The Melbourne Supremacy?

The seaside suburb of St. Kilda is our main stop today. It's famous for it's shabby chic, and at first sight it lives up to this. However, after wandering through the place for about an hour, I'm not sure where the chic bit comes in. It comes across like an antipodean Brighton in off-season.

Mandy remarks that it would be a good place to film 'Sean of the Dead II', and it's hard to disagree. There are a lot of seniors here, who appear to need some serious looking after, loads of jakies and more stoners and pillheads than you can shake a methylated stick at. So its back uptown we go to sip some amber nectar in Federation square, watch the sun go down and wait for the shuttle bus to the airport.

Debate rages on about whether Sydney beats Melbourne. But, to be honest, its pretty hard to compare them. Melbourne doesn't have the sheer geographical beauty of Sydney, but it seems to make up for it with its vibrancy and a sort of European air with its focus on eating, drinking and shopping. All of which are abundantly catered for. Both cities are easy to get about, and very easy on the senses as well. If you want sport, Melbourne is the clear winner being the home of cricket, AFL, tennis, formula one and the Melbourne Cup. And gig-wise it wins as well, unless all you are interested in is stadium rock.

Architecturally it's more varied, but Sydney holds the trump card in this respect with the Opera House. And if it's all about location, then Sydney wins here too.

So, in the interests of neutrality, and not offending the few friends I have in Australia, all of whom live in Sydney, I'll stay firmly on the fence.