WWW Links

Actually, I really dislike links pages, especially when it comes to maintaining them. So instead of trying to provide another exhaustive list I'll point you to some other useful lists and leave this page for links that are:

1. Really useful
2. Really good
3. Really interesting (to me) 
4. Friends' pages or
5. All of the above 
6. And I might even include the official government pages..

Contents

• The Official Pages
• Facts and Figures
• Searching for people and places
• Getting around
• Accommodation
• Things to do and see
• The Environment
• Regions
• Alpine
• Gippsland
• Grampians
• Melbourne
• The Murray
• Otways
• The Wimmera
• Wilson's Promontory
• Other links pages

The Official Pages

New government, new site design, new domain name... (Less of the ) Same old generalised information that tells you absolutely nothing really. But the events calendar is now even better and is undoubtedly the best part of the site. As for the rest, well it's still commercial, provides little useful information, the transport section is hopeless, the accommodation section is far from comprehensive and many areas have simply been forgotten.. They have a feedback page but don't bother asking for brochures or specific information, they just want to know whether you like the look of their new design.

• The State Government's Homepage
• WWW.MELBOURNE.ORG
  Official "don't scare off the tourists or investors" information at its best? This site has now bitten the dust, getting redirected to www.visitmelbourne.com (they obviously use the same spin doctors as Tourism Victoria) which in turn gets redirected to the Tourism Victoria website.
• The City of Melbourne Homepage
  The council's homepage
• Vicnet
  The next best thing to Big Ben's Victoria.... Victoria's Victoria. This is the best place to track down community organisations and other information on Victoria.
• Parks Victoria
  The spin doctors have been at it again... a new domain name. You have to worry about an organisation that has a motto of "Building Better Parks"
• ...and their Tracks brochure site
  A pretty design, very average picks and very sketchy info... If you use their search engine, make sure you only select from one category or you probably won't get any results.
• Department of Natural Resources and Environment
  They are also responsible for managing our parks. If anyone can work out who does what, let me know. Some good stuff...
• Recreation and Tourism
  Contains some good information and an excellent exhibition of historical photographs.

Facts and Figures

• Australian Surveying & Land Information Group
  Check out their AusFacts page for lots of interesting tidbits of information.
• Current Victorian Weather
  Other weather links are provided in my weather section
• The DAR weather wall
• Air Quality Bulletin
• Victorian Climate Data
  I've made PDF graphs of selected locations around the state.

Directory Services

• Telstra Whitepages 
  If you ask me to find something or someone then chances are I've used this.  This is the best place to start when you're looking for someone in Australia
• Australian Postcodes
  Make sure your mail gets there quickly, put the right postcode on. This is not as silly as it sounds. 
• City Search
  Very commercial but quite handy information
• Whereis Street Atlas
  Street directory for major cities in Australia
• Microsoft Terra Server
  Satellite images of Melbourne

Transportation

If you're thinking of hiring a car, check with your airline to see if they have deals with local hirers. Also, compare the prices of hiring in Australia or prebooking in your own country. A consumer survey conducted here found that in most cases it was actually cheaper to book on arrival.

• Country Trains (ie Buses)
• Metropolitan Buses, Trams & Trains
• Ansett Australia
• QANTAS Airways
• Greyhound Pioneer
  If a hire car is too expensive then you'll probably end up going by bus.
• Budget Rentacar
  This is their international site but it looked like they had online reservations available (it wasn't working when I looked). They list their Australian branches in their Global Locations section. 
• RailPage Australia, Australian Railway Timetables
  Actually if you're thinking of travelling around by train then good luck. Over the years successive Victorian governments have seen fit to reduce services. Most trains now go no further than the first major city outside of Melbourne and from there you change to a bus. 
• Four Wheel Drive Tracks
  Many four wheel drive tracks are closed seasonally. This page lists several tracks and the dates which they are normally closed. Dates may be extended for various reasons (or for no reason at all from what I have seen of some of them)
• Australian Geographic Place Names
  If it's on the map, it's in this database. Using this form you can get the map name/ number for any 1:100 000 or 1:250 000 map in Australia of any place/ landmark. It also gives you a crude map to show you the location of your search results.
• The Map Shop

Accommodation

• Australian YHA
  A member of Hostelling International . One of Australia's largest budget accommodation networks with over 135 YHA Hostels throughout Australia. (but only lists contact details)
• Backpackers Resorts Australia
• Best Western
  Another major international site but they have a clickable map of Victoria with address, rates and basic information on the area.
• Flag International
  Complete with maps of motel locations throughout Australia.

Things to do and see

• A handy What's On Page with links to other "What's On" pages as well.

• Central Highlands Tourist Railway

• Puffing Billy

• Diving Australia
  Diving in Australia is a free information server on scuba diving from around Australia. It contains Dive Sites, Clubs and services and general information for Australian divers or the diver that is planning to come here for a holiday.

• The Australian Lifestyle through Fine Wine, Food & Good Living.
  This is one thing that Victoria has plenty of... good food and good wine
• The Australian Ballet

Environment 

• 

• The Australian Conservation Foundation

• Australian Environment On-line

Newspapers

• The Herald Sun
• The Age
• The Australian
• Fairfax Community Newspapers

Regions

Alpine

• Ski Victoria--- another dead idea.

• The Australian Alps National Parks

  Recreation Codes of Conduct

  • River Users Code
  • Car-based Camping Code
  • Snow Camping Code
  • Mountain Bike Code
  • Bushwalking Code
  • Huts Code for Visitors
  • Horseriding Code

Gippsland

• http://www.gips.com.au
• http://www.gippsland.net.au
• http://www.gippslandtourism.com.au

The Grampians

• Friends of the Grampians

Melbourne

• Nepean Net
• Images of Dandenong
  Images by Garry O'Shanassy of Doveton North Primary School

The Murray

• Murray.Net

The Wimmera

• The Wimmera

• Wyperfeld National Park
  Interesting information and satellite images of Wyperfeld National Park showing changes from 1973 to 1998

Wilson's Promontory

• Craig Horn's Prom page. 
  Craig has done a number of interesting walks in the prom and has some great pics to go with them.

Other Links Pages

• Vicnet's travel page
• A Guide to Australia