A tale of three cities

I was told Melbourne was the ‘liveable city,’ and many people prefer it over Sydney. I was keen to make my own opinion, so visited with my parents over the Easter weekend.

Our hotel was situated very near the river and the southbank, which is an area I’d been advised to explore, so after dumping our luggage we headed there. Coming from Sydney and its massive harbour areas, and having lived in London with the Thames southbank, I have to say I was expecting something a little bigger. Quaint is perhaps a word that would spring to mind. And a bit of ‘Oh, is this it?’

Surprise number two was when we sought out Federation Square, the main events square in the city. Once again, with images of Trafalgar Square and Martin Place as my benchmark I was surprised. This time it was for the lack of the traditional. I would be pushed to call it a square; more an irregular quadrilateral, with its modern walls of jerky angles, mixtures of glass and stone, and a sloping floor. But good on them. For once the Australians hadn’t tried to copy a part of Europe, but had instead come up with something unique and totally their own. I actually became quite fond of it.

Somewhere they did imitate Europe was with their new London eye style observation wheel in the docklands: the southern star. Alas, it is a stationary wheel. A month after it opened at the start of 2009 it was closed due to ‘structural defects’, including buckling and cracks. The rumours were that the 40 degree temperatures melted the metal, but according to wikipedia it was an engineering mistake, not the sun. Ooops. That’s a bit embarrassing for the engineers.

I’m afraid that, overall, Sydney and London still win by far. Sydney’s main market in china town is far more central than Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Markets. The Opera House and Harbour Bridge take a lot to beat, and what we saw of Melbourne’s botanical gardens didn’t outdo Sydney’s.

And London’s London…with its massive history, great museums, beautiful parks, and amazing landmarks. It would take something stunning to eclipse my capital.

However, in three days I developed a certain affection for Melbourne, so in three weeks or three months who knows what would happen. It’s still being developed, and the population is still growing, so I’d like to see it in a few years time. The shopping is really good and offers variety, with enticing side streets and alleys to explore, and the cafes are plentiful with lots of character. And of course they have a beautiful casino…

Bizzare

I’m starting to feel like the world is falling apart. Honestly, things just aren’t doing/ being what they’re supposed to be anymore.

Firstly we have freak weather. Masses of snow in England, masses of rain and masses of fire in Australia.

Next we have the financial crisis. Loss of jobs, loss of money, loss of things making sense. It starts to feel crazy when I’m told Woolworths will no longer be seen on UK high streets, and people in America leave their houses and post front door keys though the letterbox because it’s simply cheaper that way.

These things are all fairly major though, and have no real direct impact on me. This week, however, crazy land caught up with Esther Stewart of 1 Wigram Road.

Sitting in my practice room in the basement level of Sydney conservatorium I was hammering away at some Mozart when the world went dark. The red flashing light from my metronome was my only indication that I hadn’t gone blind. The fire alarm siren starting creeping into my eardrums (they start them quietly here and increase the volume, possibly to prevent heart attacks?) Oh not another fire drill please. This is the fourth one in a month.

No, not another fire drill. Leaving my practice room and bumping into other musicians we found our way stopped by shutters blocking the corridors. I felt as if on the Titanic. Had we been locked in? Were we the sacrifice that had to be made?

Thankfully a member of staff, donning his luminous jacket, showed us to a back exit; a path snaked around the back of the building and into the open. The fire brigade were already there, and the news spread of a power failure. Half an hour later, we were allowed back into the building to collect belongings. Feeling in the dark I found my bag and jacket and decided to abandon the rest until the morning.

On leaving the conservatorium, we discovered that the whole circular quay area of the city was in black out. Chaos. Policemen were playing substitute for the powerless traffic lights, people were sitting in dark cafes finishing their drinks, helicopters were flying overhead filming the footage I saw later on TV, and the streets were jam packed with the hundreds of office workers heading home. I felt like on a movie set.

On returning to my suburb of Glebe I found relative normality. Not long lasted. Wednesday morning I woke up to find the power cut had followed me home. A shower in the dark is an interesting experience. Thursday morning the power was back but we had no water. It’s a good thing I like drinking milk, but any kind of washing had to wait until I arrived at college (I was careful not to breathe on anyone during the bus ride).

What will tomorrow bring? More freak weather, or money madness, or will my house actually fall down? Who knows. It’s an exciting life at least.