After a long day of airport and planes (did I mention the Tasman Sea is wiiiiiide?), we touched down in the penultimate stop of the three-week tour, Melbourne. It, like Sydney, is one of largest cities on the continent, a diverse and thriving city with a variety of neighbourhoods and more things to do and see than time in the day. Melbourne is the younger of the cities, born in the haste of the 19th century goldrush, a Victorian city of gridded streets, terraced flats, and low brick buildings, all crossed with the world’s largest tram network. It is also a cultural hub for the country, and, from what I could glean in a few days at least, felt more ‘Australian’ than Sydney, with more tangible history on display and embedded into the city’s fabric.

Instead of staying in the CBD, we were able to set up in Fitzroy, one of the close-in neighbourhoods within easy tram access to the core and numerous other neighbourhoods and high streets. The area is an interesting array of buildings old and new, showing all the oh-so-typical signs of gentrification and unaffordability that seems to be plaguing successful cities throughout the Western world. Fitzroy, indeed much of Melbourne, lends itself to exploration, with well-connected streets and small old buildings scattered throughout, home to oddball businesses, restaurants, and breweries. The geometric lanes are also enlivened with a vibrant street art movement, particularly encouraged (and capitalized upon) in areas of the CBD but present to lesser degrees throughout inner Melbourne. As a result, it is a satisfying place to walk around exploring.

While older Melbourne makes for a fascinating experience, the newer parts of the city can feel a bit cold. Southbank and the Docklands, on the outskirts of the CBD, are typical of the major redevelopments found essentially anywhere in the world, with the added caveat that some of the public spaces that have been created, such as the waterfront walkway along the Yarra and Federation Square. The latter is a major public plaza, opposite Flinders Street Station, the busiest transport hub in town. The square is a hub of activity, surrounded by cultural buildings and programmed with activities throughout the warm summer days that we were passing through it.

Also within the CBD, beyond the graffiti lanes, are numerous Victorian arcades and commercial lanes, narrow and intimate. They are lined with small cafes and shops, the sort of cafe culture that is very foreign to Vancouver in spite of similar climates, overcast and grey much of the year. Melbourne is also a city that wears its history and there are few corners to turn without running into something about famous outlaw Ned Kelly. The Melbourne Museum offers a nice overview of the city’s history, and the garden outside includes an aboriginal interpretive section outlining the various plants and the ways different groups used that flora. I can’t speak to the general state of reconciliation in Australia, but this at least was a step in the right direction. Unrelated, Carlton Gardens, home to the museum, are also full of Melbourne’s animal mascot – the possum. Not as cute as a raccoon or as unique as Sydney’s flying foxes. Still better than Vancouver’s many skunks, however.

One of the highlights for us was actually not in Melbourne itself but rather outside. Mom and I took a train out to Belgrave, the end of the line, where we were picked up by the mom of one of my friend’s in Vancouver. She took us on a beautiful drive through the rolling hills of the Dandenong Range, a national park and a lush forest full of eucalypt and gum trees. Our major destination was Healesville Sanctuary, a delightful zoo full of Australian creatures of all ilks, including koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, Tasmanian devils, wombats, emus, and a number of birds. Also there, though requiring patience, was the elusive and bizarre duckbill playtpus…surprisingly tiny and swift in the water. The kangaroos meanwhile lay about on their sides like surfers, daring you to bother them in the open enclosure.

Melbourne was, in short, fantastic, another city where the biggest challenge is a lack of time. I made the effort to get to numerous neighbourhoods, riding the trams and putting shoes to sidewalk, poking my nose in the many used bookstores to further amp up my collection of planning books (sorry Hannah!). One regret though, and a good reason to visit again, is that AFL was in the offseason and there were no opportunities to see a footy match live at the MCG. Not sure when the next trip Down Under will be, but it’s definitely on my list.