by Henry Roth
When people think about Australia they think about bronzed demi-gods, Bondi beach, frothing surf culture.
Many synonymously think Sydney.
That is now rapidly changing for the switched on traveler that knows Melbourne is South East Asia’s creative Hub!
Melbourne will never be Sydney…and mate, she does not try to be. She is proud and not loud!
The truth is, Melbourne is vibrant, colourful, creative, avant-garde, and irreverent. It embraces the arts and creativity like no other city in Australia or possibly even South-East Asia.
This is not a city about beaches. On a simmering hot day the oceans and the bays serve with chic finesse. The inner glow of Melbourne is its Melbourne City sanctioned outdoor graffiti.
One thing that hits when you enter the confines of the city of Melbourne is that graffiti grows with creative grandeur everywhere. It is just as celebrated as the Melbourne Museum of Art and the coveted Australian pieces within it.
On buildings, footpaths, houses, laneways, by-ways, alley ways, every which way… Melbourne means it. It’s a visitor’s outdoor museum wonderland.
In the early nineties, the City of Melbourne embraced and endorsed its street art. It’s absolutely everywhere. The city is bound by a wave of bold graffiti, which grows with impact on buildings, fences, trashcans and sidewalks.
It is found at railway stations, grocery stores, clothing outlets and so much more. Its punctuated tags, stencils and pieces that conclude as huge and colourful murals.
Melbourne is not sand, sun, sea or ‘budgie-smugglers‘ ( the local term for Speedos). The traveler will find Melbourne a scintillating, sizzling, seductive, and sexy city filled with a rainbow that shines even more brightly than the sun, because the clouds can never cover it. Rather it is the weather-all creativity of the denizens of this fine city that shines brightest.
An hour and a smidge away south of Sydney by plane lies the big M. Nestled in a bay and confronted by the Great Ocean Road that cliff hangs over the Bass Strait, and the beginning of the artic winds of the South Pole.
Let’s just say the weather patterns of Melbourne are very different to those of Sydney. The weather of Melbourne is moody and that means romantic.
They say there are four seasons in a day here. In the middle of winter it can go to 0C and in summer it can top nearly 48C. Four years ago it melted away the Melbourne Star Observation Wheel. It took years for that stainless steel monolith to be recreated.
The Melbourne street art is just as cultured as the caffeine culture that oozes from its sidewalks.
For graffiti tours take a look at Melbournewalks.co.au and Redballoon.com.au.
#RothMelbourneIs.