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Sport & Activities
Bushwalking: The best-known destinations include Bogong National Park (with a possible six-day walk including the ascent of Mount Bogong, from October to April only); Mount Feathertop (a two-day circuit offering scenic mountain views, requiring walkers to be prepared for snowfalls at any time of the year); Wilson’s Promontory (locally known as ‘the Prom’, a three-day circuit through beautiful stretches of coastline); and the Grampians (a spectacular region of sandstone mountain ranges, forests, valleys and heaths, particularly famous for its displays of wildflowers between August to November). Northwest of Melbourne, Sovereign Hill, located within the country’s most famous gold rush destination, offers visitors a chance to do their own gold panning. Further information on this area can be provided by Ballarat Tourism (website: www.ballarat.com). Several mineral springs can be found around nearby Daylesford, known as Australia’s spa centre. For further details, contact VIC Department of Sustainability and Environment, 240-50 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne VIC 3002 (tel: (3) 9412 4011; fax: (3) 9412 4803; e-mail: customer.service@nre.vic.gov.au; website: www.nre.vic.gov.au).
Wine tasting: Victoria has over 200 wineries, and tasting tours are widely available. Outstanding wine-growing regions include the Yarra Valley; the Mornington Peninsula; and the Rutherglen region in the Grampians. The Victorian Wineries Tourism Council (website: www.visitvictoria.com/wineries) can provide further details.
Wintersports: Victoria’s High Country is one of Australia’s most visited wintersports destinations, with the main snowfields only about four hours by car from Melbourne. The best destinations for downhill skiing and snowboarding include Mount Buller, Fall Creek, Mount Hotham, Mount Buffalo and Mount Baw Baw, all of which have excellent facilities. Other resorts, such as the Bogong High Plains, Lake Mountain, Mount St Gwinear or Mount Torbreck, are specifically designed for cross country skiing.
Watersports: Home to regular international regattas (such as Sail Melbourne), Melbourne’s Port Philip Bay is one of the world’s great yachting waterways. There are also some good beaches nearby and even better ones at Westernport Bay, Ninety Mile Beach (in the Gippsland Lakes area) and along the Bellarine Peninsula near Geelong. The best diving destinations include Wilson's Promontory (access to the sites is mostly by organised boat tours); Cape Liptrap (good for beginners); Cape Patterson; Phillip Island; Cape Schanck; Apollo Bay; Cape Otway (known for its crayfishing areas); Port Fairy (around which lie up to 30 stranded ships); and Portland (Victoria’s westernmost town). Whale watching is possible at Warrnambool, 263km (163 miles) west of Melbourne, where migrating whales can be observed between May and July. Surfing enthusiasts may head to Bells Beach and Jan Juc on the Great Ocean Road near Torquay, where the Rip Curl Pro & Quit Classic, a triple-A world-rated international surfing contest, is held annually for a period of seven days during Easter. Woolamai in Phillip Island offers excellent surfing for the more experienced surfer.
Spectactor sports: Australian Rules Football, or ‘Aussie Rules’, a mixture between football and rugby, originated in Victoria. The climax of the season (starting in March) is the Australian Football League Grand Final, played in September at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground, which also plays host to the highest standard of international and national cricket matches, and is ranked amongst cricket’s most sacred pitches. The first Tuesday in November is declared a public holiday for the running, at Flemington, of the 3.2km- (2 mile-long) Melbourne Cup, the highlight of Australia's racing year. This presitigious horserace offers the highest prizes in the southern hemisphere.
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