{"id":79527,"date":"2020-09-24T06:47:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T06:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.expatinfodesk.com\/?page_id=79527"},"modified":"2023-08-14T08:08:35","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T08:08:35","slug":"introduction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.expatinfodesk.com\/destinations\/melbourne\/introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne Introduction Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row type=”container” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” el_class=”three-top-tips” css=”.vc_custom_1599875304748{margin-left: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;border-right-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\n

Melbourne is is the capital of the state of Victoria, Australia.<\/p>\n

It has a rich history as well as cultural diversity and is often referred to as Australia’s “European” city, for its architecture, style and sophistication.<\/p>\n

Australia<\/a> is a relatively young country and although Melbourne has the grace and charm of older and more established cities, she retains the cheekiness and exuberance of youth. The majority of Melbourne tourism information focuses on sports, theatre and the arts when extolling the virtues of Melbourne, but there is much more to the city than these traditional pastimes.<\/p>\n

Melbourne has a well-developed live music scene and her arts community is not limited to the classics \u2013 street art, in the form of graffiti and other subversive installations, live comfortably in her streets. Much of this is supported by the Melbourne City Council, who are slowly recognizing the international credibility of Melbourne\u00b4s street artists, musicians, and painters.<\/p>\n

Geographically, Melbourne is a relatively flat city, set around the shores of Port Phillip Bay and the Yarra River. The climate is unpredictable and the phrase Four Seasons in One Day applies nicely to Melbourne. It is not unusual to see Melburnians wearing shorts and tee-shirts while an umbrella pokes out of their bags.<\/p>\n

Oddly, the windiest time of the week in the city is Sunday at 11 am, when the \u00b4Bay Doctor\u00b4 comes in from Port Philip. The Bay Doctor is a strong wind that blows through the city at least once a week (about every three days if the weather has been hot: more than 30 degrees Celsius).<\/p>\n

Melbourne is made up of distinct precincts, each with its own style and personality that exemplify the city’s flair for fashion and creativity. Melbourne’s famous sporting venues and major parks and gardens are all situated very close to the heart of the Central Business District (CBD), which is a charming grid of streets and walkways.<\/p>\n

The CBD was designed in the late 19th century by Governor Bourke and is the product of sophisticated and forward-thinking town planning. The streets are wide boulevards, unheard of in a time when the most common form of transport was the human foot, followed closely by horse and carriage. The other notable feature of Melbourne city is the abundance of green areas. This was a stringent requirement of Bourke who was dismayed by the grey, industrial, dirty cities of the Industrial Revolution and fought hard against his colleagues who scoffed at his quaint idea of conserving greenbelts in an urban environment.<\/p>\n

You can walk around the perimeter of Melbourne\u00b4s CBD in an hour. Take an extra 15 minutes in any direction and you will arrive at either acre of parklands, or water (the docks of Port Philip Bay or the Yarra River).<\/p>\n

It is this mix of modern city-scape with genteel natural settings that give Melbourne her refined and relaxed air.<\/p>\n

Melbourne is home to 3.6 million people and has a rich diversity of cultures from a wide range of countries and backgrounds. In fact, only 60% of Melburnians were born in Australia.<\/p>\n

Expatriates are not just tolerated but welcomed. In the CBD on any given day, you will see a handful of people dressed in casual red uniforms. They are there specifically to talk to Melbourne\u00b4s visitors and help in any way they can. The majority of these City Guides are native Melburnians who have retired, and simply enjoy sharing their city with newcomers.<\/p>\n

They are a wealth of information on places to go, the latest transport information or simply, the history of Melbourne. They also have maps (lots of maps!), which you can take for free.<\/p>\n

Melbourne has been called a shopper\u00b4s paradise, but in truth, the range of high-end items is much more limited than Sydney, or other major international cities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″ el_class=”city-side-bar”][vc_row_inner el_class=”sidebar-section-one”][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”Top Tips” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:24|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff” google_fonts=”font_family:Open%20Sans%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C600%2C600italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C800%2C800italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_separator color=”#ffffff” type=”full_width” thickness=”1″ up=”” down=””][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
01<\/td>\nGet involved with Aussie rules football. The quicker you learn the rules and pick a team, the quicker you\u2019ll be bonding with the locals.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
02<\/td>\nMelbourne is filled with culinary goldmines. Be brave, be willing to look around the graffiti-covered corner and you will be rewarded.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
03<\/td>\nAs fantastic, a city as Melbourne is, some of the landscape that surrounds it is better. Some of Australia\u2019s most amazing scenery is on your door<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
04<\/td>\nWhile Southbank is a nice, bright area, full of gleaming new shops and restaurants, it is unequivocally viewed by Melbournians as a tourist trap.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
05<\/td>\nWhile Melbourne has a bit of a reputation for being cold and blustery, with unpredictable weather patterns, the city comes alive in the warmer summer.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner el_class=”sidebar-section-two”][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”Useful links” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:24|text_align:left” google_fonts=”font_family:Open%20Sans%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C600%2C600italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C800%2C800italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal” el_class=”useful-links”][vc_separator color=”#ffffff” type=”full_width” thickness=”1″ up=”” down=””][vc_column_text el_class=”useful-links”]<\/p>\n