Home to more Greeks than Athens and as many Vietnamese ex-pats as Phnom Penh, Melbourne is a truly multi-cultural city, and the undisputed sporting and arts capital of Australia. Despite its truly awful weather (at least by Australian standards) its population of 3.7 million people love going out and seeing stuff, and if you want to experience Australian football, cricket, ballet, theatre or coffee, you simply have to go to Melbourne.
In 1835 a bunch of Tasmanian property entrepreneurs arrived in Port Phillip Bay and managed to 'buy' 2,000 km² of land from a group of local Aboriginal representitives. The Yarra River provided a good base for settlement, Port Phillip Bay was an excellent harbour, and the area was perfectly situated to become a stop-off point for whaling and commercial ships exploring the east coast of Australia. Farms began to develop around town, impressive buildings sprang up and by 1850 Melbourne was the capital of the new colony of Victoria with a population of 77,000. The future looked bright, but it really started to shine in 1851 when Gold was discovered in hills a couple of days ride away to the northwest.
The population of the city doubled in a year and by 1860 as the gold got deeper and harder to find with a pick and shovel, the prospectors began to move out of the Gold fields and back into the city, pushing the population up to half a million people (making Melbourne considerably larger than the entire population of California, which itself was in the grips of Gold fever). By 1880 Melbourne was the second largest city in the British Empire (behind London) and by the time Australia became a federated nation in 1901, Melbourne was named the (temporary) capital of the country (while they waited for Canberra to be built).
Melbourne's official line is that it's the arts capital of Australia, and while there's no question the city is home to excellent facilities and a thriving arts culture, audience attendance figures tell a different story.
In 2001, Opera Australia performances in Melbourne drew 77,600 patrons, compared with 178,000 in Sydney.
For the Australian Ballet it was 86,000 in Melbourne compared with 133,000 in Sydney. Bell Shakespeare drew 18,000 people in Melbourne and 28,600 in Sydney.
In an article in The Bulletin earlier this month, Mr Schofield predicted that the Sydney-based Opera Australia would stop performing in Melbourne where he says it regularly records losses. "To the impartial observer, Opera Australia's biggest problem is not money but Melbourne," he wrote.
In 2005, the average attendance for an AFL football match in Melbourne was around 35,703. In Sydney their rugby league matches attracted only around 16,468.
Immigration booms after the various 20th Century wars brought millions of Greek, Italian, Vietnamese and other Asian, European and Middle Eastern citizens into the city and the cultural influences started to converge into the picture of modern, multi-cultural Australia that Melbourne represents. The city's infrastructure received a boost with the 1956 Olympic Games, and while sport had always played a huge role in Melbourne's weekends, the arts also flourished with the influx of cultural diversity (not to mention the restaurants).
International flights arrive in Melbourne from most countries that fly into Australia and domestic flights land from all other Australian capital cities, many regional cities and most large regional Victorian towns.
If you're coming by car from Sydney you can take the Hume Highway, which is the most direct route at about nine hours, or the Princes Highway along the south coast, which is longer and still full of pot-holes, but more scenic. The alpine roads via the ACT also offer a scenic diversion through the Victorian mountains. If you're heading in from Adelaide you could take the relatively mundane Western Highway, but if you can spare another half a day the Great Ocean Road is far more rewarding.
Trains run into Melbourne from Sydney, Adelaide and significant sections of rural Victoria and busses cover the same routes with a few variations.
The Spirit of Tasmania Ferry makes daily crossings between Melbourne and Devonport in Tasmania and is the best way to get a car between the two states. If you haven't got a car it's much easier and cheaper to fly across Bass Straight.
Melbourne's public transport system is divided into zones and the one ticket (called a Metcard) will allow you to travel on virtually any mode of public transport within the zones you pay for.
Trams are the easiest way to get around the CBD and between major suburbs, busses cover most of the gaps and overland trains travel between most of the major suburbs. A 24 hour Metcard for zone one costs around $5.
Visit http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/ for more details.
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