Melbourne City in Australia

13 October 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  10 minutes

Melbourne's Central Business District © Melbpal/cc-by-sa-4.0

Melbourne’s Central Business District © Melbpal/cc-by-sa-4.0

Melbourne is the capital and most-populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a 9,993 km²(3,858 sq mi) metropolitan area known as Greater Melbourne, comprising an urban agglomeration of 31 local municipalities, although the name is also used specifically for the local municipality of City of Melbourne based around its central business area. The city occupies much of the northern and eastern coastlines of Port Phillip Bay and spreads into the Mornington Peninsula and the hinterlands towards the Yarra Valley, the Dandenong and Macedon Ranges. It has a population over 5 million (19% of the population of Australia, as per 2020), mostly residing to the east side of the city centre, and its inhabitants are commonly referred to as “Melburnians”.   read more…

The port city of Geelong

5 December 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Waterfront © Marcus Wong/cc-by-sa-3.0

Waterfront © Marcus Wong/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Geelong metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of Victoria. Located 75 kilometres (47 mi) south-west of the state capital, Melbourne, the port city is situated around Corio Bay and the Barwon River. The metropolitan area runs from the plains of Lara in the north to the rolling hills of Waurn Ponds to the south, with the bay to the east and hills to the west, an area with an estimated population of 160,891 people. It is the administrative centre for the City of Greater Geelong municipality which covers the urban and surrounding areas and is home to over 181,000 people. An inhabitant of Geelong has been known as a Geelongite, or a Pivotonian, in the past.   read more…

Port Phillip Bay in Australia

25 October 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

The memorial at Sorrento marking the site of the first British settlement on Port Phillip Bay in 1803 © Adam Carr

The memorial at Sorrento marking the site of the first British settlement on Port Phillip Bay in 1803 © Adam Carr

Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay), is a large bay in southern Victoria; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers 1,930 square kilometres (480,000 acres) and the shore stretches roughly 264 km (164 mi). Although it is extremely shallow for its size, most of the bay is navigable. The deepest portion is only 24 metres (79 ft), and half the region is shallower than 8 m (26 ft). Its waters and coast are home to seals, whales, dolphins, corals and many kinds of seabirds and migratory waders.   read more…

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