Learn English while learning about daily life in Australia, with Rob McCormack
Podcast Number 27 – Sydney and Melbourne – Australian Cities
Most Australians live in the big cities and the two biggest are Sydney and Melbourne. I have lived in both. We lived in Sydney for 5 years and we have now been in Melbourne for 15 years. So I know these cities rather well. It probably comes as no surprise that these two cities are great rivals. Having lived in both, I have a balanced view about how these cities compare. In fact, the two cities are very different. They have a different feel about them.
They are both about the same size, although Sydney is slightly larger. In 2011, Sydney had 4.61 million people while Melbourne had 4.17 million.
Sydney is Australia’s first city of European settlement. It was founded in 1788 with the arrival of the first Europeans to the eastern side of Australia, which was known as New South Wales. But those who arrived then weren’t free settlers, they were convicts and their guards. This is because the first settlement was established by Britain as a place to send convicts from its overflowing prisons. Over time of course, free settlers came as well and Sydney, as the capital of New South Wales, grew.
By contrast, Melbourne was first settled 47 years later in 1835, by free settlers. The town of Melbourne grew and, in 1850, the colony of Victoria was created as a separate colony from New South Wales. That’s when the rivalry really began.
An important event for both cities was the start of the gold rushes in the 1850s. The population of Sydney grew quickly with the discovery of gold, however gold discoveries in Victoria in 1851 attracted many people from Sydney to Melbourne. This was when the great rivalry between the two cities grew. In fact, from around 1865, Melbourne overtook Sydney as the largest city in Australia. That’s how it stayed until the 1890’s when the depression of the 1890’s happened. From that time on, Sydney overtook Melbourne as the largest city in Australia and that’s how it remains today.
The creation of Australia in 1901 also fuelled the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne. There was a major question to be answered in the 1890s. Which city would be Australia’s new capital? There was much argument at the time. Melbourne was then the largest city, but Sydney was Australia’s oldest and first city. Finally a compromise was reached. A new city would be created in New South Wales, but it had to be more than 160 kilometres from Sydney. This was to become Canberra, Australia’s new capital. In the meantime, Melbourne became the temporary capital for the new nation while Canberra was built. This lasted until 1927 and you can imagine how this would have further increased the rivalry between the two cities.
I was fortunate to live in Sydney in the early 1990s. I worked in a building right next to Sydney Harbour at Circular Quay. My office was on the 14th floor and it faced the harbour. I could see the sights of Sydney right in front of me, including the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.
There is no doubt that the bridge and Sydney Harbour are beautiful sights. And the unique architecture of the Sydney Opera House is truly amazing.
The trip by ferry from Circular Quay to Manly Beach is one I remember fondly from our days in Sydney, as you get the best view of both the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. To me, these great sights, and the harbour in particular, somehow capture what Sydney is about. There are things to see in Sydney – the harbour, the beaches, the buildings.
Melbourne, by contrast, is not as beautiful as Sydney, in my opinion. It doesn’t have a beautiful harbour, nor an iconic Bridge nor an Opera House. Melbourne does have many good things to see, but I think Melbourne is more about events – things that happen. When I first came to Melbourne, I was impressed by the way people were always talking about sport. Melbourne people are crazy about sport. In the winter, it is Australian Rules Football, with it’s colourful and exciting Grand Final held at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground in September. Around 100,000 people attend. In the summer it is the Test Cricket, including the famous Boxing Day Test, also held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
But it’s not only these two sports. There is the Australian Tennis Open, the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the MotoGP motorcycle race, the Australian Masters Golf Tournament and the Melbourne Cup Carnival, just to name a few. These things seem to bring Melbourne people together in a way I never experienced in Sydney.
There is one other major sporting difference between the two cities, and it is in their preferred winter sport. In Melbourne, it is Australian Rules Football. In Sydney, it is Rugby League. Both cities are making attempts to bring their sport to the other city. In Melbourne, we now have the Melbourne Storm rugby league team. In Sydney, we now have 2 Australian Rules Football teams, the Sydney Swans and the Greater Western Sydney Giants. But these attempts have not yet changed things. This difference is probably the one big thing which keeps the rivalry between the two cities alive.
Melbourne is regarded as the fashion, arts, cultural and sporting capital of Australia. On the other hand, Sydney is the finance capital. Sydney has the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Stock Exchange. Both cities have had the Olympic Games – Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000. I should add too, that Sydney did a fantastic job with the Olympics in the year 2000. I took my family and it is a great memory for us all.
On balance, I prefer Melbourne as a place to live. It is a little bit more relaxed and I love the sport. But Sydney is the best place to visit. There are such wonderful things to see. But at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter which city is best. They are both great Australian cities of which I am very proud.
If you have a question or a comment to make, please leave it by clicking the comments link at the top of this story. You can leave your comment in English or in any language and I will translate it. Or, you can send me an email at firstname.lastname@example.org . I would love to hear from you. Tell me where you live, a little bit about yourself and what you think of my Slow English podcast. Perhaps you could suggest a topic for a future podcast. If you would like to take a short quiz to see if you have understood this podcast, you will also find it on my website. Goodbye until next time.
Podcast 27 Quiz - Did you understand the podcast?
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Question 1 of 10
True or False? – Rob has lived in Sydney for 15 years and in Melbourne for 5 years.Correct
Question 2 of 10
True or False? – The first people to settle in Sydney were convicts and their guards.Correct
Question 3 of 10
True or False? – In the 1850s, many people left Sydney to go to Melbourne, because of the gold rush.Correct
Question 4 of 10
True or False? – Sydney has always been a larger city than Melbourne.Correct
Question 5 of 10
True or False? – Because Sydney is the oldest and first city in Australia, it became the capital of Australia.Correct
Question 6 of 10
True or False? – When Rob worked in Sydney, he could see the Sydney Harbour Bridge from his office.Correct
Question 7 of 10
True or False? – Rob likes Sydney because there are many things to see.Correct
Question 8 of 10
True or False? – Rob likes Melbourne because there are so many great events.Correct
Question 9 of 10
True or False? – A major sporting difference between Melbourne and Sydney is their preferred winter sport.Correct
Question 10 of 10
True or False? – Rob prefers Melbourne as a place to live, and Sydney as a place to visit.Correct
amazing = when people find something hard to believe. When something is very, very good.
argument = when people don’t agree
arrival = when you come to a place
attempts = when you try to do something
attend = to go to some event
attracted = when you want to go towards something or someone
Australian Stock Exchange = Australia’s biggest place to buys shares and stocks in companies
balanced view = when you think about both the good and the bad things
beaches = a sandy area where the sea meets the land
biggest = the largest
capture = to be able to represent something
Carnival = a festival
Circular Quay = a place in Sydney where the ferries stop to pick up people.
colony = an area that is controlled by a foreign country
compare = when you decide if one thing is better or worse than something else
compromise = when two people agree on something. They get some of the things they want, but not all.
convicts = people who are in jail because they have broken the law
creation = when something is made
depression = a period of time when many people lose their money and their job
difference = when two things are not the same
discovery = when something is found
established = when something is first set up or created
European settlement = when Europeans came to live in Australia. Australian Aboriginals were living in Australia for 40,000 years before that.
experienced = when you have done something before
fantastic = when something is very, very good
fashion = the latest clothes designs
finance = the management of money, banking and investments
fondly = when you feel good about something
fortunate = to be lucky
founded = when people first came to live in a place
fuelled = to make something bigger
gold rushes = when everybody goes quickly to a place to find gold. To rush means to go quickly.
Grand Final = the last match in a competition, when the two best teams play
guards = people who stop convicts from escaping
iconic = when something is much loved and respected
imagine = when you think of something in your mind
impressed = when you think something is very good
increased = to get bigger
meantime = when something happens in between two other events.
memory = when you can remember something
overflowing = when things are more than full
overtook = when you get more
population = the total number of people in a place
preferred = when you like one thing more than another thing
prisons = places where you keep convicts. Also called jails.
proud = when you have something which you think is very good.
rather = very
regarded = when people have respect for something
relaxed = when you are not stressed
remains = stays
Reserve Bank of Australia = Australia’s central government bank which controls Australia’s banking
rivals = when you want to be better than someone else
separate = to be removed
settlers = people who come to live in a place
sights = things you can see
slightly = a little bit
temporary = when something is not there forever
Tournament = a competition
unique architecture = when a building is like no other building