I bet many people thought it would be San Francisco, with its iconic red cable cars. However, that city isn’t even in the top 10. The only American entry in the top 10 is Dallas, Texas. Trams or light rails aren’t as prevalent in the Asia Pacific region as they are in Europe, except for Melbourne which takes the top prize according to future rail, with Berlin a distant third. Due to wars going on, let’s not mention who number 2 is.
Why the trigger alert? As an author who lives in front of the beach on a Greek island, I encounter many tourists. I typically don’t like to stereotype, but having moved from North America to Greece, I noticed what Europe’s biggest pastime is: stereotyping people’s actions based on their nationality. We’ve all heard the saying when in Rome… so I am stereotyping Aussies. In my view, Aussie tourists tend to just say what’s on their mind, unfiltered. This is not their way of denigrating anyone; it is just a cultural trait that can be refreshing. Since Australia has the largest Greek-speaking population outside of Greece, with both cultures tone of speech similar, I figured I’d try writing an article about the Aussie way. How do I judge that it’s the Aussie way? If grammar checkers, who usually like to correct sentences in a manner that tries not to offend, don’t like what I am writing, then I’ve mimicked the Aussie way. At least I think I have. I invite any Aussie to comment on this statement and show me the proper way if I am wrong!
Australia is like Greece with one big advantage: it’s huge and underpopulated, making its coastline infinitely larger and its terrain infinitely drier, with equally blue waters and just as many people whose speech is unfiltered. Hence, we are flying to Melbourne and renting a camper to explore Australia’s Great Ocean Road and just hang out in our camper, on the beach, and with nature, just like I do every day at home (minus the camper). However, I dream of being able to just drive in my camper with nothing but open roads, since in Europe open roads are at a minimum.
To take the drive along the Great Ocean Road, the best place to fly into is Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city. Once there you might as well spend a few days absorbing what is perennially the best city in the world to live in, or at least near the top of any such list.
The museum visit is obligatory, so here are our choices:
"Hey now, hey now Don't dream it's over Hey now, hey now When the world comes in They come, they come To build a wall between us We know they won't win"
When it comes to Western music, Australia holds its own against any country on the planet when it comes to influence and fan favorites.
Even though the heyday of rock music might have passed in terms of sheer popularity, we can’t talk about Aussie music without mentioning the legendary AC/DC, the best-selling rock band of all time, with songs like “You Shook Me All Night Long”. While they got their start in Sydney, it’s worth noting that many of the band members hail from Melbourne.
But let’s shift the spotlight away from them for a moment and shine it on the creators of what I consider the greatest song ever written in Melbourne, Australia by Crowded House (at least in my non-expert opinion). If you’re skeptical, just listen to “Don’t Dream It’s Over” in the playlist just below.
Formed back in 1985 right here in Melbourne, the band was led by New Zealand-born singer-songwriter Neil Finn and Australian bassist Nick Seymour, with occasional contributions from Neil’s older brother, Tim. Some of their other classics include “Fall at your feet”
Fun fact: They named themselves Crowded House after the cramped living conditions they endured in their shared rental house during the band’s early days in Melbourne.
Now, fast forward almost four decades, and Crowded House can still draw massive crowds in their homeland. I mean, they recently rocked the Sidney Myer Music Bowl—an absolutely stunning outdoor venue that can accommodate around 10,000 fans. Picture this: most folks just sprawled out on beach towels or lawn chairs, since the venue only has seating for about 2,000 lucky souls. That’s the Aussie way!
"Come on, come on, turn the radio on It's Friday night and I won't be long Gotta do my hair, put my make up on It's Friday night and I won't be long 'Til I hit the dance floor, hit the dance floor I got all I need No, I ain't got cash, I ain't got cash But I got you, baby Baby, I don't need dollar bills to have fun tonight (I love cheap thrills)"
When Friday night rolls around, some folks see it as a cue to kick back and unwind after a long work week. This usually means crashing on the couch. But for those of us who refuse to let age dictate our fun, there’s always Sia’s music to keep the energy alive. Hailing from Adelaide, a world away from Melbourne, her quirky tunes still fit in here as they capture the essence of seaside vibes perfectly.
Even if hitting the dance floor isn’t exactly your thing, there’s something about Sia’s songs that can coax even the most reluctant couch potatoes into a little something. And for those who live for the dance floor, what better motivation is her hit “Cheap Thrills” that you can hear in the playlist just below.
Sia’s career has been marked by her unmistakable voice, and enigmatic persona. She’s notorious for shrouding her face in mystery during public appearances, choosing to let her music do the talking instead.
So, if you find yourself in Melbourne on a Friday night, why not make your way to Revolver Upstairs, a top-notch spot for a night out on the town? Who knows, maybe you’ll even hear a Sia track or two to keep the party going strong.
"I'm not a marriage expert, quite clearly."
I have no idea why Cathy, Melbourne’s greatest national heroine when it comes to athletes, said the above quote, but about half the world would probably say the same thing.
What this sprinter did do, however, was make her nation proud when she won gold in the women’s 400m track event at the 2000 Olympics in front of her home crowd. What made it special was that she was the first indigenous Australian athlete to win an individual Olympic gold medal. Her victory lap for the gold medal is etched in the country’s memory as she carried both the Aboriginal flag and the Australian flag, helping to bridge a divide that surpasses all others in the country.
Cathy’s mother, Cecelia, is of Koori descent, while her father, Norman Freeman, is of Gunggari descent. Both of her parents have Indigenous ancestry, and Cathy has proudly embraced her Aboriginal heritage throughout her life and career. For 15 years she directed a foundation bearing her name. In December 2021, she stepped down as director and her foundation became the Community Spirit Foundation. The name change didn’t affect the organization’s mantra, educating indigenous children to reach their goals and dreams. What a feeling it must be to make it so far in your chosen field that you have the power to give back so much to something you and many others care so deeply about. Hopefully, more of us can one day walk in Cathy’s shoes.
This article is about the Great Ocean Road, and we are finally showing it to you. When you live in a wide open country, it’s not uncommon to dream of hitting the open road in a motorhome and just enjoying the great outdoors, and that’s exactly what we are going to do here. What makes it special is how the road was built. Over a hundred years ago, veterans of the First World War built it themselves as a memorial to the fallen of the great war, making this the world’s longest war memorial. Today it remains a testimony to the preciousness and beauty of life.
Melbourne is the closest large city, you should fly into. Once there rent your RV in Melbourne, then drive 100 km or so southwest to Torquay, the starting point of the scenic coastal road. This drive will take you a couple of hours. Near Torquay resides the surfer’s paradise of Bells Beach. If you can’t surf and you happen to be there during the last week of March/first week of April then watch other adventurous types compete in the annual Rip Curl Pro surfing competition. This is such a great surfing spot that the country placed its National Surfing Museum in this town.
From there the Great Ocean Road stretches 243 km westward until it ends in Allansford. The number of campgrounds is endless along this route, with a plethora of resources to help you, hence we won’t detail each one. To give you a taste of the campground areas, we have included this video about the Aire River.
Did you know that Australia is the driest (i.e., with the smallest amount of precipitation or rainfall) inhabited continent on Earth? Only Antarctica, a continent with no inhabitants, is drier. You won’t feel the dryness as you approach the Shipwreck Coast portion of the Great Ocean Road that starts close to its midway point (Officially between Cape Otway and Port Fairy, as it continues after the Great Ocean Road ends). This region also has temperate rain forests like you would find in the Pacific Northwest of North America (although not nearly as extensive or dense). This is what can make Australia unique, and this area is dangerous for ships. Just like the North-west coast of the USA, this region has heavy fog and strong tides. As a result, one can see somewhere around 600 shipwrecks from the last few centuries, depending on the tides, over approximately 180 km along the Western portions of the Great Ocean Road (Our journey started on the easternmost starting point of the road). It’s not as many as the Bermuda Triangle but still one of the world’s most dangerous shipwreck regions, giving any traveler plenty of diving opportunities.
The most photographed section of this coast by far is the 12 apostles. Much like some movie spoof, over the last couple of decades, these 12 apostles (12 rocky spirals emanating from the ocean) have now become 8 as acts of God have made 4 of them crumble instantly to the sea. We can show you the crumbling live, in a video below.
There are two notable destinations to think about on your trip there; The first is Tower Hill, located near Warrnambool, the region’s premiere hotspot for Aboriginal culture. The second is the Great Otway National Park.
Warrnambool is a few kilometres past Allansford, the town where the Great Ocean Road ends. Near the aboriginal town lies Tower Hill, with its temperate rainforests that thrive within the crater of an extinct volcano. The local Gunditjmara people might just have a festival while you’re there, and if they don’t, you can always explore the best in indigenous arts and cooking.
As children, how many of us dreamt of traveling from tree to tree high above the ground as envisioned by the universally beloved Tarzan stories? Well, in Great Otway National Park, you can do just that. This park is huge, but if you go to the Otway Fly entrance, you can walk on top of the 25-meter-tall trees for 600 meters and look down at the dense forest. It’s not quite like swinging from tree to tree, but as adults, we think the walkway will do.
Another fun fact is that in Australia, kangaroos outnumber humans. Consider that such rural travel in North America inevitably means that one has to be wary of deer, and such rural travel in Greece or Italy means to be careful of sheep and goats crossing the road; likewise, in Australia, you also have to worry about kangaroos on your road trip.
Even if one doesn’t read comic books at all, a vast majority of us know who Superman is. Most of us know he has a giant ‘S’ emblazoned on his superhero suit. For the sake of this article, let’s call Superman the USA. Another common trope in comic books is to create a supervillain who is the complete opposite of the superhero. In Superman’s case, it’s some guy called Bizarro. Bizarro even has an upside-down ‘S’ emblazoned on his superhero suit. Let’s call Bizarro, Australia, since it is the land down under and both the USA and Australia have the same ‘birth’ parents but are somehow complete opposites to each other. Nothing Aussies do makes sense to Americans and vice-versa. Further expanding on this comparison, there is no way one can find the ingredients typical of traditional Aussie food outside of Australia, especially in the USA.
Simply write a query in AI or Google for traditional Australian comfort food, and almost every recipe contains something called Vegemite and, of course, kangaroo meat (for those that are going to freak out, remember that deer or bison is its equivalent in North America; notice the bizarro trend?).
Vegemite is like pate or butter, in the sense that Aussies spread it everywhere and on anything. Ok, we are exaggerating a bit on this one, but it does go on a lot of things, not just bread. The previous statement is kind of like saying every animal in Australia can kill you. Both statements have some truth, but not enough to scare you. Just remember not to step on a blue octopus when walking in blue water though.
Since most of us aren’t going to find kangaroo meat in our grocery store, we might as well show you what vegemite is, and you too can spread it on everything you eat, especially bread, a bagel, or even a muffin. Vegemite is a thick, dark brown paste made from various vegetable extracts, yeast extracts, and spice additives, known for its strong and bitter flavor. Always remember that every French pate or ‘delicacy’ doesn’t sound any better when translated into English, and things like pate de foie gras (fatty duck liver) are truly an acquired taste. So keep an open mind when you view the above video.
If you really want to try Kangaroo, the ultimate comfort food, then it’s best to sample the indigenous fare in this region. When in Melbourne, try ‘Big Esso‘. In another commonwealth country, Canada going to ‘Esso’ would mean that you’re filling your car with gas in one of the nation’s largest gas chains. However here, in the Australian province of Victoria, this means ‘The biggest thank you’.
Most of what is indicated here is common knowledge as we deviated from our usual practice of including multiple scientific references, wanting to make this a fun travel article where one can free oneself from all the shackles of modern society. There is a tool called Google that is guaranteed to fact-check and deem everything here to be accurate, if not drop us a comment and prove us wrong with an appropriate reference.
All images are AI-generated using Fotor and are meant to describe the subject matter they portray figuratively, not factually.
