Melbourne and surrounds

[NM]

Melbourne - well its been just over 6 years since I came to live down under. I love this city as it is not a crowded city nor is it a fast paced one, unlike Syndey or London, if you get what i mean. It does not make me an expert to wirte about Melbourne but these are what I know,heard or experienced not only in Melbourne but within Victoria.

Melbourne is in the state of Victoria and is one of the cooler cities in Australia. It is about 900 kms south of Sydney. Melbourne population is over 4 million but spread over 3400 sq miles.
It has many councils/municipalities - i live in Epping which is about 22kms north of Melbourne, within the Whittlesea council. Because it spans over a large area, there are many landed properties that you can see just outside city square (which we call CBD). In the city, there are many high-rise buildings, the tallest being the Eureka tower. When measured either by the height of its roof, or by the height of its highest habitable floor, Eureka Tower was the tallest residential building in the world when completed. The building stands 297 metres in height, with 91 storeys above ground plus one basement level. It is one of only seven buildings in the world with 90 or more storeys.

This is a very cosmo city - it basically has people from all over the world and culturally diverse. Over 35% of its population was born overseas namely from Britain, Italy, Croatia, Vietnam, China, New Zealand, Greece, India, Sri-Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Africa. Apart from these, there are other Europeans/Mediterranean descendants. There is a street in Melbourne famous for Italian food (Lygon Street), Little Bourke Street is 'Mini China town', Dandenong is southeast Melbourne is Little India/Srilanka etc. There are Murugan temples, Shiva-Vishnu, Durga, Ganesha temples in Melbourne.

WHAT TO SEE/DO IN MELBOURNE/VICTORIA? :-
Melbourne is often referred to as Australia's garden city, and the state of Victoria was once known as the garden state. There is an abundance of parks and gardens in Melbourne and many close to the CBD with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways and tree-lined avenues.
Within Melbourne, you will get to see many parks, beach, shopping venues (yes! it is a fsahion city after all). Just within a short drive (2 hrs), you will get to Philip island to watch the world's tiniest penguins and other wildlifes, wildlife sanctuaries to see platypus, kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, dingos and other native animals. The Great Ocean Road is about 4 hours away from Melbourne, where you can see the 12 Apostles. The drive is scenic and you can stop over at Cape Otway - nice green range. There's beautiful camping/national park not too far from Great Ocean - called the Grampians. I have nto been there yet but was told is it a beautiful place to go and the scene from the top is berathtaking!
If you come in autumn (March-May), you will get to see the trees changing colors (Maple leaves especially) - its a beautiful sight! If you are adventurous enough, take a drive to Canberra (day tripper) and wonder in the many beautiful colors of autumn! It is pleasing to the eyes and brings peace to the soul especially driving along the countryside...

ok;.... got to go, to be continued tomorrow .