Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria is known as the 'Garden State', is situated on the River Yarra upstream from Port Philip Bay. The river was discovered in the early 1830's by John Batman ( 1901-1939) who after exploring further upstream, remarked that it would make good place for a village!! The city was named after Lord Melbourne and the river became the life blood of the new state, providing not only water but also a means of transport in those early days.

This is the Coat of Arms of Victoria. The state of Victoria holds the distinction of being the first state in Australia to have its own flag which is very similar to the National flag of Australia. Melbourne is Australia's second largest city and was founded in 1835 and has a population of over 3 million people. Melbourne was the seat of the Australian Government from 1901 until 1927.

The city of Melbourne is the furthest south of the mainland cities, while only Hobart located on the island of Tasmania, is further south. The main seaport in Victoria is Port Melbourne located at Williamstown at the mouth of the Yarra river.

The city is the spiritual home of the Melbourne Cup run every year on the first Tuesday of November at Flemington Racecourse, over a distance of 2 miles and is one of the worlds premier distant races. It is also the home of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, better known as the MCG, it is also the base of the Australian Rules Football Commission who conducts its games there during the winter football season. Almost 98,000 fans are seated in this stadium on Grand Final Days.

This picture shows the skyline of the Melbourne City business area, the River Yarra and the sporting precinct which houses the MCG, the Rod Laver tennis centre, Telstra Stadium, Storm Rugby League ground, Soccer stadium and trotting training track and various other sporting venues, all easily reached by Bus, train, car or by walking from the city. From the centre of the city, many beautiful gardens and parks can be reached on foot in just a few minutes. The shopping is exceptional in Melbourne and many outlets apart from the city, can be reached by the tram service which criss-crosses the city. 

            Melbourne Icon..  "Flinders Street Station"                               Swanston Street looking towards the Cenotaph.