Geelong travel guide

Geelong is the second largest city in the state of Victoria, Australia and is the largest regional centre in the state. It is a port city with an urban population of 160,991 people, and one of the largest provincial cities in Australia. The city is located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, 75 kilometres south-west of the state's capital, Melbourne, and is covered by the City of Greater Geelong municipality.
The urban area runs from the plains of Lara in the north to the rolling hills of Waurn Ponds to the south, with the bay to the east and hills to the west. The climate is temperate, with four distinct seasons. The city is the home to car manufacturer Ford Australia and the Geelong Football Club, nicknamed The Cats. Geelong is also the gateway to tourist attractions including the Great Ocean Road and the Shipwreck Coast.
Geelong was named in 1837 by Governor Richard Burke, with the name derived from the local Wautharong aboriginal name for the region, Jillong, thought to mean 'land' or 'cliffs'. The area was first surveyed in 1838, three weeks after Melbourne. The first woolstore was erected in this period and Geelong became the port for the wool industry of the Western District. The gold rush in Ballarat saw the population of Geelong increase to 22,000 by the mid 1850s. The city then diversified into manufacturing, rivalling Sydney, Hobart and Melbourne as wool mills, ropeworks, and paper mills were established, but the next few decades saw the population stay relatively constant until the 19th century. (...) more....