I am here in Melbourne, Australia for the first time, covering the Australian Open and experiencing a city, and a culture, that is quickly climbing up the list of my Happy Places. My impressions so far, which don’t include the koalas and the penguins I’ll meet later today on an Explore Australia tour, but just know that I intend to love them as long as they don’t give me chlamydia:
Melbourne is a little like London, if London enjoyed a Mediterranean climate. It’s a city where every independent coffee shop looks like it’s a going concern, where everyone’s within their rights to be mildly annoyed at you for veering right instead of left when you walk past them, but they’re so used to tourists from right-veering countries that they’re ready to juke if they need to. A place where people dress smartly, despite the heat, like they’re attending an afternoon wedding on the Cape in July. Even at the Open, which makes me happy I packed some dresses.
Everything is familiar but everything is just a little different and I’m not just talking about the way water swirls down the drain but that is admittedly part of it. There are high-street shops you don’t recognize, but there are high-street shops, so this city rings a bell. Like many of the world’s best places, there’s a problematic history of the colonized and the colonizers but this town is now defiantly proud and protective of an aboriginal heritage that goes back 65,000 years. You can offend someone without fear of ballistic reprisal because they have strict gun laws, but I don’t recommend it because they’re lovely people.
Jet lag is inevitable unless you live here. As I arrived from the west coast of the US, which is only five hours different time-wise, the jet lag should have been a breeze, but it definitely felt like the 19-hour difference that it actually is. The good news is that the warmth, sun, and otherishness of it all makes it easy to stay up later than your brain wants you to. To that end, consider booking a neighborhoods tour with Localing (localingtours.com) for the day you land. You’ll quickly become a big fan of street art and laneways while you reset your body clock. (Laneways are narrow mews(es) and dead-end alleys—the kind of alleys from which you’d avert your eyes in any other city because disheartening things might be happening, but if you do look left you will be pleasantly surprised by tiny bars and restaurants with awnings that almost touch and it’s almost like a Marrakech souk sometimes. They’re everywhere in Melbourne, due to a quirk in the zoning laws and a quirk in the coolness of the people.)
As the tennis doesn’t start until midday, and you’ll probably be up quite early every morning, you can get some of the best pastries in the world—according to me and the NYT—at Lune. Eat them whenever and wherever you can. The line is #worthit but it’s even better to visit the mothership at 119 Rose St. in Fitzroy, because that’s where they’re made and because the lines are shorter.
Trust me: coffee is going to help that jet lag. This is a coffee town in the way that Seattle is a coffee town, which is to say it is a COFFEE TOWN. You can get great coffee almost anywhere (see going concerns, above) and if you order a flat white, it will taste good and you will feel better. The coffee at Lune is superb, of course, but at Ageyo (25 Easey St in Collingwood) the beans are grown by the owner’s family in Ethiopia and it’s marvelous. If you’re taking in Fitzroy for the street art, and grabbing pastries at Lune, poke your head in at Ageyo for an iced latte.
I’m staying in the CBD. It’s centrally located and, I realized pretty late, has nothing to do with cannabis. My hotel, Melbourne Place, falls squarely into the “hip and new” category, has a great rooftop bar which also serves breakfast, and is only a few blocks from Melbourne Park. Or stay at the Grand Hyatt, which is two blocks closer to the Open and also boasts a fleet of AO cars coming and going at all hours as they shuttle players to and from their wins and losses.
The tram is free within the Central Business District, and it will take you right up to the AO Garden Square entrance from a stop that’s probably near your hotel. I was relieved to find it still running after the Djokovic-Alcaraz barn-burner, which went until 1:30 am.
Things about the Open: it’s probably going to be hot. Right now it’s cool—almost chilly—but the weather here is changeable in the extreme, so be prepared for a scorcher. Bring a hat and long sleeves and sunscreen. Use the misters around the grounds; they really help. There are loads of places to sit in the shade, from beach chairs to bean bags, but indoors is your best play when it’s blistering. Head inside an arena—ideally one that’s not currently in use—where you’ll find shade and benches and air conditioning. There are AO guides all over to ask for advice; they might even ply you with a bad joke: “what’s a tennis player’s favorite drink? Juice!” Which makes no sense until you say “deuce” in your head with an Aussie accent. Just laugh and roll your eyes and take their advice.
I’m here to watch tennis, but I find myself wanting to play, too. I can recommend hitting the Kooyong Club, home of the Australian Open for a while, the Davis Cup occasionally, the Kooyong Classic usually, and acres of grass courts (26 of them!) and clay (22!) and hard courts (3; no exclamation point). The only way to play here, short of membership in a reciprocal club, or a friend who’s a member, is to book a lesson. So do that, buy the hat, and enjoy a short immersion in the annals of tennis history. But bring your whites; they’re required.
The same is true at Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club, a bit closer to town. It’s another old, storied, fancy club, and it’s a beautiful place to spend some time if you can manage it. There are fewer grass courts (10), but they boast 15 all-weather porous courts and four Har-Tru. The RSY has hotel rooms, and if you can snag one, you can play there; otherwise, get to know a member or join a reciprocal club or book a coaching session in off-peak hours. The club now owns Dendy Park, nine kilometers from the main location but fully open to the public without any finagling. Book a court for roughly AU$30 per hour. However you do it, do it; there’s only so much tennis a person can watch without wanting to get out and emulate the swing volleys.
You’ve probably already heard that Melbourne is a foodie’s paradise and whoever told you that wasn’t lying. There used to be hundreds, but after the change in the zoning laws made it easier and less expensive to run a restaurant, there are thousands of establishments to try, and each one is worth a look. Being spoilt (hey, when in Rome) for choice is a nice problem to have, but it’s solved if you want by a degustation tour. I took one with Hidden Secrets Tours (hiddensecretstours.com) and I learned heaps (when in Rome x 2) about the city and the food and the local wines. I also took the recommendation of locals and wended my way to Reine & La Rue, a cathedral-like space located in the city’s original stock exchange. I sat at the bar for oysters and frites and cocktails before hopping the tram to Melbourne Park for the ladies semifinal matches, and that, I can tell you, is an extremely civilized way to enjoy this beautiful city and the tennis tournament that takes it over in January.
