – politically sound people. An award-winning Council, CoPP today is still a  little bruised after an unbelievably rancorous planning issue erupted into a media and political dog fight that even shocked me, and led to a change of Council and blood-letting across the organisation. (A quick Google of 'St Kilda Triangle' will give you more of a gist if you want one.) However, under the leadership of crack CEO Kay Rundle, a new Executive Management Team, and a freshly blooded  elected chamber, the Council has re-grouped with speed and aplomb. It was also incredibly interesting to see how a local authority worked on the other side of the world. In essence, it seemed to be 'same, same but different' –  only seven Councillors, far fewer statutory obligations and a funding structure that made me wince. In essence, the services you get from your council depends on what they want to fund and the priorities of the elected members. Not a problem at CoPP – but possibly a recipe for disaster in less community focused councils.

St Kilda Town Hall, and CoPP HQ.

Not only was I made to feel incredibly welcome in the organisation, with my advice and contributions welcomed and considered, I learned a great deal and made a great many friends. What was meant to be a stop-gap way to trouser a few quid while on the road quickly became a job that I cared about very much. I also enjoyed it hugely, quite possibly due to the unusual number of media shit storms that erupted during my time in town – challenges for sure, but also what I (secretly) enjoy. Respect for my former co-workers prevents me from recounting any 'closed door' stories here, but I really did have a blast. Naming colleagues is always a dangerous game as well as some invariably get accidentally dropped, but former State Government advisor Brooke was one of the finest strategic minds I've ever had the pleasure of working with, and made my time much easier. (She was also amusingly foul mouthed when the mood took, which made me feel far more comfortable.) Sian was a great line manager and good friend, while both my Mayors – Rachel and Judith – were truly dedicated professionals. Yuki tolerating my language, Carol with a smile as fab as her baking, Shob with her BBC obsession, Anna's encyclopedic council knowledge.Indeed, the whole Communications and Engagement Team were great, making a gobby Welsh bloke feel far more comfortable than they needed to.  Some friendships and working relationships were only just blossoming when it was time for me to leave. I miss them all very much – almost as much as I miss the salary. And I'm really chuffed that I got through this without mentioning Sue killing any dogs... (Luke)

Our friends
But for both of us, the real highlight of our time in town was the great group of people that we shared it with.

Team Barry, combining brains and wit with indisputable sex appeal.

 Dee and Bernie – the dream housemates; Nat and Crispi, music-loving quiz regulars; Chris and Pauline, lovely and for a time our only friends in  town; Simon and Jade, incomparable fun and purveyors of filth; Kate and Chris, quizzing stalwarts and an absolute hoot.

And last, but by no means least - always there with a comforting hug on those long lonely, job hunting days -Greystoke. We salute you all!

So bye bye Melbourne - hello the end of Oz.

Stay warm,

Luke and Louise

xx