By the time transportationtransportation n.运输， 运送 of convicts ended in 1840， there were about 30，000 people living in Sydney. In 1842 the City of Sydney was established， with elections， offices and all the trappings of a free society. When gold was discovered in 1851， people began pouring into the city， not only from Europe and California， but from China as well. There was a flurry of building in the city， much of its honky， as people improvised with scarce building materials and anyone could claim to be a builder. It was a more certain way of making money than digging for gold. Many did make fortunes， however， and the history of the city at this time is rich in stories of wild parties and extravagant celebrations that would have been unimaginable unimaginable adj.，想不到的， 不可思议的 a few years earlier.
Exuberance in architecture is a legacy of the prosperous decades that followed， with great piles of Victorian edifices being built to house a burgeoning society that not only wanted all the good things of the older European society， but had the money to build and consume to excess. The public symbol of this period of enthusiastic growth is the mellow golden local Sydney sandstone that was used to build places like the Town Hall， the General Post Office and the rapidly multiplying offices of the civil service in the official， eastern side of the city. Lesser buildings， “handsome villa residences， matchbox cottages， toyhouses， and flimsy habitations studded the slopes in all directions around the city”， (James Inglis， 1880s) indicating in varying degrees the participation of ordinary people in this city bonanza. As with all societies， some could afford none of these.
By the end of the nineteenth century Sydney was one of the largest cities in the Western world， with a population of half a million people. It has not maintained that position in the twentieth century， but Sydneysiders have long known that it is quality， not quantity that counted. The fact that the quality of this harbour harbour n.(=harbor) 海港 city is largely due to the generosity generosity n.慷慨， 宽大 of nature does not stop its inhabitants claiming all this as their due. Ever since the first governor recorded his responses to “the finest harbour in the world”， artists and writers have never stopped trying to capture the essence of the city with paint brush， camera and pen. These records contribute to the rich history of the city.
Melbourne Overview
墨尔本--文艺之都
如果说悉尼生气蓬勃，具有美国新城市的特色，那么墨尔本则老成持重，具有英国的怀旧风格。墨尔本是一个很有特色的城市。人们一般认为它很庄重，不管是它的古色古香的建筑，还是人们的衣着举止，都给人留下深刻的印象。墨尔本是维多利亚州的首府，濒临菲利普港海湾。横穿市区的耶拿河，是墨尔本人心爱的宠儿，以至规定河的两岸不准住人，也不准修造房子，以保持河畔的风景。这样，墨尔本就显出另一种不同于悉尼的特色，在最繁华热闹的市区，走不多远，就可以到达河畔的草地。河中静静的流水，小船在水上飘荡，男女青年躺在河边草地上懒洋洋地晒太阳，似乎和几步之遥的现代城市生活毫无关系。这种很独特的景象，大概只有在墨尔本才看得到。
墨尔本于1842年设镇，1847年设市。在维多利亚州发现黄金以前，墨尔本只是个小城市，人口不过几万人。 1851年在该市西北 100 公里处的巴拉腊特发现黄金后，大批淘金者和移民涌入，先后在几个重要城镇修通了铁路，使这个小城市迅速发展起来。人口猛增至数十万。墨尔本在1901年至1927年曾为联邦首都。在第一、二次世界大战期间，这个城市由于没有受到战争的多大影响而稳步发展，再加上大批的移民到来为带动当地的经济发展和城区规划提供了先进的技术和资金，使得墨尔本一跃成为位于悉尼之上的大都市。
墨尔本是一个移民都市。由于淘金热和二战的移民，让墨尔本的街道充满了异国情趣，土耳其街、希腊街、越南街、中国城等，除非你身在其中，否则你绝体会不到墨尔本的宽广胸怀。
到墨尔本不看看大自然的杰作，就不算真正到过墨尔本。沿着起点距墨尔本西南 100公里的大洋路一路走来，所见皆是壮丽的海岸风光、奇岩怪石，途经的景观包括曾为淘金者的度假胜地女王崖；欧特威雨林区；矗立于海中的十二使徒岩，此外还有拱门、伦敦桥、阿德湖峡，各种奇特的据点。对于想登高一望的游客来说，The Rial to Tower observation Deck辽阔的视野一定能满足其需求；对于想了解墨尔本历史的游客而言，当初羁押犯人的墨尔本旧监狱也能满足其好奇心，尤其晚上的夜游，更能让游客体会以前罪犯行刑及执行死刑的恐怖情况；对于艺文爱好者，维多利亚艺术中心，则提供最重要的文化活动；对于喜爱生态之旅者，墨尔本动物园罕见的动植物则可让游客一睹为快。
墨尔本的魅力，不只自然风景。她以文化生活见称，经常举办诗歌朗诵、实验剧场、艺馆展览、百老汇剧场、芭蕾舞、弦乐表演、爵士与摇滚乐队的表演等项目。墨尔本经常举办各类体育比赛，主要有墨尔本杯赛事，澳洲网球公开赛，世界一级方程赛车，RIDCURL职业冲浪比赛等等。早在1956年，墨尔本就成功地举办了奥林匹克运动会。
墨尔本属温带气候，这里四季分明，夏季平均摄氏14～25度，冬季摄氏 -6～-13度，春秋两季气候温和。到处可见郁郁葱葱的树木和五彩缤纷的花卉。这个典型的公园城市，有公园 400多座，到处是绿地和花园。
Australia，s second city is a place of contradictions and hidden charms. A leafy， bayside community on the “upsidedown”， brown Yarra River， it is cosmopolitan， suburban， cultivated， football crazy， conservative and a haven for the avantgarde. Visitors come for its shopping， restaurants， nightlife and sporting calendar， encouraging many MelburniansMelburnian n.(澳大利亚)墨尔本人 adj.(澳大利亚)墨尔本(人)的 to believe that they live in one of the most civilized cities in the world.
History
Although mystery surrounds many aspects of Australian prehistory， it seems certain that the first humans came here across the sea from SouthEast Asia around 50，000 years ago. There were about 38 tribal groups living around Victoria when white people arrived. Aboriginesaborigines n.土着， 原居民， (Aborigines)澳大利亚土着居民，土生动物(或植物)群 were traditionally tribal people living in extended family groups and using the environment sustainably. It is believed that Aboriginal people were the first to make polished， edgeground， stone tools， to cremate their dead and to engrave and paint representations of themselves and animals. Although their society was technologically simple， it was culturally sophisticated， using complex ceremonies which integrated religion， history， law， art and codes of behaviour.
Aboriginal people around Victoria resisted white settlement (which began in 1803)， and although some settlements had to be abandoned， the original inhabitants were really just postponing the inevitable. Soon after settlement， the Aboriginal people had been dispossessed of their lands and massacred in their thousands. Between 1834 and 1860 Victoria，s Aboriginal population dropped from 15，000 to 2000.
Melbourne was established in 1835 by a group of Tasmanian entrepreneurs， and is the youngest city of its size in the world. Although the settlement was not named until 1837， its characteristic grid layout was imposed by military surveyor Robert Hoddle the same year， and by 1840 over 10，000 people had been attracted to the area. The colony of Victoria was formed in 1851， with Melbourne as its capital， neatly coinciding with the discovery of gold which swiftly and inexorablyinexorably adv.无情地， 冷酷地 transformed them both.