So the gay things you enjoy midweek are
what Melbourne has to offer in spades.
Fantastic restaurants, a barrage of cafés on
every street corner, wine bars and wineries,
spas, museums, theatres, concert halls and
festivals. Melbourne is everything a trendy
gay could ever want.
Let's start with Chapel Street, a
stretch of road that runs through
several of Melbourne's precincts
that if you can remember their
names you'll sound less like a
tourist. It runs from South Yarra
through Prahan (pronounced
puh-ran... seriously), Windsor
and St Kilda. If you're ever
feeling homesick for trendy
shopping and pretentious twink
shop assistants this is the place
for you. Famously the home of
Melbourne's first TopShop as
well as a myriad of other brandname stores, restaurants and
cafes, this may be the reason all
the gays flock here. Or the fact
that all the gays flock here is why
they opened a TopShop; chicken
vs egg.
If you're in the mood to have a
few drinks and people-watch or
get together over dinner and
bitch about what people are
wearing, this is where I'll be
doing just that so come join me.
weekend the city centre is
shutting down in celebration of
one thing or another; and for 3
weeks in the summer Melbourne
celebrates all things gay with the
Midsumma Festival. A huge
range of shows, exhibitions,
concerts and events culminating
in the Pride March in St Kilda
(the area by the beach where all
the Brits and gays tend to flock)
topped off with a massive beach
party towards the end of March.
Another thing that Melbourne
does well is a good festival. It
seems that pretty much every
119
2014
Best time to go: Australian summer is
our winter so anytime from November to
April
Currency: Australian Dollar
Pound To Dollar: £1 = $1.89*
Language: English
Capital City of: Victoria
Mean Max Temp: 20.1 oC
Mean Min Temp: 10.2 oC
Population: 4.2M
Gay Rights: Legal: Sex Relationship
Recognition, Discrimination protections,
Gender expression. Not legal: Adoption
Famous residents: Tina Arena, The
Janoskians, Cate Blanchett,
Nick Cave, Germaine Greer, Chris
Hemsworth, Barry Humpries, The
Minogues, Olivia Newton John, Peter
Tatchell, Holly Valance
THEGAYUK FEB/MARCH
{
MELBOURNE Unlike its sister city and rival
for tourists’ attention Sydney, Melbourne
doesn't scream gay. It simply comments on it
every now and then without over stating. I
think the best way of describing gay
Melbourne is to picture how gay you are
throughout the week. If Sydney is you being
gay on a Saturday, Melbourne is how gay you
are on Monday. You're still plenty gay but
you're less likely to be dancing in a parade in
skin tight silver hot pants on a Monday...
TRAVEL