Melbourne, Australia

An "Asienated" Australia


Emma, ​​Juliet and Jimmy
Three Taiwanese friends and colleagues at one of Melbourne's university residences.
Megalopole Dynamics
Boat and tram pass by Melbourne's CBD (Central Business District) at dusk.
massive crossing
Pedestrians cross the road in front of Flinders Station, Melbourne's main rail interface.
trip for three
Asian friends share one of the carriages that travel through Melbourne city centre.
party off
Couple outside Luna Park in Melbourne.
hyperbolic chess
Passersby stop to follow a game of chess in a city street.
British Heritage
Friends from a college in the city laugh at colleagues who are about to arrive.
different heights
A Melbourne skyscraper, in stark contrast to the church opposite and the outer homes of the CBD (Central Business District).
Recycling Architecture
Summit of Melbourne Central Shopping Central.
The other library function
Residents enjoy the comfort of the lawn in front of the city library.
women vs men
Underground bathrooms with a classic look.
Grid panorama
Central Business District seen from inside the Yarra building, part of Federation Square.
Scott, American acrobat
A street performer juggles apples near the Yarra building in Fed Square.
urban symbiosis
An outdoor cafe, housed behind St. Paul's Church, one of Melbourne's most iconic.
Luna Park
Facade of Melbourne's Luna Park in St Kilda.
tribune tower
Top of one of the city's neo-gothic skyscrapers.
city ​​of arcades
Passersby pass through one of Melbourne's many arcades, occupied by bars and restaurants.
imminent photo
Visitor prepares to photograph the facade of the city's museum.
colonial supremacy
Australian and Aboriginal flags fly atop the Melbourne Museum building.
Paris to Aussie Fashion
A replica of the Eiffel Tower at Melbourne's Arts Center.
Cultural capital aussie, Melbourne is also frequently voted the best quality of life city in the world. Nearly a million eastern emigrants took advantage of this immaculate welcome.

Australia, and Melbourne in particular, have become destinations of choice for learning the English language.

Aware of the urgency of this and other opportunities, endowed with scholarships and subsidies from their states, young Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Japanese and Koreans flock to the south of the country.

Athey adapt among compatriots and live their new ozzie lives to the full.

Western visitors like us start to wonder at the abundance of Asians on the Big Island. Over time, they get used to the unexpected ethnic deviation. Some are inspired by it.

As we enter the futuristic Federation Square, Scott, an American acrobat touring Oceania, performs.

He kicks off his comedic juggling act with a snide: “Hi everyone, it's wonderful to be back in Australasia. Speaking of Asia, I can see that you Chinese are also multiplying well here!”.

A street performer juggles apples near the Yarra building in Fed Square.

It's not just the Chinese. Well counted, Asians in general are already over 800.000, 20% of Melbourne's population.

On any given weekday, Federation Square displays its kind of eruption of steel, glass and abstract geometry. It works as a privileged meeting point and promotes the city's great ethnic diversity.

Central Business District seen from inside the Yarra building, part of Federation Square.

The River Yarra's River and Social Frontier

It is right next to it that we find its river vein, the Yarra River that establishes another symbolic landmark of the colonization of Australia.

The Yarra was important to the Wurundjeri, Boonwurrung and Wathaurong aborigines who knew it as the river that “flows forever”.

Today, as the riverside lamps warm up the twilight, the terraces on its promenade fill with people who have recently been freed from their jobs.

As we enjoyed for almost an hour on end, determined rowing teams make the rounds of the Yarra, in the good manner of Oxford or Cambridge.

Victoria Town Planning

Rowers train on the Yarra River.

The river also divides competitive Melbourne geographically and socially.

“Crossing the river” is an expression that locals often resort to and reflects the rift that exists between the working-class zones of the north bank – Fitz Roy, Collingwood, Carlton and Brunswick and the aristocrats of the south – Saint Kilda and Prahan .

Real like those of other metropolises, the rivalry has dramatic repercussions. Some inhabitants of these neighborhoods spend months without visiting the other side.

Mia and Tony

Trolley stops at a downtown stop.

The Almond-eyed Immigrants from the Gold Fever of Vitoria

Those who arrived with Asian origin, these, for the most part try to prosper in the more distant suburbs.

They fight for success, with greater concentration in the southeast of the city and, some of them, business from China in Chinatown, formed in 1850, at the beginning of the emigration to the big island caused by the Victoria's gold rush.

Around that time, along with the almond-eyed miners, investors arrived in brothels, opium parlors, boarding houses and herbalists. Today, as in so many others around the world, the neighborhood is dominated by countless restaurants with roasted ducks hanging outside.

It retains a semi-saloon atmosphere for the sterility standards of the sophisticated center of Melbourne.

Sophisticated Garden Spaces on Both Sides of Rio

During the day, the adjacent green spaces of Birrarung Marr and the Alexandra and Queen Victoria Gardens are authentic playgrounds in which Melbourne photosynthesises.

Then, as night falls, the SouthBank Promenade comes alive in style.

When the oarsmen move away and no boat plows the waters of the Yarra, the water mirror recovers. It offers us the colorful reflection of Flinders Station and its influential Business District.

rowing in oceania

Combination of buildings with different architectures from the center of Melbourne, illuminated at dusk.

In the heart of Australia's financial stand, the Eureka Tower, four other of the six tallest buildings in the nation, stands out.

And also five of its biggest companies in terms of market capitalization:

ANZ bank, BHP Billiton (the world's number one mining company) and competitor Rio Tinto, National Bank of Australia and telecommunications company Telstra.

A Melbourne skyscraper, in stark contrast to the church opposite and the outer homes of the CBD (Central Business District).

A Quality of Life that Few Other Cities Offer

Not all Melbornians made the fortunes of the owners and top managers of these companies.

Still, most have seen and see a kind of Australian Dream come true.

Villas with carefully landscaped or cultivated backyards and, here and there, close to the “promised” acre (about a thousand square meters) occupy large extensions of the surroundings and define another delightful urban landscape.

The quality of life they provide, made up of successive outdoor moments – reading, barbecues, sports, etc. – is enviable. All this just over an hour from Great Ocean Road and the majestic coastline of the south of the Big Island.

By ferry or plane, also the world apart from Tassie, the other big island in Australia

Contributes to Melbourne being frequently ranked among the five most welcoming cities in the world.

Passersby stop to follow a game of chess in a city street.

The Easy Integration of Thousands of Asian Newcomers

Asian migrants enjoy hospitality as much as they can. Newly-settled people with immeasurable ambitions for academic and business success tend to fall in love with the city's eclectic atmosphere.

We stroll along Swanston Street and pass Victoria's imposing State Library.

If it weren't for the Victorian architecture, we would be fooled into thinking that we were in some new square in Hong Kong or Taipei.

Such is the number of oriental teenagers enjoying the favorable weather in the front garden.

Residents enjoy the comfort of the lawn in front of the city library.

Inside, the setting repeats itself in the majestic reading rooms of La Trobe and Dome.

Later, when we tried to photograph someone with an unmistakably Aussie look in another part of the city, we despaired and ended up approaching young Asians as well.

Shy but willful.

British Heritage II

A couple from Shanghai settled and visibly comfortable in Melbourne.

Mia and Tony are a slender and elegant couple, proud of their modern imagery.

Having arrived from Shanghai, they had been living in the capital of Victoria for some time. His English was still somewhat limited.

Emma, ​​Juliet and Jimmy, three Taiwanese friends returning from university. They also expressed themselves in the Aussie language with much more ease.

Emma

Three Taiwanese friends and colleagues at one of Melbourne's university residences.

They had shared plans to settle down and form families there. “Australia is Australia, confesses Juliet. And Melbourne is a very special Australia. They must have already noticed!”.

Lack of Consensus on Australia's Openness to Immigration

The “asianation” of the big island and Melbourne, in particular, has mixed reactions, rarely indifference.

It is common to hear from older inhabitants the speech of the Old Aussie Homeland in which the entire population was in solidarity and did not suffer from the individualism and ethnic compartmentalization that many consider to undermine, today, the historical soul of the nation.

Flinders Station

Three students in typical British high school uniforms.

Opinions like those of journalist George Megalogenis have also become famous: “the Australian navel contemplation on whether the mining boom has ended or simply declined makes us ignore the most important aspect: our future in Asia is that of the best immigration nation… But to prove it, we need more Chinese and Indians who want to settle across the country. Not less."

Asian friends share one of the carriages that travel through Melbourne city centre.

Even at the sporting level, Australia has needed the Asians to overcome its geological desolation and geographic loneliness. Perth, for example, is considered the most isolated large city on Earth.

Since 1950, it has repeatedly requested FIFA to be included in the Asian Football Confederation.

Universal football, not the Australian football Melbourne has some of its best teams and biggest stadium.

In 2005, the request was granted.

Little Havana, USA

Little Havana of the Nonconformists

Over the decades and until today, thousands of Cubans have crossed the Florida Straits in search of the land of freedom and opportunity. With the US a mere 145 km away, many have gone no further. His Little Havana in Miami is today the most emblematic neighborhood of the Cuban diaspora.
Sydney, Australia

From the Exile of Criminals to an Exemplary City

The first of the Australian colonies was built by exiled inmates. Today, Sydney's Aussies boast former convicts of their family tree and pride themselves on the cosmopolitan prosperity of the megalopolis they inhabit.
Great Ocean Road, Australia

Ocean Out, along the Great Australian South

One of the favorite escapes of the Australian state of Victoria, via B100 unveils a sublime coastline that the ocean has shaped. We only needed a few kilometers to understand why it was named The Great Ocean Road.
Viti levu, Fiji

The Unlikely Sharing of Viti Levu Island

In the heart of the South Pacific, a large community of Indian descendants recruited by former British settlers and the Melanesian indigenous population have long divided the chief island of Fiji.
Perth, Australia

the lonely city

More 2000km away from a worthy counterpart, Perth is considered the most remote city on the face of the Earth. Despite being isolated between the Indian Ocean and the vast Outback, few people complain.
Perth, Australia

The Oceania Cowboys

Texas is on the other side of the world, but there is no shortage of cowboys in the country of koalas and kangaroos. Outback rodeos recreate the original version and 8 seconds lasts no less in the Australian Western.
Perth, Australia

Australia Day: In Honor of the Foundation, Mourning for Invasion

26/1 is a controversial date in Australia. While British settlers celebrate it with barbecues and lots of beer, Aborigines celebrate the fact that they haven't been completely wiped out.
Red Center, Australia

Australia's Broken Heart

The Red Center is home to some of Australia's must-see natural landmarks. We are impressed by the grandeur of the scenarios but also by the renewed incompatibility of its two civilizations.
Oslo, Norway

An Overcapitalized Capital

One of Norway's problems has been deciding how to invest the billions of euros from its record-breaking sovereign wealth fund. But even immoderate resources don't save Oslo from its social inconsistencies.
Waikiki, OahuHawaii

The Japanese Invasion of Hawaii

Decades after the attack on Pearl Harbor and from the capitulation in World War II, the Japanese returned to Hawaii armed with millions of dollars. Waikiki, his favorite target, insists on surrendering.
Melbourne, Australia

The Football the Australians Rule

Although played since 1841, Australian Football has only conquered part of the big island. Internationalization has never gone beyond paper, held back by competition from rugby and classical football.
Perth to Albany, Australia

Across the Far West of Australia

Few people worship evasion like the aussies. With southern summer in full swing and the weekend just around the corner, Perthians are taking refuge from the urban routine in the nation's southwest corner. For our part, without compromise, we explore endless Western Australia to its southern limit.
Atherton Tableland, Australia

Miles Away from Christmas (part XNUMX)

On December 25th, we explored the high, bucolic yet tropical interior of North Queensland. We ignore the whereabouts of most of the inhabitants and find the absolute absence of the Christmas season strange.
Busselton, Australia

2000 meters in Aussie Style

In 1853, Busselton was equipped with one of the longest pontoons in the world. World. When the structure collapsed, the residents decided to turn the problem around. Since 1996 they have been doing it every year. Swimming.
Discovering tassie, Part 3, Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania from Top to Bottom

The favorite victim of Australian anecdotes has long been the Tasmania never lost the pride in the way aussie ruder to be. Tassie remains shrouded in mystery and mysticism in a kind of hindquarters of the antipodes. In this article, we narrate the peculiar route from Hobart, the capital located in the unlikely south of the island to the north coast, the turn to the Australian continent.
Discovering tassie, Part 1 - Hobart, Australia

Australia's Backdoor

Hobart, the capital of Tasmania and the southernmost of Australia, was colonized by thousands of convicts from England. Unsurprisingly, its population maintains a strong admiration for marginal ways of life.
Alice Springs to Darwin, Australia

Stuart Road, on its way to Australia's Top End

Do Red Center to the tropical Top End, the Stuart Highway road travels more than 1.500km lonely through Australia. Along this route, the Northern Territory radically changes its look but remains faithful to its rugged soul.
Cairns to Cape Tribulation, Australia

Tropical Queensland: An Australia Too Wild

Cyclones and floods are just the meteorological expression of Queensland's tropical harshness. When it's not the weather, it's the deadly fauna of the region that keeps its inhabitants on their toes.
Wycliffe Wells, Australia

Wycliffe Wells' Unsecret Files

Locals, UFO experts and visitors have been witnessing sightings around Wycliffe Wells for decades. Here, Roswell has never been an example and every new phenomenon is communicated to the world.
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
Believers greet each other in the Bukhara region.
City
Bukhara, Uzbequistan

Among the Minarets of Old Turkestan

Situated on the ancient Silk Road, Bukhara has developed for at least two thousand years as an essential commercial, cultural and religious hub in Central Asia. It was Buddhist and then Muslim. It was part of the great Arab empire and that of Genghis Khan, the Turko-Mongol kingdoms and the Soviet Union, until it settled in the still young and peculiar Uzbekistan.
Skipper of one of the bangkas at Raymen Beach Resort during a break from sailing
Beach
Islands Guimaras  e  Ave Maria, Philippines

Towards Ave Maria Island, in a Philippines full of Grace

Discovering the Western Visayas archipelago, we set aside a day to travel from Iloilo along the northwest coast of Guimaras. The beach tour along one of the Philippines’ countless pristine coastlines ends on the stunning Ave Maria Island.
The Zambezi River, PN Mana Pools
safari
Kanga Pan, Mana Pools NP, Zimbabwe

A Perennial Source of Wildlife

A depression located 15km southeast of the Zambezi River retains water and minerals throughout Zimbabwe's dry season. Kanga Pan, as it is known, nurtures one of the most prolific ecosystems in the immense and stunning Mana Pools National Park.
Yak Kharka to Thorong Phedi, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, Yaks
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit 11th: yak karkha a Thorong Phedi, Nepal

Arrival to the Foot of the Canyon

In just over 6km, we climbed from 4018m to 4450m, at the base of Thorong La canyon. Along the way, we questioned if what we felt were the first problems of Altitude Evil. It was never more than a false alarm.
Architecture & Design
Cemeteries

the last address

From the grandiose tombs of Novodevichy, in Moscow, to the boxed Mayan bones of Pomuch, in the Mexican province of Campeche, each people flaunts its own way of life. Even in death.
The small lighthouse at Kallur, highlighted in the capricious northern relief of the island of Kalsoy.
Aventura
Kalsoy, Faroe Islands

A Lighthouse at the End of the Faroese World

Kalsoy is one of the most isolated islands in the Faroe archipelago. Also known as “the flute” due to its long shape and the many tunnels that serve it, a mere 75 inhabitants inhabit it. Much less than the outsiders who visit it every year, attracted by the boreal wonder of its Kallur lighthouse.
Saida Ksar Ouled Soltane, festival of the ksour, tataouine, tunisia
Ceremonies and Festivities
Tataouine, Tunisia

Festival of the Ksour: Sand Castles That Don't Collapse

The ksour were built as fortifications by the Berbers of North Africa. They resisted Arab invasions and centuries of erosion. Every year, the Festival of the Ksour pays them the due homage.
Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St. Kitts, Berkeley Memorial
Cities
Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis

A Capital at the Caribbean Sea Level

Nestled between the foot of Olivees Mountain and the ocean, tiny Basseterre is the largest city in Saint Kitts and Nevis. With French colonial origins, long Anglophone, it remains picturesque. It is only distorted by the gigantic cruises that flood it with hit-and-run visitors.
Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan
Lunch time
Tokyo, Japan

The Fish Market That Lost its Freshness

In a year, each Japanese eats more than their weight in fish and shellfish. Since 1935, a considerable part was processed and sold in the largest fish market in the world. Tsukiji was terminated in October 2018, and replaced by Toyosu's.
Ooty, Tamil Nadu, Bollywood Scenery, Heartthrob's Eye
Culture
Ooty, India

In Bollywood's Nearly Ideal Setting

The conflict with Pakistan and the threat of terrorism made filming in Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh a drama. In Ooty, we see how this former British colonial station took the lead.
combat arbiter, cockfighting, philippines
Sport
Philippines

When Only Cock Fights Wake Up the Philippines

Banned in much of the First World, cockfighting thrives in the Philippines where they move millions of people and pesos. Despite its eternal problems, it is the sabong that most stimulates the nation.
Dorrigo NP, Australia: Waterfall Way Suspension Bridge
Traveling
Dorrigo a Bellingen, Australia

Among Tree-Changers, along the Forests of Gondwana

Australians created the term to define people who decide to move to the countryside. Bellingen, in northern New South Wales, has become a town that illustrates the trend. At the entrance to an immensity of prehistoric forest and the national park of the same name, Dorrigo follows in its footsteps.
Barrancas del Cobre, Chihuahua, Rarámuri woman
Ethnic
Barrancas del Cobre (Copper Canyon), Chihuahua, Mexico

The Deep Mexico of the Barrancas del Cobre

Without warning, the Chihuahua highlands give way to endless ravines. Sixty million geological years have furrowed them and made them inhospitable. The Rarámuri indigenous people continue to call them home.
sunlight photography, sun, lights
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Natural Light (Part 2)

One Sun, So Many Lights

Most travel photos are taken in sunlight. Sunlight and weather form a capricious interaction. Learn how to predict, detect and use at its best.
Cape Espichel, Sanctuary of Senhora do Cabo, Sesimbra,
History
Albufeira Lagoon ao Cape Espichel, Sesimbra, Portugal

Pilgrimage to a Cape of Worship

From the top of its 134 meters high, Cabo Espichel reveals an Atlantic coast as dramatic as it is stunning. Departing from Lagoa de Albufeira to the north, golden coast below, we venture through more than 600 years of mystery, mysticism and veneration of its aparecida Nossa Senhora do Cabo.
Ruins, Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia
Islands
Discovering Tassie, Part 2 - Hobart to Port Arthur, Australia

An Island Doomed to Crime

The prison complex at Port Arthur has always frightened the British outcasts. 90 years after its closure, a heinous crime committed there forced Tasmania to return to its darkest times.
coast, fjord, Seydisfjordur, Iceland
Winter White
Seydisfjordur, Iceland

From the Art of Fishing to the Fishing of Art

When shipowners from Reykjavik bought the Seydisfjordur fishing fleet, the village had to adapt. Today, it captures Dieter Roth's art disciples and other bohemian and creative souls.
shadow vs light
Literature
Kyoto, Japan

The Kyoto Temple Reborn from the Ashes

The Golden Pavilion has been spared destruction several times throughout history, including that of US-dropped bombs, but it did not withstand the mental disturbance of Hayashi Yoken. When we admired him, he looked like never before.
Seljalandsfoss Escape
Nature
Iceland

The Island of Fire, Ice and Waterfalls

Europe's supreme cascade rushes into Iceland. But it's not the only one. On this boreal island, with constant rain or snow and in the midst of battle between volcanoes and glaciers, endless torrents crash.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
Windward Side, Saba, Dutch Caribbean, Netherlands
Natural Parks
Saba, The Netherlands

The Mysterious Dutch Queen of Saba

With a mere 13km2, Saba goes unnoticed even by the most traveled. Little by little, above and below its countless slopes, we unveil this luxuriant Little Antille, tropical border, mountainous and volcanic roof of the shallowest european nation.
UNESCO World Heritage
glaciers

icy blue planet

They form at high latitudes and/or altitudes. In Alaska or New Zealand, Argentina or Chile, rivers of ice are always stunning visions of an Earth as frigid as it is inhospitable.
now from above ladder, sorcerer of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand
Characters
Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand's Cursed Wizard

Despite his notoriety in the antipodes, Ian Channell, the New Zealand sorcerer, failed to predict or prevent several earthquakes that struck Christchurch. At the age of 88, after 23 years of contract with the city, he made very controversial statements and ended up fired.
Coconut picker in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka
Beaches
Unawatuna to Tongalle, Sri Lanka

Along the Tropical South of Old Ceylon

We left the Galle fortress behind. From Unawatuna to Tangale, the south of Sri Lanka is made up of beaches with golden sand and coconut groves attracted by the coolness of the Indian Ocean. Once the scene of conflict between local and colonial powers, this coast has long been shared by backpackers from the four corners of the world.
Maksim, Sami people, Inari, Finland-2
Religion
Inari, Finland

The Guardians of Boreal Europe

Long discriminated against by Scandinavian, Finnish and Russian settlers, the Sami people regain their autonomy and pride themselves on their nationality.
Train Kuranda train, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
On Rails
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
View of Fa Island, Tonga, Last Polynesian Monarchy
Society
Tongatapu, Tonga

The Last Polynesian Monarchy

From New Zealand to Easter Island and Hawaii, no other monarchy has resisted the arrival of European discoverers and modernity. For Tonga, for several decades, the challenge was to resist the monarchy.
the projectionist
Daily life
Sainte-Luce, Martinique

The Nostalgic Projectionist

From 1954 to 1983, Gérard Pierre screened many of the famous films arriving in Martinique. 30 years after the closing of the room in which he worked, it was still difficult for this nostalgic native to change his reel.
Gandoca Manzanillo Refuge, Bahia
Wildlife
Gandoca-Manzanillo (Wildlife Refuge), Costa Rica

The Caribbean Hideaway of Gandoca-Manzanillo

At the bottom of its southeastern coast, on the outskirts of Panama, the “Tica” nation protects a patch of jungle, swamps and the Caribbean Sea. As well as a providential wildlife refuge, Gandoca-Manzanillo is a stunning tropical Eden.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.