Melbourne CBD Pt. II

I used to think Sydney was the outstanding city in Australia, until I went to Melbourne. For me, Melbourne wins the comparison, at least when it comes to the city centre. Why? Several things play a role for me: the slightly less friendly people, the Queen Victoria Market, and the galleries.

To be fair, Sydney’s galleries are excellent. But Melbourne? The National Gallery of Victoria is seriously amazing. I had to go in a second time, not just because of individual artworks, but because of the whole place: the building, the architecture, the installations. It’s genuinely exceptional. NGV International impressed me the most. There is also the more “national” NGV, NGV Australia, very modern and also good. It even shows art by the First Peoples. I liked that too, just not quite as much as the international one.

I also found the Immigration Museum very eye opening. To keep it short: on 26 January 1788, the first roughly 750 convicts were put ashore in Sydney’s bay. Diseases like smallpox, brought in by Europeans, had already killed huge numbers of Aboriginal people, and then up to 1928 there were many documented massacres and forced removals. Terra nullius, 1835: land could only be owned and granted by the Crown, which made any treaty invalid, even though it is still held up as “legitimate” by some. Later, Germans and Italians were interned during World War II or had rights taken away, Chinese people were not allowed to legally immigrate for a long time, and so this British shaped colonisation runs right into the present day. People like to see themselves as the refined gentleman in tweed, or rather in a colourful shirt, while ignoring the bloody trail behind them. Discrimination and exclusion of outsiders is still very present today, even though the country likes to present itself as open minded. Very British are also the street names: Andrew, Charles, Edward, Victoria, King, Queen, Prince. They repeat in every city.

On top of that, Melbourne even has a place dedicated to First Peoples culture, the Koorie Heritage Trust, in a complex together with the NGV and ACMI. Unfortunately, it is also quite limited. There are only a few objects on display. The building feels more like an event venue, with just a small number of items in the cases and not many strong explanations. A few boomerangs, wooden and stone weapons, a few instruments, especially the didgeridoo. Many of the wooden pieces are decorated with animals like lizards, kangaroos, or snakes, burned into the surface. But there is almost nothing about how things were made, what the symbols mean, anything about modern life, or social structures. The only point that really comes through is that knowledge was mostly passed on orally, from adults to children by watching and learning.

ACMI, the film museum, is also worth a visit, especially since entry is free and I had some bad weather. Walking through the CBD was usually faster than taking the tram. Yes, trams are free in the central zone, but to get from A to B you often have to change, because the lines mostly run either left to right or bottom to top. Honestly, on foot you are often quicker. Around midday I worked either in libraries or in galleries, which is easy because free Wi Fi is everywhere.

Car traffic in Melbourne feels heavier than in Sydney. I would say it is largely because the trams run on the streets and add to the chaos. I keep asking myself why people drive cars in the inner city at all, especially when almost everything is walkable or reachable by public transport. But okay, everyone has their reasons. I have argued about this with drivers enough, and according to most of them what I do is simply impossible for them.

My final highlight, and this one is truly outstanding for me, something I did not find like this in Brisbane or Sydney, is the Queen Victoria Market. Completely my thing. I love market halls, markets in general. Fresh produce, “exotic” things, by European standards. Hungarian salami or Swiss cheese, sure, but none of it felt like cheap imports. Even the bread and pretzels were not exactly like you know them back home, but still better than the usual standard you get elsewhere. I really enjoyed my morning walk there: wandering around, tasting things. I genuinely fell in love with that market. That would be my centre if I lived in Melbourne.

By the third day, I was already being greeted, let’s say in a friendly way. People feel different here. They all speak with that Australian English slang, but it is not that Queensland vibe. It honestly hurt a little when, after checking out of the hotel, I went to the market one last time. One last really good coffee, the beetroot ginger shot, then another coffee. Waiting for a tram, even though I could have walked to Southern Cross in the same time.

Then the SkyBus straight to the airport, only to wait an hour because the flight was delayed. I’m writing these lines on the plane, on a very rough flight to Adelaide, a city people say is one of the most beautiful in the world. I will report back. That’s it for now.