Advice on Victoria, Australia please.

<p>Hello</p>

<p>Next March, I'll embark on a trip for which the main destination is south island New Zealand. We considered the question of stopovers , for our flights from & to the UK are nearly 24 hours, and came to a conclusion that not everyone would share. We've never been to Australia. If we don't incorporate it on this trip we may well never make it, whereas places like Hong Kong, Bangkok, Shanghai, Hanoi etc we have in some cases been to, in some cases we just don't fancy it, and others its conceivable we could conceivably incorporate into another trip in future. So we have four days scheduled for Adelaide/Kangaroo Island , three days in and around Melbourne. Its this latter where I need some help.</p>

<p>I get the impression that Melbourne is quite an interesting and photogenic place to be; good architecture, city views and so on. But I also like the remnants of days gone by, and know that there was a thriving mining industry in Victoria. Corrugated iron buildings, old stores that sort of thing. Question is whether there's much of this sort of thing left, and if so is it close enough to Melbourne to photograph it in one or two of my three days. I can hire a car, I can spend a night out of Melbourne, whatever it takes to make the most of the opportunity.</p>

<p>Or have I missed it, and should stay in Melbourne?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>Hiring a car would be the most flexible, especially if you’re accommodation is stationed in Melbourne; however you might consider just booking in the first night, one night, in Melbourne initially with a view to being even more flexible and staying overnight as you tour through the old mining areas and make those areas you focus. The areas I’ve visited are: Ballarat including Sovereign Hill; Bendigo; Castlemaine. I drove. The last time I visited these areas of AUS was maybe about 15 years ago – so the area could (probably has) changed in respect of how ‘touristy’ the ‘attractions’ have become, but I would still expect that one could find a lot of subject matter in mostly its ‘raw state’ especially if one had his own car thus allowing the time and capacity to fossick outside of the mainstream of what most tourists do. <br>

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Melbourne itself is full of history and also (what I consider) rich architecture both old and also more modern. I actually like the photographic opportunities of the city and that can easily be accommodated by foot travel. It is reasonably flat and the public transport is logical.<br>

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Each AUS State Government has their own info sites and mostly all are very good (long history to how these info sites were developed) – this should give you a lot of information and contact details re the mining history: <a href="http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/Goldfields/Things-to-do/History-and-heritage/Gold-rush-history">http://www.visitvictoria.com/Regions/Goldfields/Things-to-do/History-and-heritage/Gold-rush-history</a><br>

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Home page is here - <a href="http://www.visitvictoria.com/">http://www.visitvictoria.com/</a> <br>

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This type of interesting stuff is in Melbourne City, provided you walk and are comfortable visiting the small alleyways . . . however, the graffiti artists themselves do not like to be photographed <br>

<a href="/photo/11205050">http://www.photo.net/photo/11205050</a><br>

If you are interested in the history of Sport, then a tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground is essential (not just the history of Cricket)<br>

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Have fun. Contact me direct if you have specific questions.<br>

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WW</p>

<p>As a Victorian resident I've found most gold rush era remnants freely accessible to the public are now very stage managed and highy touristy. Certainly gold rush era stone huts with corrugated iron roofs in various states of repair still exist, however, most are re-built for public display, with very few genuine ruins still remaining on private land - these are very few and far between.</p>

<p>If you want to shoot genuine in-situ gold rush era ruins it's likely you need someone to chime in here who knows specifically where some are to be had and how to contact land owners for access.</p>

<p>Actually, I found gold rush era remnants easier to find and access in New Zealand's South Island, particualrly in Central Otago at places like Old Bendigo Town and Old Welsh Town where gravel roads lead you up onto slopes where plenty of old mine sites still exist with solid remnant ruins which are freely accessible to the public (even in a campervan if you dare) and yet are seldom visited. I spent an afternoon at this one particular site at Old Welsh Town.</p>

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<p>I was in Melbourne earlier this Year its a vibrant and interesting city with lots to do. Trams in a abundance and some fabulous Victorian buildings. Its a good place to buy camera gear (while the exchange rate is favourable and you can get tax refund) Michaels Camera Store is not only the biggest in the country it houses a fascinating an massive collection of cameras in their museum and photo gallery.<br>

If you can hire a car for a few days; Castlemaine, is worth a visit. Malden is one of the most complete Victorian Towns in Australia and has a steam railway that goes to Castlemaine. Traffic can be very busy at times and be aware of the trams.<br>

If you want a bit of heritage Swan Hill is fabulous for its recreated buildings and old crafts and vehicles. If you do have kids the Puffing Billy Narrow guage railway is worth a visit.</p>

<p>As a regular visitor to Adelaide I can give you a few Ideas. The City is buzzing In March with The Adelaide Arts Festival and Womadeleide World Music Fest. There is a lot of street artists at festival time, custom car shows and other things going on.<br>

The Adelaide Hills have some charming old towns and a few wildlife parks too.</p>

<p>I lived in Brisbane for a year and have traveled quite a bit in Australia. We camped on Kangaroo Island for several days and visited Ballarat for its old gold mining history when we were in Melbourne. This was over 20 years ago so I'm sure it's become more touristy now. Tasmania is a short hop from Melbourne if you are looking for more scenic landscapes but in many ways it resembles NZ so you may get enough of that later. Sounds like a great trip! </p>