My City

So I’ve been lying to you all when it comes to the city I live in... I actually live in the city of Port Phillip just south of Melbourne in an area called St. Kilda. While my pants aren’t necessarily on fire, I did manage to have a hole ripped through my fav jeans...To be quite honest I have it quite good here. I’m within walking distance of 3 supermarkets, have a tram that takes me from door-to-door to work (in under 10min), and loads of nightlife. Oh and not to forget the beach a short 10min walk away. Over the weekend we had the St. Kilda festival main day which is the main event of the 9 day festival and inspired me to write about my neighborhood. Almost half a million people descended upon my neighborhood for a wild party! While I could go into specifics about the different tourist gems around here, today I want to cover the very basics. First we’ll talk a bit about the underbelly here, next the general areas and lastly I’ll touch a bit on the nightlife.

Liar liar pants on fire!

St. Kilda is well known for it`s underbelly. I`ll always remember when I first moved here, I was quite shocked at the levels of prostitution. Having grown up on the mean streets of Vanier I`m used to seeing a hooker or two... Here however you can see 4-5 in a one block radius ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON. I`ve gotten used to them now, and they`re pretty harmless so long as you don`t taunt or provoke them. A friend of mine witnessed a couple insult one and she (maybe a he) apparently went into a drug induced rage... not smart folks! At the same time you need to remember that the hookers on the streets here are mostly drug addicts. Prostitution (in brothels) is LEGAL and regulated here in Australia which means that the girls on the street are there because a) they can`t get hired in a brothel (drugs, STDs, etc.) or b) they`re hiding something of the penis variety (buyer beware!) Most of my friends here would laugh when I complained about the hookers, as it wouldn`t be St. Kilda without them. I now make a game of counting how many I see, most shocking was 3 on a Monday at noon!

Guess what's for sale... and no it's not someone's brother...

There are two general areas that I hang out in,  Acland street and Fitzroy street. Acland street is a fairly small street lined with restaurants, shops and small bars. It does cater mostly to tourists so prices may be a little inflated, but like Fitzroy street, the bars all have specials every night to attract the backpackers travelling on a shoestring budget. Walking along Acland street, you know you’re close to the beach, and it gives off a sort of small town feel to it. Fitzroy street on the other hand feels much more urban, full of nightclubs and restaurants. There’s definitely much more selection for food, drinks, and shops along Fitzroy. Along Fitzroy you also have access to Albert Park and some great views of the CBD’s (downtown for you Canadians) skyline. 

Acland st. during the St. Kilda festival

Lastly this neighborhood is well known for it’s nightlife, and I must say my weekends have been pretty action packed. All the bars in the area have at least one night that caters to backpackers as we make up a sizable portion of the potential clientele here in St. Kilda. You’ll often see Happy Hours advertised with $5 pints and $4 mixed drinks. My favorite so far has to be the Barkly Hotel which on Fridays offers buckets of vodka (2 shots) redbull for $10 (basically $5 per shot). Now you also have the other end of the spectrum over at the Espy which sells jugs(think a pitcher minus a pint) for $18... ouch! But don’t get me wrong it’s one of my favorite bars.

The oh so dangerous $10 buckets!

Hopefully this gives you a very general idea of my hood, and I hope to tell you a little more about it in the coming weeks. I’m sure you guys are curious about some of the places I’ve mentioned and some of the tourist sites around here. At least you all have a general feel for the area and what it has to offer (apart from the hookers). I actually love my new hood. Funny enough back home in Ottawa I’d be downtown every day, here I haven’t been to the CBD in well over a week! I was quite surprised when I realized this...