Melbourne plays to its strengths

The finish line to mark year’s end is close, the time when we down tools and spend the summer break recharging.

For the first time in years I find myself still energised. I put this down to having taken a long overdue gap year, during which I’ve achieved the elusive balance of living, working, and playing in equal measure.

According to GPTChat4, a gap year “is a period of time when students take a break from their studies, usually after completing high school …”. It is a time to engage in both education and personal development activities such as travelling.

I have approached my gap year in much the same way by seeking to gain a deeper self-understanding, expanding my worldview, and recharging.

I am still working, but not at the frenetic pace I was. With flexibility I have dedicated time to spending it with those I love; to think and be; to start a mentoring and coaching business; and to travel.

What I’ve learned during my gap year is: you can never have or give enough love; rest and quiet is underrated and much needed; I have wisdom I can share with others to help them achieve their goals; and I have lived up to my Trip Advisor profile ‘Mazlalovestotravel’.

This year, I have racked up an impressive list of 15 city visits and a smorgasbord of experiences. I have visited zoos, lounged by the pool, seen iconic infrastructure, walked streets and alleyways, learned about history and heritage, and visited museums and galleries.

It is the last of these I am reflecting upon as I write this piece in Melbourne.

As a Sydney-raised and Perth-domiciled woman, my relationship with Australia’s only European-type capital has been a bit so-so since my first visit as a teenager.

However, after a weeklong stay with a friend I have come to understand it better and grudgingly accept why British media and hospitality company Time Out has named Melbourne as Australia’s only city of culture.

Following a survey of 21,000 people– who ranked their city’s best cultural venues and experiences along with their quality and accessibility – Melbourne came in 10th out of 20 cities as the world’s best for culture.

First place is Mexico City, followed by Prague, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Athens, Edinburgh, Vienna, Madrid, and Florence. Melbourne is next, with Paris 11th, then Montreal, Marrakesh, São Paulo, New York, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, Mumbai, Amsterdam, and Seoul rounding out the top 20.

Over seven days, we feasted on Melbourne’s cultural offerings.

The Music Vault is home to the Aria Hall of Fame and holder of a collection of mementos from the Australian scene. Many favourites from my younger years are there, as are any number of newer artists who are unknown to me.

Melbourne Museum has a hall dedicated to the city’s evolution, including pop culture. Who from the Countdown generation would not feel nostalgic watching video clips of Australian bands in the studio, or AC/DC’s infamous back-of-the-ute performance of Long Way To The Top?

The museum also documents and displays Melbourne’s housing in its many forms: slums, towers, terraces and mansions. This spurs us on to walk the streets of Fitzroy, which is a living museum as it contains all of the above.

It was, however, the digital immersive experiences that captured me the most.

An experience of almost sensory overload, LUME – the world’s largest digital art gallery – currently features Connection with 650 works from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, including a number from Western Australia.

At the Australian Centre for the Moving Image we visited on the opening day of Marshmallow Laser Feasts: Works of Nature, which takes you on a journey into the Amazon Rainforest, into your body, and into the night sky.

I expected to find Melbourne still trying to rid itself of its reputation gained during the pandemic as the world’s most locked-down city. Instead, it is shaking off this reputation by using a longstanding reputation as Australia’s cultural capital and giving it a new twist by using state-of-the art technology to immerse people in it.

As much as it pains me to say it, well played Melbourne.

• Marion Fulker is an adjunct associate professor at UWA