Bittersweet

Just got back from Melbourne where I had an unbelievable time. It was a perfect week. We drove down with my friends Jono and Haber from Sydney and stopped for the night at a beach called Dolphin Point. Though there was a little town behind it, the trees leading up to the beach provided great coverage, so it felt like it was just the three of us camping on a deserted beach.. It felt like taht scene in Y Tu Mama Tambien when they finally get to the Boca del Cielo, except none of us brought a hot aunt that was willing to fuck us. We cooked hot dogs by the fire and drank delicious mango juice. THe road trip was great.. I saw my first Kangaroo. He was lying dead on the road, probably hit by a car...so that was cool. THe conversation in the car was fascinating, and throughout most of the trip we were driving along a corridor with stunning forests at either side and occasional glimpses of the coast line.

Melbourne itself was incredible. Its a really vibrant city and has a great cultural life. We must have seen like 6 great music gigs just walking around town, and they were all free. I also went to a free Opera show in the park on Friday night, everyone just brought their picnic basket to the park and enjoyed the show. The first night we were there Jono took us to this dance studio beside a Church, where every Tuesday a bunch of random strangers get together and just dance. It was a really liberating experience. No drugs, no alcohol, no introductions, just music and dancing in the middle of the day...actually the end of the day, but it was still light outside.

There seems to be a big debate here and everywhere about what city is cooler Sydney or Melbourne. I feel like this debate is fueled mostly by ignorance. Melbourne is clearly the cooler place. Sydney is definitely more beautiful, probably the most beautiful city Ive ever been to,...but its not cool. The streets are wide and lined on either side with these majestic trees that look like they could have been characters in teh Lord of the Rings. The whole city smells like flowers, the birds are always chirping, the beaches are beautiful and pristine, and the women are really hot....but Its really hard to find a good live music gig in Sydney, especially a free one, whereas in Melbourne we just walked around Fitzroy and bar hopped from gig to gig. Melbourne has a much more active and readily available cutural life. In Sydney you must either try really hard to find it, or pay for it. Melbourne is not as pretty but it has a great vibe. Everyone rides around in their bike, the architecture doesnt seem to have changed much in the last decades, so you can walk around and feel like your in the 40's 60s or even 80's. That being said, the center of the city has a really cool modern feel to it, theres a lot of green, and a cool museum complex in the center called Federal Square. It even has a beach, which though not as pretty as Bondi, has a much cooler, less pretentious vibe... So yea, feeling pretty bumbed that I didnt choose to base mysel in Melbourne