AUSTRALIA: A list of things you may like to do

Things to do in Australia > Victoria

Victoria

Melbourne • Yarra Valley • Geelong • Ballarat • Bendigo • Gippsland • Western Districts & Shipwreck Coast • Northern & Northeastern Victoria • The Mallee

This is where I am, or you already are, so let’s assume by the transitive property that this is where you’ll start your adventure.

The Yarra River at Wonga Park

Google Maps

Rope swing, fast and slow moving water. Way more fun than the public pool.

Also good at Warrandyte and Warburton, but these places are more likely to be CRAMMED full of other people.

Wilson's Promontory

Google Maps • Wikipedia • Parks Victoria info page

The most southern point of mainland Australia is home to vicious attack wombats, and also features a Sweet Mountain/large hill that you can climb (Mt Oberon.)

Winds are right off the Antarctic, so can be bitterly cold.

There is a beach named Squeaky Beach. It makes squeaking noises when you run on it. It’s amazingly fun.

The caravan park is often highly booked, but you can go hiking through the wilderness instead if the mood takes you.

There is also a small collection of cabins down by South Point, although they are a short hike from the nearest roadhead.

Werribee Open Range Zoo

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

While Weribee is mostly famous for its sewerage treatment facility, the Open Range Zoo is also pretty cool.

It likes to make like it’s Africa, and even has a pretend village in there, however there are animals from all over on site.

Warrandyte

Google Maps • Wikipedia

Sweet riverside town where we lived for a few months once. Easily can believe you’re in the country, you are very much in suburban Melbourne.

  • The Stonehouse Cafe
    • Great place for breakfast.
    • Birds and other assorted creatures will frolic while-you-wait.

Warburton Rail Trail

Website • Google Maps

Once upon a time, there was a railway that ran from Lilydale to Warburton, however during the Dark Times of the 1960s, there was a War on Rail, and they ended up tearing up the railway line. Wankers… On the upside though, now it’s a quite pleasant 38km long bike path — it has lots of sweet trestle bridges!

Glen Harrow Park Trees Adventure

Website • Google Maps

Why walk when you can glide majestically?

The Glen Harrow Park Trees Adventure gives you exactly that opportunity. It’s a high ropes course that includes flying foxes and other excitingly high fun.

Trams

Wikipedia

Melbourne still subscribes to the idea that trams are a good idea.

Basically it’s a small, electric train that runs down the middle of the street (they’re technically light rail when they aren’t running on a road, but no one calls them that)

Pay attention! (it’s a road, you should be paying attention anyway, but we digress) Trams weigh 30 tons and can cut you in to three lopsided bits without fuss.

This can really mess up your day.

The City Circle Tram

They still run some of the old W Class Trams around in a loop of the CBD, giving a tour of many of the touristy things you can do. Like all trams in the CBD “Free Tram Zone”, they don’t require a ticket (unlike all other allegedly “public” transport.)

It’s a great way to a) see cool things in Melbourne and b) ride a tram.

The Shrine of Remembrance

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

Australia is big on war memorials, and this one offers a surprisingly good and free view of the city

Planned by none other than General Sir John Monash, Commander of the Australian Corps during World War One and the last man to be knighted on the field of battle, Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance is the largest of Australia’s six State War Memorials.

At the centre of the Sanctuary, where many memorials have placed an Unknown Soldier, is the Stone of Remembrance, a marble slab inscribed with “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN”. The building is designed so that at 11am on November 11th each year, a ray of sunlight shines on the word love, however thanks to Daylight Savings, a mirror is now required for that to happen.

It’s home to over 150 commemorative ceremonies a year, culminating in the Anzac Day Dawn Service and Commemoration March.

Since 2002, significant development has occurred, transforming the artificial hill the Shrine sits upon into a visitors centre/museum including greater disabled access to the undercroft and the wider building.

State Parliament

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

Built when Victoria was flush with Gold Rush monies, the State Parliament building is highly ornate, if (still) unfinished.

Also it’s where they run the State from. Democracy in action and such.

State Library of Victoria

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

The state library is a depository library, meaning that if you want to read something that was published in Victoria and you can’t find it anywhere else, you can at least borrow it from the State Library.

As well as those millions of publications, you can also see Ned Kelly’s armour, the folios of Captain Cook and the diaries of the founders of Melbourne, John Batman and John Fawkner as well as many other weird and wonderful historical trinkets.

The Chess Room features extensive and world-renowned displays on the history of Chess, if that kind of thing tickles your fancy?

Sovereign Hill

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

A large, open-air museum/tourist attraction showing Ballarat during the Gold Rush back in the 1850s. They have a bunch of performers dressed up like redcoats, and miners, and there are lots of historical things on sale. They have a setup where you can try gold-panning, too. The advertising would have you believe that you can find REAL GOLD! Statistically though, the likelihood is probably about the same as winning the lottery.

Also includes a closed air Gold Museum which we’ve never visited as In this context, “includes” means ‘can include for additional fees’.

After dark, they have a sound and light show that recreates the Eureka Rebellion, which is called Blood on the Southern Cross and is quite good.

Scienceworks

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

It really does!

A hands-on science museum that has a ridiculously big Tesla Coil to create lightning.

They also have control of the old pumping station next door which has exhibits on a lot of Victorian-era engineering feats.

It incorporates the Melbourne Planetarium too, for the joy of stargazing with the comfort of inside.

RAAF Museum

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

The Royal Australian Air Force is the world’s second-oldest independent Air Force, and the airfield at Point Cook is its oldest facility (It became an Australian Flying Corps base in 1913, making it 8 years older than the RAAF)

Since 1952, RAAF Point Cook has been home to a museum, showing off their planes and other interesting whats-its

Dandenong Ranges Gardens

Website • Google Maps

Puffing Billy Railway is a narrow gauge heritage railway and has been running steam trains from Belgrave to Gembrook since shortly after the line closed in the 1960. It’s wildly popular and the second-oldest heritage railway in operation anywhere in the world.

Tom's picture Tom Says: YOU GET TO HANG OUT OF THE WINDOWS AND RIDE OVER THE SWEET TRESTLE BRIDGES!!!

The Otways

Google Maps • Wikipedia • Parks Victoria info page

The Otways region is a fantastic example of temperate rainforest, and is suitable picturesque. Great Otway National Park

Attractions include:

Great Ocean Walk

One of the great Victorian hikes, the Great Ocean Walk is a 100km trek along the shore, through the forests, estuaries and clifftops that run from Apollo Bay to the Twelve Apostles.

Melba Gully

Not just a nice picnic area, Melba Gully is also home to colonies of Glow Worms.

Do not point a torch at them!

Otway Fly

The Otway Fly is an area strung with boardwalks amongst the canopy, so you can look out and see what’s happening up the top of these massive trees rather than wandering around on the ground

There are also flying foxes 30m above the forest floor. The smallest spans are 70m long, so that’s OK, I guess.

O’Shannassy Aqueduct Trail

Google Maps • Parks Victoria info page

Linked to the Warburton Rail Trail, the trail follows the path of the O’Shannassy Aqueduct, which once carried drinking water between two reservoirs. Once it’s finished, there will be 70km worth of sweet, sweet trail from Lilydale to East Warburton

Old Melbourne Gaol

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

As the name says, it’s an old gaol in Melbourne.

The town’s original jail, most of it was knocked down or incorporated into the neighbouring RMIT university back in the 1920s. In its 90-year existence, 133 people were hanged at the Gaol, most famously the bushranger Ned Kelly.

Today it’s a museum to colonial-era justice with extensive law and order exhibits on display. Some people claim that it’s haunted (of course) and the after-hours Hangman’s Tour cannot be recommended highly enough.

National Gallery of Victoria

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

Home to art and so forth, the National Gallery has its main campus on St Kilda Road which is filled with international art and also the Ian Potter Centre, or “NGV Australia” down the road at Federation Square. Founded in 1861, it is Australia’s oldest, largest and most-visited art museum.

It’s well known water-wall entrance has entranced generations of schoolchildren who weren’t super excited about being sent to an art gallery.

Sometimes people complain about the gallery being called the National Gallery of Victoria, since it’s run by the State of Victoria and often gets confused with the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. This is because the NGV was founded before the Commonwealth when Victoria was an “independent” Colony (not to mention flush with Gold Rush funds.) So far as I can tell, the State Government’s position is “Get bent. Our gallery is over a century older than NGA, not to mention it’s the biggest and best gallery in the country”

The National Wool Museum

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

Back in the day, they used to say that the Australian economy rode on the sheep’s back. Basically this meant that the only worthwhile thing we provided the rest of the world was wool, and to a lesser extent, lamb and other wool by-products, such as mutton. These are their stories.

Mount St Leonard

Google Maps

Sweet mountain views, highly recommended at night.

Tom's picture Tom Says: Once, we met an Army Reserve company out on maneuvers here!
Brad's picture Brad Says: They were very surprised to have guests...

Mount Bogong

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia • Parks Victoria info page

At 1,986 metres above sea level, Mount Bogong is the highest mountain in Victoria.

You can choose to climb the mountain in one day via the staircase, or take longer by starting from Falls Creek, heading down from the Bogong High Plain, crossing Big River and heading down the staircase.

Like any good mountain, there’s a cairn at the top so you can easily see when you’ve beaten nature.

Royal Melbourne Show

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

Held during the October school holidays, Victoria’s premier Agricultural Show has acres and acres of sweet rides.

It’s the reason we have the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds, which is home to many festivals throughout the year.

Generations of Melbourne Children have suffered through being dragged through the display pavillions and blue ribbon competitions and the boring super-boring CWA cake decoration competition before being set loose on the rides. This is the authentic experience.

The Animal Nursery however, children universally love. (once they aren’t terrified of animals, that is)

Catch the woodchopping competition. It is ridiculous how fast those guys can cut a log in two. You’d probably still be picking up the axe by the time they’re done.

Melbourne Zoo

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

It’s a Zoo. You presumably have them where ever you come from, although this one probably has more Australian animals than yours.

Popular attractions include:

  • the Trail of the Elephants
  • the Great Flight Aviary and
  • the Butterfly House

Maroondah Reservoir

Google Maps • Parks Victoria info page

Giant lake that stores a small part of Melbourne’s drinking water, so No Swimming.

It does have some fancy english gardens though. Best of all, there is no objection to you trying to run up the dam wall.

Brad's picture Brad Says: People may, however, laugh at your dam injuries

Immigration Museum

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

The Immigration Museum is on the site of the old Colonial Customs House, and it tells stories about people who came to Australia. Some of them are permanent, while others disappear!

Gumbuya Park

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

“Where the city meets the country”

It’s a small amusement park that advertised heavily on the local regional TV station when I was a kid. Also includes a fair amount of native wildlife, some of which you can hand-feed.

Great Ocean Road

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

The Great Ocean Road is a majestically scenic two lane road that goes along the Shipwreck Coast from Torquay to Warnambool. It is one hell of a way to spend a weekend.

Some of the things you will drive past include:

The Twelve Apostles

There are currently nine remaining sandstone pillars sticking out of the water. They look cool, but there has literally never been a time when there was twelve of them.

Occasionally they fall down, and it’s a big deal. In 2015 they discovered another five of them which were about 30 metres below sea level — this was actually a big deal, because sea stacks like these should not be able to last for the thousands of years that they have.

Loch Ard Gorge.

Has a blowhole, WHOOSH!

Waterfalls

The Visit Victoria website has a long list of waterfalls along the Great Ocean Road.

The Grampians (Gariwerd)

Google Maps • Wikipedia • Parks Victoria info page

Big mountains in the middle of nowhere.

Full of typical “bush” scenery, it is also home to a lot of aboriginal rock art. Some say that it’s got the highest concentration of rock art in southeast Australia.

The area is a popular location for bushwalking and rocksports, as well as just camping. It is also known for the native springtime flowering.

Many a winery nearby.

Golden Dragon Museum & Chinese Gardens

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

Built on the site of one of Bendigo’s historical Chinatowns, the museum showcases the history of Chinese immigrants to the Bendigo and their culture.

Where do you think the world’s oldest Chinese Dragon is? If you guessed “I don’t sodding know, China?” You’d be wrong, it’s in Bendigo. Also living here is the world’s loooooooooooooooooooooongest dragon.

It includes an impressive collection of Chinese currency through the ages, as well as an extensive collection of 19th century Chinese costumes

Geelong Bollards Trail

Website

Scattered around the various waterfront parklands of geelong are 104 “Bollards”.

Gotta catch ‘em all!

Apparently.

Fort Nepean

Google Maps • Wikipedia • Parks Victoria info page

Part of the chain of 19th-century fortifications defending the entrance to Port Phillip, Fort Nepean fired the first Australian (possibly the first allied) shots of both world wars. Those two shots were the only time any of the Port Phillip defences fired in anger.

One of our Prime Ministers drowned/was kidnapped by/defected to the Chinese here.

Eureka Tower

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

Home to the best 360 degree view of Melbourne going around, the Eureka Tower is an 88 story skyscraper on the edge of the CBD.

The best views are generally at night, especially if there happen to be fireworks happening for some reason.

The elevator is super fast, and they have this thing called “the edge” where you stand in a glass-bottomed room that is slid out from the side of the building so you can look down. They also play the sound of glass breaking, so that’s fun apparently.

Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

Museum to that time when miners staged an armed rebellion

Spoilers: Instead of being found guilty by a Jury and “hung by the neck until dead” like in the good ol’ days, the leader of the rebellion was instead found not guilty and soon elected to the Colony’s Parliament. He ended up Speaker of the Legislative Assembly (lower house.)

Dartmouth

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia

Home to (according to wikipedia) 13 permanent residents, this is a real “end of the line” town. It’s also home to a giant dam, which is fun to swim in.

Inventively, it’s named Dartmouth Dam.

Central Deborah Gold Mine

Website • Google Maps

It’s a 17 level gold mine reaching more than 400m below the surface that lets you down the shaft to have a look at how gold mining works.

Technically, they still do a bit of mining here, but it’s basically to fill in time between when tourists are about.

Carlton Gardens

Google Maps • Wikipedia

The Carlton Gardens is one of several gardens established on the edge of the CBD. They all have lots of grass and some nice plants and so on, but Carlton Gardens also has two large buildings in it, the Royal Exhibition Building, and the Melbourne Museum. There’s a weird juxtaposition going on in the shared courtyard between the two buildings which were built about 100 years apart.

Royal Exhibition Building

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Royal Exhibition Building (not to be confused with the Melbourne Exhibition Centre) was built to host the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880 and later hosted the opening of the first Australian Parliament in 1901. Between 1901 and the completion of Old Parliament House in Canberra in 1927, the Victorian Parliament met here while the Commonwealth Parliament lived it up in Parliament House on Spring Street.

At the time of construction, it was the largest building in Australia — although much of the building has since been lost to fire or short-sighted demolition works, it remains one of the most ridiculously ornate buildings in the country.

Melbourne Museum

This Melbourne Museum was built in the late 1990s and it often has interesting exhibits on, as well as these permanent displays:

  • Science and Life Gallery
  • Melbourne Gallery
  • Mind and Body Gallery
  • Evolution Gallery
  • Forest Gallery — a big room full of plants and animals
  • Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre — exhibits by and about the Aboriginal peoples of Victoria
  • Te Pasifika Gallery - showing the history and watercrafts of Pacific Islanders
  • Children’s Gallery

It is the largest museum in the southern hemisphere and home to Phar Lap, a stuffed racehorse from the 1930s who was a big deal. There is an IMAX theatre in the basement.

Captain America's Hamburger Heaven

Website • Google Maps

Captain America’s is an American-themed and menued restaurant in Ferntree Gully.

If you can eat a 1kg burger and 600g of chips, they will immortalise you on the wall! (while you probably feel really bad about yourself)

If that sounds too easy, why not attempt the Thousand Burger Challenge?

Because you don’t know what it is? Well, first you complete a 8.7km walk from the restaurant up the Thousand Steps, over the top of One Tree Hill and down the other side before you have your meal.

Brad's picture Brad Says: Of course "menued" is a real word!

Dandenong Ranges Lookouts

Google Maps

There are two major lookouts that share the best views of the Melbourne suburban area going around.

The first is called Burkes Lookout. It’s popular with people who enjoy pretty lights, photographers, and people who enjoy smoking joints. There’s a short walk through the bush to get to the lookout, but it’s super worthwhile.

The other option is Sky High. It has a fancy restaurant. Otherwise, it’s exactly the same as Burkes lookout, only it costs money and isn’t as fun.

Falls Creek & the Bogong High Plain

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia • Parks Victoria info page

Falls Creek is one of Victoria’s largest and best-known Ski resorts. Certainly it’s one that I’ve been to the most — although that’s because of how convenient it is to the backcountry world of the Bogong High Plain. It has a bunch of places to stay, a supermarket, medical clinic, pubs, downhill runs, nice groomed trails… in short, all the mod-cons you would expect from an alpine village.

Of more interest to me though, is the Bogong High Plain.

Bogong High Plain

Home to the Bogong Rover Chalet, the High Plain is a back country area that until relatively recently was controlled by the monolithic State Electricity Commission of Victoria, as opposed to Parks Victoria, thanks to the Kiewa River Hydroelectric Scheme. There are a number of tasty mountains to climb, and a lot of High Country Huts to visit.

During the snow season, everything is tasty and white, but it’s also nice to walk through there whilst everything is green. Mountain Biking is also an option if you can’t get your cross-country skiing on.

Mount Arapiles

Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia • Parks Victoria info page

Slightly further than the Grampians, and much smaller, Mt Arapilies is supposed to be the second-best place for rock climbing, abseiling and assorted other rocksports in the world. There are also a number of bushwalking routes at the site.

People from around the globe come here and camp for months just to get their climb on