Melbourne - Living In The Most Livable City In The World

AUSSTRALIA!!!! After seven months of living out of my backpack and having no ties to anything in hot and sweaty South East Asia I was ready to jump back into an “advanced” capitalistic society. I loved my time backpacking and got so much out of it but I was ready to stop moving for a while and start a little life for myself in Ozzy land. Even if I wasn’t ready to stop backpacking my financial situation would have stopped me haha. When I arrived in Australia I had about $400 in my bank account, which is not much money at all in this EXTREMELY expensive country. Remember I am an extremely frugal man and I was just coming from a collection of countries where I was living quite happily on $20 a day! So arriving in Australia was a bit of a kick in the face! On the bright side though my destination for the next seven months would be a HUGE island that was always warm (and not deathly humid), had tons of surf-able coast, and had a whole new vocabulary for me to learn. 

Most of you know that I was lucky enough to live in Jonkoping Sweden for five months on exchange in my fourth year of university. This was an amazing time in my life filled with new experiences and new friends. A solid group of these new friends turned out to be Ozzys, almost all of which resided in Melbourne. So when the time came to pick where I wanted to settle down for a bit, the choice was quite easy. I had a ton of Ozzy friends who in 2011 told me if I ever made it to their part of the world I had a place to stay. So it was time to take them up on their offer. Also, every year a study is done of the top ten cities to live in in the world and every year Vancouver, Melbourne, and Vienna are in the top three. In 2011 and 2012 Melbourne was the best city to live in out of the all the cities in the world! So Melbourne was my obvious pick.

I flew from Singapore to Sydney via Scoot airline on Novemeber 1^st. Scoot Airline is a brand new LOW-cost Australian owned airline (I believe) that only flys to Sydney, Darwin, Bangkok, KL, and Singapore. I would highly suggest looking on their website if you’re trying to get from SEA to Ozzy or vice versa.

I would be in Sydney for two days taking in all the flashy sights that is downtown Sydney. One of my most memorable moments in Sydeny was when I arrived off the plane and I was trying to take the airport train down to circular kuay (the CBD). I rocked up to the ticket booth and asked for a one way DT. Please keep in mind this is about a fifteen minute ride and involves no free buffet, wifi, or on board entertainment. The lady printed me out a ticket and said that would be $23! It was at this point that I realized... “I NEED A JOB!!!” haha. I was lucky enough to stay with my friend James Bell (whom I met in Sweden). After exploring the Opra House, the bridge, and the rest of the flashy CBD I met up with James and we grabbed some brews and snags (Ozzy for sausages) and went back to his pad to catch up. James had a great centrally located apartment close to downtown Sydney so that night he took me to a few really nice pubs and began my education of all things Australian. 

The next day we walked down to Bondi Beach (the hippest place in Sydney) and explored that area of town. James tried to explain the game of cricket to me and why it is so popular (this is something I still don’t totally understand haha). Then we slowly made our way back to his place. We said our goodbyes and I apologized profusely about the fact that no pubs let us in the previous night because the only dress wear I owned was shorts and thongs (ozzy for sandles). I then jumped on a bus to the airport and then flew to Melbourne to start my new adventure!

I was picked up by the Legend himself Nick Anderson! Nick was another mate of mine that I met in Sweden and who had completely fooled his mom into thinking I would be a great house guest to have for a month or two until I found a job haha. Nick and his amazing mom Clare (AKA Clare Bear) lived in Kealba, which is a suburb about forty-five minutes out of Melbourne. So it is here I resided for a month while applying for job after job! I was lucky enough to be introduced to all of Nick’s friends and thus immediately connected with a new friend circle, which I think is one of the hardest things to find when moving to a new city. So I was so stoked! I just had no money to do anything with these fantastic people haha.

Throughout my first month I was still in “First World Shock” and loving it. I remember taking so much utility in doing the dishes, cleaning the house, and cooking simply because I wasn’t able to do these things while I was in SEA. I got back into running and started working-out with Nick. I started watching tv again and Nick blew me away with the show “Community”! I think I watched every episode in two weeks! But about 90% of my time was spent applying for jobs hah. I applied for about forty jobs on line within the first three weeks. I had pretty high standards at first and was only applying for really interesting well paying positions but after a few phone calls telling me that because I could only work for a maximum of six months they just couldn’t hire me. I then applied for some temp agencies but a week after doing that and having only $200 left in my account I realized I needed to get into town and start applying to these jobs face to face. That online process was just not working. So I thanked Nick and his glorious mother profusely and went and lived at my friend Anna’s apartment right in town so I could make shit happen! Anna moved in with her bf and my good friend Jake (another Ozzy friend of mine) so I could live there! Anna was an exchange student from Finland at Jonkoping with me and she actually met Jake during “Kick-Off Week” in Sweden and they have been together since! CUUUUUUUUUTE!! These guys were a huge help and again really set me up for success for the next few months.

I gave myself one week at Anna’s apartment and took all my job standards and poured gasoline all over them and then light them ALL on fire! I started applying for EVERYTHING I could online and printed off a ton of general resumes and hit the streets hard. Being a backpacker and looking for a job in Melbourne was hard. Most employers have a stigma about hiring backpackers because they know they’re unreliable and just want some fast money and then they will be gone. So you just have to keep pushing and keep pounding the pavement. I was getting pretty desperate because of my lack of skrilla (as the kids say) and frustrated because I was applying for shitty jobs I thought I could easily get and then not even getting an interview haha. For example, I applied for a job at Safeway as a Deli Worker and I didn’t get a call back ahah. THANKS BUSINESS DEGREE!!!

On my third day at Anna’s place I woke up and literally said “FUCK THIS!” I decided right there that no matter what, I was going to get a job at a bar! I had always wanted to be a bartender and I thought that if I could get a job as a server or dishwasher I might be able to learn as I go and become a bartender! Well as luck would have it on the end of my first day of going to about fifty bars and asking for any kind of work and being turned down, sometimes quite rudely, I got a trial shift at the last bar I asked at (which conveniently was a seven minute walk from my new pad)!!!! The next day I got an email back from the main Lululemon in DT Melbourne telling me they weren’t hiring but a Lululemon close to me was! So I called them up and they said they were doing drop in interviews for the next thirty five minutes. So I literally ran down there and just barely made the last five minutes. The interview went great (except for me sweating like crazy ahah) and I got a call from them the next day asking me if I could make it out to a Cardio Tennis Class (which is HUGE over there). I went to that and toned down my competitive side and then I got offered a job! Not just any job either, an awesome job full of motivated and positive people looking better themselves and the world!

Two days later on Friday night I had my trial shift at The Mount Erica Hotel. In Australia there are “Hotels” on every second block and their essentially restaurant/ pubs. So everyone has a local pub, some nicer than others, but nonetheless everyone has a local pub and it is AWESOME! Mt Erica was on the upscale side of things, which was nice! I was only suppose to stay there for an hour or two so they could get a feel for me but they had a huge birthday party in their function room and they were getting slammed because someone didn’t show up for work! So Martin, the floor manager, asked me “Can you bartend the entire function?” and I of course said “HELL YEAH!” I had no RSA (Responsible Serving of Alcohol Permit) and no previous bartending experience other than slinging some beers for hostels and bars in Asia. All I had was a lot of confidence and a lot of determination to get a job at a bar haha. Luckily Martin didn’t have time to see what I was doing the whole night and I ended up working a nine hour shift pouring glasses of wine to the top and getting all the birthday guest very drunk and very rowdy. Martin stopped in at the end of the night to see how everything was going and everyone was HAMMERED and having a great time. The birthday boy told him I was the best bartend ever so Martin came over and told me I was hired and that I could have as many bartending hours as I wanted!

I loved my time working at the bar! I had an amazingly nice and musically talented manager named Bek who taught me the ropes. I also met some awesome people through working there like my AMERRRRIKIN bartender side kick Tayler O'Connor and of course my boy Indi! 

Here is a really bad picture of my bar! 

If all this wasn’t good enough I was talking to my uncle Terry one day and he asked me how things were going and I told him I had just gotten one job but I still needed to find a place to live. He told me he had a real nephew (it’s a long story) that had a room in an apartment he wasn’t using and that I might be able to squeeze in there! I got this young chaps information and called him right away. Jamie, was his name and he said of course I could have the room! HE WASN’T USING IT! We ironed out all the details but then he told me there was just one caveat. His two roomies that WERE boyfriend and girlfriend had just broke up and one of them was staying in his room until she found a new place to live haha. So I had to wait another week until I could move in, which was fine.

I asked if it would be okay to see the room first before I moved in and he said that would be fine. I called up one of his roommates Ben (the newly broken hearted) and asked if I could swing by. He said yes and seemed nice so I rolled on over. Haha unfortunately I could not have shown up at a worse time! I knocked on the door and Ben came and let me in, but what I didn’t know was that he was just in the middle of a huge fight with his recently broken up with girlfriend Betsy! So I walked in and she was sitting on the couch just crying her eyes out. Ben I think was leaking as well. I felt so awkward, but I decided I should just stay super positive and not notice the tension haha. I walked up to Betsy and said “Hi I am Derek” she just looked at my hand then started crying more, then shook it and then walked away hahaha. I didn’t even look at my potential room! I just thanked Ben said “it looks great!” and then left haha. It had a roof, and that was better then some of the places I stayed in South East Asia.

I ended up living in this pad for about four months and I loved it! It came with a sick projector screen, a big kitchen, and three AWESOME roomies! Ben cheered up pretty quick and we actually became great friends and we still make jokes, about lube and what not to do on first dates to this day! Clair was in first year law and killing it! She introduced me to the television show “Suits” so we had a pretty awesome bond. Then Jamie moved back in later on, and brought Tina Tam, and thus was the beautiful family of the Orrong home! Our pad was right beside a huge park and on a main tram line! We lived in Prahran, which is actually the richest neighborhood in Melbourne so…. IT WAS AWESOME! 

My five months in Melbourne can be split into two halves. I call the first half “Sweat and Money” because I worked 55 hours a week (at my bar job and at Lulu) while still working out every second day. So I made bank and got back into shape. Then my good buddy Wes Hartman arrived on December the 28^th AND THEN my GEORGOUS girlfriend Courtney surprised me and showed up on my doorstep on December 29^th! Wes and I were just coming back from a wicked shop at Woolys (it was wicked because they were selling whole chickens for $3!!!! I still remember it like it was yesterday!) and as you can imagine my hands were full of grocery bags. I was so focused on just getting inside I didn’t really look at this weird chick sitting in front of the door of my apartment. I said “Hello” tried to get past her. Then Court laughed at me for not recognizing her and then I yelled “OH MY GOOD, YOU’RE MY GIRLFRIEND!!!” I do think that was the most surprised I have ever been in my life. The next day was New Years Eve, which we spent high above the city at my new friend Matt Eunson’s beautiful downtown apartment. These three glorious days marked the beginning of the second half of my Melbourne experience, which is entitled “Friends, Food, and Fun”!

The next two and a half months I worked less at the bar and went on more trips with my friends! We hit music festivals, weekend surf trips, but most of all we stayed in our awesome apartment and push our culinary limits! 

Here are some pictures of it all:  

The Ozzy Open!

 The William sisters killin it!

Great seats!

 

FRIENDS!!! The Big Day Out music festival!

Gary Clark Jr! So stoked I found out about this band!

Band of Horses!

 

 Red Hot Chili Peppers! 

 Surftrip #1 with Jakob and Wes!

 Surftrip # 2 with Court, Ben, and Jakob!

 Jamie and Tina have arrived! We are eating baileys filled pancakes cus its St Pattys Day!

Out on a wine trail!

 MY FAVOURITE OZZY BREWERY AND A BAKERY RIGHT BESIDE IT!!!!

 White Rabbit white ale! The best in Oz!

Court and I trying our first meat pie!

Stuffed crust! 

  

Watching the Australian Open downtown at Federation Square on a HUGE projector screen with Benny boy!

Ah the times we had!

I had an amazing time getting involved with my team at Lululemon! They were like a second family for me, which was awesome because my real family was far far away. I worked out with them, did Tough Mudder with them, started cross-fit with them, created thee perfect futsal team with them, partied with them, and played trampoline dodge ball with them! It was beautiful!

Bounce! Go here before you die!

Bryce! Our tennis master!

 My Ozzy Xmas!

Right before we left Court and I and of course our amazing roomies (Jamie and Tina) went and did a two day hike of Wilsons Promontory. One of my highlights of all of Oz. If you ever have a chance to check out this AMAZING park make sure you do it! Here are some pics of our adventure:

Unfortunately, a time comes when all good things must come to an end. We purchased our amazing van “Sasha” from two Germans and hit the Great Ocean Road and then up the East Coast! But that is another story…

The City Of Melbounre

Now you are still probably wondering, “what is so great about Melbourne?” Well that is the beautiful thing… it’s all so good!!! Melbourne is the most livable city in the world in my eyes because everyone’s standard of living is so high! Here are the biggest differences between Melbourne and everywhere else that I noticed. There are tons of parks EVERYWHERE! In these parks there are free BBQ’s, sports fields, little cafes, tons of water fountains, and washrooms. Small business is still very much alive in Melbourne and it’s this that really gives each neighbourhood it’s own character. It also makes everyone involved and active in their neighbourhood. The western style of “living”, which is cookie cutter suburbia then mall, suburbia then mall, etc is not apparent in this great city. There is a small commercial hub (small business orientated) every 10 blocks. It’s awesome.

The Melbournine culture is all about “The Experience!” Everywhere you go people are out having coffee, brunch, lunch, brinner, secondsies, afternoon tea, dinner, super, and of course desert! Everyone makes a good amount of money in this city and then they all spend their excess eating and drinking out. It’s beautiful! There are also tons of events! EVERY WEEKEND you go downtown and there is some kind of amazing citywide event! Off the top of my head while I was living in Melbourne I drove by or participated in the following events: The Melbourne Cup (HUGE Horse Race), Melbourne Music Festival, The Saint Kilda Festival, White Nights, The Australian Open (tennis), Big Day Out (huge music festival), The Australian Grand Prix (Formula One World Championship), Australia day festivities, The Rip Curl Pro (surf comp), and the Melbourne Comedy Festival. That is an event every second weekend! Those are just the huge city wide ones too!

Melbourne isn’t flashy but my god is it quality! If you could only be in Melbounre or Sydney for a weekend I would hands down always suggest Sydney. It is flashy as hell and tourists (myself included) eat the flash up! But if you could live in Sydney or Melbourne for a few months I would always suggest Melbourne, because that is when you see it’s true glory! By going to ground, and living as the locals live! Without truly spending a long period of time in this great city it would be hard understand its amazing appeal and pull!

BUT… if you were to only spend a weekend here I do have some suggestions for you.

A Weekend In Melbourne:

Day 1: Walk around downtown and explore Melbournes beautiful laneways, which are all over the CBD (downtown core)

If you like coffee (you idiot) make sure to sample hard but Melbourne’s coffee is AMAZING (so I am told).

Everyone in Melbourne is a coffee snob and they say melbs has the best coffee.

Also try and check out the beautiful Botanical Gardens (along with the world war two memorial). GO AND HAVE DINNER AT http://vegiebar.com.au/!!!! My favourite restaurant in Melbs.

Day 2: There will likely be an event or festival on while you are in town so check that out. If you are lucky enough to be in Melbourne on a Sunday make sure to stop by at the Camberwell Market! There is some great thrift shopping to be done here and the best cinnemin and sugar donuts I have EVER had are only sold here! They are sold out of a white trailer that says “Donuts” (in red) above the main window. The owners are Rich and Fay and they are awesome! Tell them I sent you and you will get a free donut! WARNING: there is another donut truck that shows up sometimes so be carful (their donuts suck!).

These ARE the donuts you are looking for! 

If you want to get active in the afternoon make sure you go to Bounce http://bounceinc.com.au/ it will blow your mind.

Not into that? Drive out to the Yarra Valley and follow an ale trail and sample some amazing wines! Try and make it out to “Healesville” where White Rabbit brewery is located! Best Ozzy beer you can find!

Then return to the city and walk down Lygon Street famous for insane amount of Italian restaurants and push and hilarious restaurant hosts. Then make sure to grabs some Gelato afterwards!

Other fun activities: Surf trip down to Torquay or a weekend hiking/camping adventure at Wilson’s Promenade.

I will always look back fondly on my time in Melbourne! It definitely is an amazing city to live in!