Busman’s holiday

So. Melbourne. Should I live there, or should I keep it as a fab place to visit? It’s like Paris – always at the end of the Eurostar when I worked in Waterloo, but I never moved there. There’s something wonderful about having a city that you love and get to know really well, but you save it for holidays because you know it will lose its charm if you become a resident. Perhaps that is what Melbourne will become.

My ‘busman’s holiday’ to Melbourne for the film festival started with a glittering glamorous night at the Regent theatre, the Opening Night of MIFF. Following speeches from the Premier, the festival director, etc, we saw Michael Moore’s latest film Sicko (so funny – the Brits and the French come off very well), and then partied into the wee hours in the ballroom. Champagne flowed, canapés were distributed, and I saw lots of people from the Sydney film world, which was nice.

MIFF Opening Night

At the Opening Night party


Despite the fact that the film festival was on I was very restrained – I averaged about one film per day, and only hung out in the festival lounge intermittently. Highlights included the stunningly beautiful and devastating new Sarah Polley film starring Julie Christie, Away from Her, the biopic of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, Control, Brit comedy-horror Severance and some cool music videos in the Mirrorball program. I went to a career chat with greasy-haired pseudo-modest Ethan Hawke from Before Sunrise/Sunset as his new film screened at the festival (not one of my highlights!), and enjoyed some wonderful representations of Islam (Times and Winds) and Judaism (My Father My Lord). MIFF is really well organised and their festival lounge and venues are all well laid out and inviting. It was great to have Tom Chadwick to guide my way – after MIFF he’s festival hopping to Edinburgh, London, and maybe somewhere in the states in between.

The trams of Melbourne


But oh, the shopping! I shopped until I literally dropped from shopping fatigue… Dresses, boots, shoes, cute hair accessories, an amazing necklace, glitzy tops… it just didn’t end. I love the style in Melbourne – far more wintry than Sydney, and thus all purchases will probably last me a week before the weather gets too warm for me to wear them. *sigh*

New boots!


And oh, the culture! I saw the Pixar exhibition at ACMI – which showed loads of sketches and the artists’ workings of Pixar characters such as Buzz, Woody, the Incredibles, Mike and Sully etc. It was fascinating seeing the evolution of the characters, and how they became the final versions of themselves. Also the animators talked us through the process of digitally animating these drawings – a revelation. I also saw the Guggenheim exhibition at the NGV – from 1940s to now. There were some great pieces here – from artists such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Dan Flavin, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Cindy Sherman, Gilbert & George, but it felt a little small, especially after my visit to the Bilbao Guggenheim a couple of years ago. A real coup for Melbourne though, and lots of fun. I also hung out in the State Library taking advantage of their free WIFI, and saw Karin Catt’s exhibition of portraits, Famous.

The Pixar Exhibition at ACMI

Which just leaves the socialising. I think I mentioned before that the liquor licencing laws are different in Victoria which makes it easier and cheaper for smaller cafes and bars to obtain licences, giving the city a more indie feel, and peppering it with eclectic nightspots with their own unique vibe. The best thing about my trip was that I kept being taken to places I never would have found had I just been following my nose: small bars with no external signage, hidden down uninviting-looking laneways and open well into the wee hours. Highlights of the trip include: sipping martinis in Double Happiness, breakfast in Borsch Vodka and Tears, dinner in The Waiters Diner, coffee in Atomica on Brunswick Street and many many more places I don’t even recall the names of. Days and evenings rolled by in a daze of cocktails and coffee. So now you can see why I had such a great time.

One of Melbourne's many laneways

Coming back to Sydney I had a lovely experience – it’s the first time I’ve come back to this city and thought ‘Ah, I’m home’. That’s a great feeling when you relocate somewhere – when it really feels like you’re coming home after being away. It’s great being back – by the sea, at work with its fresh challenges and forward planning, with my friends. So, for now, Melbourne can remain a place to visit, and Sydney is still my home.

There are lots more pictures of lovely Melbourne on my flickr page.

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