Fun things about us
Elegant foodies
People who live in Melbourne have sophisticated palates. If they’re not whipping up a feast for family and friends in their own kitchen they’re probably out wining and dining at a new eatery with a ‘chef’s hat’ or three (Melbourne’s restaurant rating method). Melbourne has more cafes and restaurants per capita than anywhere in the world.
A dim sim affair
There ‘s nothing like a homemade steamed ‘dim sim’, also known as a ‘dimmy’, with soy sauce on a cold Melbourne day. Don’t confuse this with the authentic Asian ‘dim sum’, although it is related. The dim sim was developed by a Chinese chef, William Wing Young, who was living in Melbourne.
Culture vultures
Film, music, theatre, opera, ballet, comedy, visual arts – you name it, Melbourne’s got it. And the buzz continues with a vibrant arts scene when you’re living in Victoria’s country regions.
One of our most famous home heroes was internationally renowned Australian operatic soprano Dame Nellie Melba. She chose her famous ‘stage name’ in honour of her beloved Melbourne hometown.
Find out more about Melbourne’s People and Culture
Sports mad
Sport is a passion for many people living in Victoria. Most popular is Australian Rules Football (AFL), otherwise known as ‘the game’. AFL began in Melbourne in 1858 as a way to keep cricketers fit during the wintertime.
At different times of the year cricket, tennis or racing fever also fills the city. Smell the burning rubber during the Grand Prix or hear the thunder of thoroughbreds charging home during Spring Racing Carnival.
The first surfing reserve in the world was Bells Beach, Victoria in the early 70’s. Improve your skills with some surfing lessons along the coast.
The Garden State
When you’re living in Melbourne, you have access to more than 480 hectares of parks and gardens, a greater proportion of open space than any other major city in the world.
And Melbourne is not Australia's wettest capital city. Sydney, Brisbane, Darwin and Perth all receive much higher annual rainfalls than Melbourne.
View Things to do in Melbourne and Victoria
Let’s meet under the clocks
For decades, the clocks on the corner at Flinders Street Station have been a popular Melbourne rendezvous spot. A few years ago, an attempt was made to replace them with video screens, but the public outcry was enormous so they stayed.
Pioneers of plastic money
The Note Printing Branch of the Australian Mint (near Craigieburn in Melbourne) was the developer and printer of the world’s first plastic banknotes. They also recycle used banknotes – very sustainable!
An early capital
Did you know that Melbourne was the capital city of Australia for 26 years, from 1901 to 1927, before Canberra was built?
Home of the secret ballot
These days, in a democracy we expect to be able to cast our votes in secret during an election. Victoria led the way to this right to privacy. The secret ballot system was adopted by the colonies of Victoria and South Australia in the 1850s and became known around the world as the ’Australian Ballot’. These Australian colonies were eventually followed by New Zealand in 1870, the UK in 1872 and Canada in 1874. The first presidential election in USA to use the Australian Ballot was in 1892.
Political pioneers
In 1891 Victorian women took to the streets to fight for the vote. They gathered 30,000 signatures on a petition made of pages glued to a roll of fabric. The completed petition measured 260 metres long and came to be known as the ‘Monster Petition’. There is now a statue inspired by the petition near St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Bushranging rebels
Notorious Victorian bushranger Ned Kelly is an Australian folk hero famed for his contempt for authorities whose home town was in regional Victoria. Bushrangers were outlaws in the early years of British settlement of Australia who had the survival skills to use the Australian bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. The 2003 movie of Ned Kelly starred Australian film idol Heath Ledger.
Natural inventors
Victorians are naturally inventive. Some of our famous developments in science and technologies include:
- the Bionic Ear (Professor Graeme Clark) – first implanted in 1978
- testing and producing penicillin (Howard Florey) – first tested on mice in 1940
- the Black Box flight recorder (Dr David Warren) – first developed in 1957.
Impressive dragons
In the 1870s, an imperial dragon known as Loong was sent from China to the gold-rush town of Bendigo, Victoria where many ethnic Chinese were then working. He’s now the oldest Chinese dragon in the world.
Sun Loong was brought to Bendigo from Hong Kong to replace Loong in 1970. The longest Imperial dragon in the world, at more than 100 metres in length, he needs 52 people and 52 reliefs to carry him. Sun Loong is the highlight of Australia’s oldest event: the Bendigo Easter Festival.
A Great Ocean Road
Victoria’s number one tourist attraction is a seaside road with awesome views that was constructed by soldiers returning from World War 1. Along the Great Ocean Road you’ll see the majestic Twelve Apostles, originally known as the ‘Sow and Piglets’. These limestone stacks formed as a result of erosion forced by wind and sea over time.
