Melbourne, Australia

Downtown Melbourne Australia
Downtown Melbourne, Australia
Twelve Apostles Great Ocean Road Australia
Twelve Apostles - Great Ocean Road, Australia
Koala bears in the Wild Australia
Koala bears in the Wild - Australia
Exciting Mix Old and New Melbourne Australia
Exciting Mix of Old and New 
- Melbourne, Australia
Downtown Melbourne at Night australia
Downtown Melbourne at Night
Downtown Melbourne australia
Downtown Melbourne, Australia
Excellent Tram System Melbourne Australia
Excellent Tram System - Melbourne, Australia
Great Ocean Road Australia
Great Ocean Road - Australia
Great Otway National Park Australia
Great Otway National Park - Australia
Melbourne, Australia (11/14-18/2009)

G’day, mate... welcome to Melbourne, Australia.

Located in the southeast of Australia, Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city and is a modern commercial and financial center. What a beautiful and fun place to visit!

Melbourne has experienced a major recent resurgence. Downtown Melbourne is a mix of fascinating new architecture among older buildings along a river (see photos).  

We had lunch in the historic Flinder’s Alley, visited the innovative Federation Square built over the central railroad tracks, strolled Southgate with its chic shops and cafes along the Yarra River, and visited the stately British-style reading room of the State Library of Victoria and the glitzy Crown Entertainment Complex where the movie cinema showed all Hollywood movies for $17! 

We also wandered Melbourne’s beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens, visited the Queen Victoria Market (a flee market spreading over 7 acres dating back over 125 years), and had dinner on Lygon Street. Melbourne even has a free hop on, hop off bus – truly a city of “No worries”.

In addition, we took a day trip around Melbourne’s countryside with the highlight being the 150-mile-long Great Ocean Road (see photos). The world famous attraction is the Twelve Apostles - breathtaking rock formations along the ocean. These are eight limestone sea pillars that reach as high as 230 feet. 

We also saw Koala bears in the wild (see photo). A wander through the ferns and tall eucalypts trees in the rain forest of the Great Otway National Park was amazing along with world famous Bells Beach, Port Campbell, and other beautiful places.



Some history... Concerned about the French getting a hold of this area, in the early 1800’s the British sent a party of convicts to settle the area gaining the name Melbourne in 1837. 

It became the center of Australia’s wool export trade. Real growth followed the gold rushes starting in 1851. Melbourne doubled in population in 1852 and soon after the Melbourne area was producing 30% of the world’s gold supply. 

By 1880, Melbourne became the second largest city in the British Empire, only after London, and became the capital of Australia. Much like what happened in America, the indigenous Aboriginal people were pushed aside. When the gold ran out, the economy crashed and Melbourne went into a long slump. By the turn of the 19th century, Sydney had become Australia’s largest city.
 
 

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2 comments:

  1. WOW!Beautiful Pictures.I really love it. nice post...It's very useful for visiters.Thanks for sharing.


    SyncVisas

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  2. Very good information which help a lot to the visitors who want to travel Melbourne. Really, Melbourne offers tourists and visitors a wide array of things to see and do. Thanks for the information.

    Corporate Travel Management

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