Melbourne news

Long regarded as Australia's capital of culture — and even garnering the enviable rank of the world's most livable city for seven consecutive years at one.

If you haven’t been, you may not notice some of the changes that have occurred in the last two years. The city has tried to cover up the construction whenever possible with massive sheds and cladding, but it is noticeable. For tourists, this could be a positive change, especially if you’re planning to spend most of your time in the city. While eating and drinking outdoors in Melbourne is hardly a new concept since the city’s summers are typically hot, this time, I noticed many street parking spaces have been surrendered to newly established outdoor dining areas, particularly in suburban areas. While plenty of international music stars were scheduled to perform in Melbourne in 2020, these performances were mostly postponed or canceled altogether. I was keen to see how the city I know like the back of my hand has changed because of the pandemic. Plenty of businesses in the city have shut down, many of which may never open again. On domestic flights in Australia, the mask rules are amongst the strictest I have witnessed anywhere during the pandemic. Though my fellow Londoners might have actually enjoyed the chance to get out of their cramped apartments and return to an office environment, you get much more “bang for your buck” space-wise in Melbourne living quarters. At every venue I visited, you couldn’t enter the venue until a staff member had visually checked you had used the app correctly. Because of that, during my visit, you still had to check into certain venues with the Service Victoria COVID-19 app. While much of my visit was wonderfully familiar and reminded me why I made Melbourne my home for so many years, there were some subtle changes.