EARLY DAYSThe city of Melbourne is home to thetraditional lands of the Kulin Nation.

These indigenous people gatheredevery year in the area now known asMelbourne for ceremonies, trade andcelebrations.

The first white settlers were a groupof Tasmanian farmers and businessmenwho in 1835 bought 243,000ha of landfrom eight Aboriginal chiefs in exchangefor scissors, beads, suits, blankets, foodand tomahawks.

In 1836, the Governor of NSW, SirRichard Bourke, sent governmentsurveyors Robert Hoddle and RobertRussell to design a new city.

The Governor wanted “order andgrandeur” so the resulting design was agrid of straight streets and lanes.

In 1837 the new town was namedMelbourne after the British Prime Ministerof the time, William Lamb, Lord Melbourne.

In 1851, Victoria was created as aseparate colony and Melbourne became itscapital.

The settlement grew quickly from apopulation of just 50 in 1835 to more than700,000 by 1869.

4 • TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 ED! THE WEST AUSTRALIAN

5

Walking around the citystreets is a history lessonin itself as most were

named after historical figuresCollins Street: named after

Lieutenant-Governor David Collins. Walking up Collins Street is like

going back in time as it is linedwith many buildings from the GoldRush era. However, the street wasknown for something more deadlyduring earlier years. In May 1839Melbourne’s first duel was foughtat the lower end of Collins Streetwith the only casualty being the

hat worn by a spectator. On NewYear’s Day 1840, another duelended with one of the duellists, aman named Snodgrass, shootinghimself in the foot.

Swanston Street: named afterCaptain Charles Swanston, whoowned the city’s first bank.

If you have watched the AFLGrand Final Parade you wouldhave seen Swanston Street, as thisis the city’s main parade route.Swanston Street becameMelbourne’s busiest thoroughfareduring the Gold Rush and is thelocation of many significantbuildings such as the Town Hall,

the State Library and the Museumof Victoria

Bourke Street: named after theGovernor of NSW, GovernorRichard Bourke.

Home to the Bourke Street Malland Melbourne’s shoppingprecinct, the top end of BourkeStreet, opposite Parliament Housewas once the home for sportingevents, including goat and pig racemetings.

When you walk around the cityyou can’t help but noticelaneways connecting streets anddisappearing into buildings. These

lanes mostly date to the Victorianera, having been created as servicelanes for horse and carts. Duringthe Gold Rush, these laneways,especially those in the LittleLonsdale area, were associatedwith crime and slums. Today manyof them have become notable fortheir outdoor cafes and art. HosierLane, opposite Federation Square,is a place to visit for quirkygraffiti-covered walls and urban artinstallations.

Standing in the centre of Melbourne you will hear a unusualsound — the “dinging” of hundreds of trams.

The Melbourne tram network is the biggest urbannetwork in the world with in excess of 250km of track

and more than 490 trams. Trams have operated continuously in the city since 1884

with the opening of a horse tramline. Flinders Street Station was the first railway station in an

Australian city, with the main station building completed in1909. In one year it recorded nearly 93 million passenger

movements.

JUDD, 9What do you like about Melbourne?There are lots of sporting events here. Ican watch the footy, the cricket, soccer,rugby — but I’m still a West Coast Eaglessupporter though!What do you miss about living in Perth?We used to have a pool so I missswimming every afternoon after school buthere it’s a little too cold to do that and wedon’t have a pool any more.If friends came from Perth to Melbournefor a visit, where would you take them?The MCG of course! It’s a landmark ofAustralia. I did a tour there and watchedthe footy.

SCARLETT, 7If you could go anywhere in Melbourne, where wouldyou go?I would visit the Melbourne Star (the famous ferriswheel). I went there for my seventh birthday as a treat.It has a beautiful view of Melbourne; you can see EtihadStadium from it. The view is even better at night as thestar glows up.Where would you take your Perth friends if theyvisited you in Melbourne?I would take them into the city and up the Eureka Tower.So how different is Perth to Melbourne?Well, both cities have rivers but Melbourne’s river is alittle yucky. Melbourne is bigger than Perth and you doget trams in Melbourne and not in Perth. I also like to gointo Melbourne to see the window displays at Christmas.

LEWIS, 6What’s the difference between living inPerth and living in Melbourne?There’s a lot more people in Melbourne andthe weather is different. It’s hot heresometimes but it gets really, really cold. Andit rains. Was there anything you had to get usedto living in Melbourne?Yes, being in traffic. It takes a long time toget to places sometimes. When we go intothe city we often take a train. We alwaysdrove into Perth.Also, when I started school in Melbourne, itwas called prep but in Perth it’s calledpre-primary.

Interesting origin: AMelbourne CBD laneway.Picture: Mark Irving

Melbourne landmark: FlindersStreet station. Picture: Trevor Collens

Changing places: Scarlett, Judd and Lewis York moved from Perth to Melbourne a year ago. Picture: Stephanie YorkPERT

H v

MEL

BOU

RN

E

STR

EET

WIS

E

The York family moved from Perth to Melbourne a year ago. ED! paid them a visit to see how they were settling in.

ED! •Topic: Melbourne

Discover historic MelbourneVictoria’s capital city is a great place to visit but before you do,let Heather Zubek give you a history lesson and a few tips onwhere to go.

Colourful creation: A painted cafe inHosier Lane. Picture: Mark Irving

Historical names: The

busy intersection of

Flinders andSwanston streets in

Melbourne. Picture:

Frances Pratt

ShopaholicsMelbourne is a shoppers’ paradise, catering for therich and those with pocket-money budgets. Thehistoric Queen Victoria Markets opened on the siteof an old cemetery in 1878. The markets are spread over 7ha,making it the largest open-air market in the SouthernHemisphere. This is the place to spend your pocket money onanything from fruit and vegetables to cosmetics, clothing andsouvenirs.

Sports loversMelbourne is a sporting mecca. Australian Rules football is themost popular sport in Victoria and its spiritual home is theMelbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). The Melbourne CricketClub selected the current site in 1853 after previously playing atseveral unsuitable grounds around the city. When the firstinter-colonial cricket match was played at the MCG in 1856between Victoria and New South Wales, the latter won. Todaysports lovers can tour the MCG grounds and visit its NationalSports Museum.

Did you know?The MCG:

! Is the biggest stadium in Australia.! Has the highest light towers of any sporting venue.! Is remembered as the centrepiece for the 1956 SummerOlympics, 1992 Cricket World Cup, 2006 CommonwealthGames and this year’s Cricket World Cup.! Held a record for 130,000 people attending a Billy GrahamCrusade in 1959.

History buffsTo find out more about Melbourne’s history, start your tour atone of the city’s many museums.

The Melbourne Museum is the biggest in the SouthernHemisphere. It houses a stuffed Phar Lap — Australia’s mostfamous champion racehorse — as well as exhibits on themessuch as natural history, art and the history of Melbourne. Amust-see for media fans is the Australian Centre for theMoving Image (ACMI). Filled with exhibits relating the historyof film, television and electronic gaming in Australia, ACMI isfound within the iconic Federation Square.

Any enthusiast of the Ned Kelly legend must take time to visitthe State Library of Victoria. Here you will discover NedKelly’s armour (complete with bullet dents), rifle and death

mask as well as other Kelly memorabilia. If you need to knowmore about Ned Kelly visit the nearby Old Melbourne Gaolwhere you can be locked in the bushranger’s old cell.

Culture vulturesMelbourne is the cultural heart of Australia and the mostrecognisable cultural icon is the Arts Centre Melbourne spire.Underneath lie the arts centre’s theatres and exhibition spaces.

Did you know?! The Arts Centre Melbourne extends five floors underground.! The spire reaches 162m above street level.! There is more than 6600m of fibre-optic tubing within thespire and 14,000 incandescent lamps on its “skirt”.! The spire caught fire in 2012 during New Year’s Evecelebrations.

The Princess Theatre is another cultural and heritagesymbol of the city. First erected in 1854, the magnificentbuilding on Spring Street has held musicals and performancesunder the watchful eye ofa ghost. During aperformance of the operaFaust in 1888, a baritonenamed Frederick Federiciwas being loweredthrough a trapdoor inthe stage when theunfortunate actorsuffered a heart attackand died. Actors havesince seen his ghosttaking his final bowsand sitting in thetheatre. Everyopening night a seatis left empty for theghost and a sightingof him is consideredgood luck.

TRANSPORT TRADITIONS

Culturalsymbol: TheArts CentreMelbournespire. Picture:Phillip Minnis

THE WEST AUSTRALIAN ED! TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 • 5

SOM

ETH

ING

FO

R E

VER

YON

E

Biggest stadium: The MelbourneDemons playing the CollingwoodMagpies at the MCG last year.Picture: Michael Dodge

There are about 140 different culturesrepresented in Melbourne and their impact

can be seen in areas all around the city.Thousands of Chinese migrants flocked

to Victoria in the 1850s during the GoldRush. What began as a cluster of shopsin 1854 is now a bustling precinct calledChinatown. Situated in and aroundLittle Bourke Street, visitors can shop

for traditional Chinese products, enjoyyum cha and learn about the history of

the Chinese in Australia at the Chinesemuseum. This small museum houses the

world’s biggest Chinese dragon woken everyChinese New Year to walk the streets of the city.

Melbourne is home to the biggest Greek-speakingpopulation outside Greece. So it’s no wonder that visitors can indulge in deliciousMediterranean foods as well as buy Greek products such as magazines, jewellery,clocks and religious icons from shops situated at the corner of Russell andLonsdale streets.

The city’s coffee and cafe culture was born during the 1950s when a cafe inLygon Street imported an espresso machine from Italy. If you’re after a little sliceof Italy, head to Lygon Street and sit outside while enjoying authentic pizza, pasta,torta and gelato. Delizioso!

LEAGUEOF

NATIONS

THIS COPYRIG

HT MATERIAL M

UST NOT BE REPRO

DUCED WITHO

UT PERMISSIO

N OR PASSED O

N TO ANY THIRD PARTY. CO

NTACT: SYNDICATION@

WANEW

S.COM

.AU