MAP: INFORMATION: AUSTRALIA: STATE: VICTORIA

AREA: 227,010 sq. km. POPULATION: 4,561,000 (1996) CAPITAL: Melbourne (3,000,000) CLIMATE: Highest temp. 40-50° C (north-west) to -12.8°C at Mt. Hotham (Ski Resort) in the Victorian Alps.  High rainfall with extremes of heat in summer in the western and north western regions. Melbourne is reknown for having 4 season in the one day but generally is very cold in winter and can be very hot - but dry in the summer.   Founded by John Pascoe Fawkner and John Batman (its quite a story!) Melbourne was first settled around 1835. Victoria is Australia's smallest mainland state with only 1200 miles of coastline. Victoria is also known the 'Garden State', a reference to its beautiful gardens, rolling green hills (in winter - in summer they are rolling brown hills!) and valleys which make up the majority of the state, resembling in no small way England’s “Green and pleasant land” description. Among the major attractions of the state is The Grampians National Park, west of Melbourne. This beautiful area offers walking trails, spectacular lookouts and lake swimming and fishing. South-east of Melbourne, Phillip Island is a popular place to observe the nightly procession of pengiuns returning to their nests after a days activities. The area that I grew up in, North East Victoria - near the the Victorian Alps also offer great winter sports and skiing in the winter.   The capital of Victoria, Melbourne, deservedly enjoys the reputation of being Australia's Cultural and restaurant capital, and this is also reflected in the many live theatre shows which abound in the city.