City rivalries and coffee snobberies

City rivalries

If you are an Australian, there’s about a 50% chance you either live in Sydney or Melbourne region. The two cities have about 10 of the 23 million people living in them.

So it’s no surprise that rivalries develop between the cities. We’ve heard Melbourner’s say… There’s no good coffee in Sydney, there’s no nightlife in Sydney, there’s no culture in Sydney etc..

We’ve heard Sydneysiders (yea that’s what they’re called, weird eh?) say the weather sucks in Melbourne, Melbourne is full of pretentious hipsters, there’s nowhere to swim or surf in Melbourne and even if there was it would be too cold to go there.

When you factor out all this intercity bickering, what are the actual differences? For starters, both cities need to get over themselves about coffee.

Being cities of 4.5 million+ people, both places have coffee shops available every 25 steps, so you’re going to find an adequate coffee. So fellas, give the caffeine argument a rest.

From our brief two-ish weeks in Melbourne, yes it does have better/more interesting night life in my opinion. However, if I were 19-22 YO and loved clubbing, then I might say Sydney was better. Melbourne just had wayyyy more places that looked approachable, interesting, and unique from one another. You could find most of Melbourne’s watering holes in a few walkable pockets around the city.

The issue in Sydney was that if you weren’t looking for a night club, or a dingy pub, you might have to cover some ground. A cab ride is almost mandatory.

​Weather? Surfing? Beach? I’m afraid that’s a landslide in favour of Sydney. Not much to discuss.

Sydney receives less rain and higher temperatures, has way more beaches in close proximity, thus way more surf. In fairness to Melbourne though, most places on earth would lose to Sydney in a weather/surf/beach battle.

Ultimately, the cities are different, both are worth checking out because they’re different. Tourism would be a bit blander if both places offered the same attractions, right? Sure.

Coffee Snobberies

I like coffee. Lindy and I like coffee. If it were free I’d probably drink 2-4 cups a day.

In Halifax we liked making our own coffee on weekends, during the week I’d subdue the environmentalist in me, and have a few k-cups in whichever office I happened to be working in.

Flash-forward to Sydney, and everyone is all up-in-arms about their particular barista at their particular coffee shop on particular days. Jeez everyone, it’s coffee, chill out. You will be given a weird look if you order a medium “coffee” in Australia, because it’s more complicated than that.

Apparently once an Italian presence took hold in Australia, they decided coffee would be a certain way, and that was it.

Mocha, flat white, long black, espresso, latte… but no regular old filter coffee, except at Starbucks. But going to Starbucks is tantamount to sacrilege.
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For months and months, I reveled in the counter culture, openly joking at my coworkers for their coffee snobbery, saying filter coffee is just fine and plenty enjoyable. They kept telling me that I’d eventually see the light and “elevate” my coffee tastes. 

Sydney and Melbourne are some of the biggest cities where you WON'T see a Starbucks on every corner.

In a chain coffee shop a few months ago  in Queensland, I found myself thinking;

“You call this a long black?”
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It appears I’ve inadvertently joined the ranks.
*sigh*

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AUS-ta la vista

The working holiday in Australia is officially a memory. After many digital and in-person fond farewells, we start heading home via New Zealand. We had such a great time living/working in Australia, and relatively speaking, we’re lucky to say it went without a hitch. However, we're excited to see NZ, and get home to see fam & friends.

If you're under 35, you should probably come work here for a year.

​P.S.
Vegemite will forever hold a place in my heart <3 (seriously, I kind like it)

a little vegemite, and a lot of butter.