Australia Blog

Melbourne's Brunswick Street

I didn't do much sightseeing while I was in Melbourne for a couple of days. Just met up with a couple of old, old friends. One from high school and another from my drunken days in merry England. But before I left I'd asked an acquaintance who had lived in Melbourne for a few years where I should go if I just wanted to walk around somewhere cool for a few hours. She had recommended Brunswick Street in Fitzroy and independently my friend decided to take me there to show me a slice of Melbourne.

This is most definitely a fantastic place to wander through. It's a mix of very cool and funky, alongside really old and shonky looking stores. The warehouses in the side streets are being converted to apartments and the second hand stores are becoming expensive vintage boutiques. There's a fantastic bookstore called (bugger, I can't remember right now, but I think it starts with "P"), that you just have to go inside to get the full idea. I won't sell them short by trying to describe it.

There's also tons of cafes and pubs with tables on the footpath, and while it would be a great place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon reading the newspaper and hanging out, it seems as though folks do just that any day of the week. I was also able to get a fantastic breakfast at 3pm in the arvo.

A great mix of people wandering around as well. Dudes in suits, young professionals doing their best to look dishevelled, older blokes down on their luck, flash punks cruising around in their rice rockets. Apparently the area also has one of the highest percentages of the population on the dole. Kinda strange since it looks like it's starting to be invaded by people with cash.

Anyway, I highly recommend going down there hungry &/or thirsty, wandering up and down the street and then settling in for awhile and watch the show unfold in front of you.