Fun things to do in Geelong

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Before you come to Geelong you need to consider how to get here:

You can fly to Tullamarine Airport - Melbourne
and then hire a car (or use the Gull Airport Services) and drive to Geelong.
You can fly in to Tullamarine Airport and get a connecting flight to Avalon Airport using Jetstar.

Once you get to Avalon Airport you can use the Shuttle Bus Service to take you to your hotel, motel, caravan, on site van, back pack accomodation, etc. Some of my tips have links to accomodation in and around Geelong.

In Geelong there are so many destinations, historical and heritage locations to visit.

If you stay near the Waterfront you can spend a day touring along the Waterfront. You could:
-do the Bollard Walk
-go to the Wool Musuem
-go to the Ford Discovery Centre
-dine at some of our local restaurants
-put the children on Thomas the Tank or the Carousel
-visit the Geelong Art Gallery
-visit the Geelong Botanical Gardens
-take a tour of the bay on a cruise boat
-or just stroll along our beautiful, revamped Waterfront and take in the scenery

There are lots of locations that you can go to from Geelong:
-The Bellerine Peninsula
-The Great Ocean Road
-Coastal Beaches
-The Barwon River

You can join a winery tour or tour the wineries on your own.

So much to do - so much to see - come to Geelong and learn about our history, taste the culture - Narana Creations has Koori food tasting, boomerang throwing displays and folklore to learn about. Take in the Buckley walking trail - dedicated to William Buckley.

Visit some of the waterfalls around Geelong - Buckley Falls at the Barwon River is one of the waterfalls not to be missed.

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If you are in to architecture and heritage here are some photos to whet your appetite, and to entice you to come to Australia, and let Cassie take you on a tour of the old Geelong buildings.

Uniting Church in Australia, South Geelong is located in South Geelong on the corner of Moorabool Street and Fyans Street. (First photo).

Austin Hall, corner Carr St & Yarra St, South Geelong (photo two).

St Mary of the Angel's Church, corner of Yarra St and Myers St, Geelong (photo three). Better known as St Mary's to any Geelongites. The steeple or spire of St Mary of the Angel's is visible from the other side of the bay and is also a landmark on the skyline over most of Geelong.

Sir Charles Hotham Hotel - corner Brougham St and Mercer St, Geelong (photo four).

When I have some more information about these buildings I will come back to this page and add some more information.

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Geelong and Great Ocean Road Visitor Information Centre

Not sure what to do or where to go? Not sure about accomodation?

Go and check out the Geelong and Great Ocean Road Visitor Information Centre web site - it will tell you all you need to know about what's on in Geelong, where to stay and things to do.

http://www2.visitvictoria.com/displayObject.cfm/objectid.77151B4E-775F-4CCF-A3DD8CAEF88A6230/page.Proximity_Recommended_Destination_Page/vvt.vhtml

The Geelong and Great Ocean Road Visitor Information Centre is located on the Princes Highway, near the corner of St Georges Road as you come in to Corio. It is directly behind KFC, Corio and McDonald's, Corio.

The link to the Geelong Otway Tourism web site is:

www.visitgeelong.org

Both of these web sites also have lots of information about places to go and visit, things to see and do, accomodation, events, etc. in Geelong.

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Johnstone's Park, Geelong

Johnstone's Park is a huge open space in Central Geelong (well on the outskirst of the Central Business District).

You will find Johnstone's Park on the corner of Malop St., Gheringhap St., and Mercer St.

It is on a large block of land with the following streets on its boundaries - Gheringhap St., Railway Terrace, Malop St. Roundabout, Fenwick St., and Little Malop St.

There is a huge podium in the middle of Johnstones Park, and there are palm trees, garden beds and memorial stones and statues.

Johnstones Park houses the Geelong War Memorial, and the Geelong Regional Library. The Geelong Art Gallery and the Geelong Town Hall back on to Johnstones Park.

Carols by Candlelight are held in Johnstones Park every year, on Christmas Eve. It is magic and it is a real family event. Families gather on blankets and bring thier own food and drinks (no alcohol allowed) and candles. When it gets dark it is magic - with all the candles glowing in the dark.

Geelong is a great place to look at the stars. There are no bright city lights to interfere with the view of the night sky.

The constellation to look for is the circumpolar Southern Cross (Crux). Circumpolar means it never rises or sets and is therefore visible all year round. Its brightest star is at the bottom of the cross and is called Acrux. Acrux is actually a double star. The Southern Cross is not visible in the northern hemisphere and therefore holds no Greek or Roman myth for its origin. Explorers would use the Southern Cross as a guide to point them south.

There is also Carina the Keel (as in the bottom of a ship). It was believed that Carina was originally part of a larger constellation known as Argo Navis which has since been split into four different constellations. Argo Navis was thought to be the ship which belonged to Menelaus - husband of Helen of Troy. Its brightest star 'Canopus' was the name of the pilot of Menelaus' fleet - it is also the second brightest star in the sky behind Sirius.

Every year in mid-October for 4 days there is The Geelong Show. They have many different things going on at the show, from all things agricultural and pastoral (sheep-shearing, wood-chopping, horse-riding competitions), to cars and motor bikes, fashion shows, heaps of rides (from the Ferris Wheel to the Gravitron), stalls for arts and crafts and heaps of stalls with showbags, games, prizes to be won and of course so many food stalls with foods you know you shouldn't be eating (but what's a little indulgence?). There is also the excellent fireworks display (on the Saturday night) that gets better and better every year.

The Old Geelong Gaol, formerly a high security prison, remains much the same as when it was operating until 1991. Inside the Gaol it is cold, bleak and primitive. It is hard to comprehend such harsh facilities were in daily use so recently to house prisoners.

Don`t miss cell 47 which features the "Window to Freedom" - a grafiti style wall mural painted by an inmate while serving the time of his imprisonment. It is a unique part of the gaol`s history.

The Gaol is open 1pm-4pm every Saturday, Sunday, Public and School Holidays and 11am-3pm Thursday and Friday.

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To be honest I only visited the Geelong art gallery for the first time a couple of weeks ago - I thought it would be small and have nothing good in it. I was wrong. The Geelong gallery has recently under gone a transformation, it is a beautiful gallery with an ecclectic range of paintings and artworks on display - from pieces from the Heidelberg school (Arthur Streeton, Frederick McCubbin) to pieces by Peter Booth. Many portray Australia in its early days and in a few you can clearly see landmarks of Geelong that have not changed over the centuries. Definitely worth a visit!

Admission is free.