Melbourne Moments

Melbourne has long sat at the top or very close to the top of the worlds most liveable city list. Don't believe me or my bias, it's just a thing. The Liveability Ranking assesses living conditions in 140 cities around the world. A rating of relative comfort for 30 indicators is assigned across five broad categories: stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure. Melbourne only loses points for petty crime, culture (seriously?) and climate, yet still scores in the high 90's out of 100.

But what is also a thing is that no matter how amazing the city you live in is, if you live there long enough you forget how lucky you are. Until quite out of the blue on a random Friday night you find yourself jumping off a tram at the city hall and walking down Swanston St to a bar on the river to meet a friend. The energy levels in that 400 metres of pavement are palpable. The Melbourne Storm supporters are all dressed in their gear heading to AAMI stadium for their knock out final against the Brisbane Broncos, workers, tourists, homeless and schoolies fill every available table and chair in the area because on this night Mother Nature decided to play nicely. The weather was just a perfect temperature for an end of week drink. And there I stood, stopped among it all having a Melbourne Moment.

This term is not mine, it technically belongs to my friend Rob but for anyone who has moved here from anywhere else you will know what I mean when I say it's the moment that just hits you, where you are captivated and have to pinch yourself because oh my god, I actually live here. No longer a visitor but a fully fledged resident in the worlds most liveable city.

Today I am going out with a friend who has recently arrived in Melbourne. While we are spending the day somewhere that I have been many times before, it is new to her and I sincerely hope I get to see her experience an MM. I certainly know that I intend to take the time today to appreciate who I am with, where I am and what I am doing and I hope to get another MM myself. I probably will. I am taking my camera today as well. It will be interesting to see what arrives in front of the lens. Hopefully another side, I have somehow not seen before. That would be cool.

So, it would be un-Melbourne of me to finish without mentioning the weather. Today's forecast, is FAIR. Which means, there will be patches of sun, a top of 27 degrees, some cloud, strong gusts of wind and possibly some rain. Not sure what part of that is fair but I guess when you are the worlds liveable city for years you earn the right to call it what you want.

And on that, I am off now to get ready to capture another Melbourne Moment.Read more