Warrnambool

Introduction

Koala, Tower Hill, Victoria

© Utrecht

Warrnambool, deriving its name from the Aboriginal word for a nearby volcanic cone, is a popular coastal town in the far west of Victoria.

Warrnambool was founded in the middle of the 19th century and became an important port during the Victorian Gold Rush. These days, it is a town of 30,000 enjoying a thriving tourist industry.

Sights and Activities

• Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve near Warrnambool offers good wildlife viewing, including kangaroos and koalas.

Getting There

By Plane

Warrnambool does have an airport, but this is not a common way of getting there and there are no scheduled commercial flights.

By Train

V/Line operates three daily services (two on Sundays) to and from Melbourne (through Geelong). The trip takes about 3 hours and 20 minutes and costs $35.50 for a one-way adult fare.

By Car

Warrnambool is situated at the western end of the Great Ocean Road, but to reach it quickly from Melbourne, you can travel along the Princess Highway, which is about a 3-hour journey. The Princess Highway continues on to Adelaide.

By Bus

There is a weekly coach service with V/Line from Melbourne, on Sundays. There are also V/Line buses to Portland, Mount Gambier, Ballarat and Hamilton. Additionally, local buses connect on to Port Fairy and Koroit.

Sleep

Upscale

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafés are very common in the larger Australian cities and popular tourist destinations. However, once you leave the major population centres, you might have trouble finding somewhere to log on. Free wifi is getting more and more common (either with or without a code) in places like restaurants, some bars and coffee places and hotels. Sometimes a fee is required.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Australia is on a GSM 900/1800 network, so if you have an unlocked phone that works on those frequencies, you will be able to buy a prepaid SIM-card and stick into your phone when you're in Australia. You will receive a new Australian phone number with the SIM-card.

To dial out of Australia use the prefix 0011, followed by the calling code of the country you are trying to reach, followed by the area code of the city/town (without the 0!) and finally the phone number.

Within Australia, it is necessary to add an area code to the phone numbers if you are calling from outside the area. Below are Australia's area codes:

• 02 - New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory (Sydney, Canberra)
• 03 - Victoria & Tasmania (Melbourne, Hobart)
• 07 - Queensland (Brisbane)
• 08 - Western Australia, South Australia & Northern Territory (Perth, Adelaide, Darwin)

000 is the emergency telephone number in Australia, but the international GSM mobile emergency telephone number 112 also works on mobile phones.

Post

Australia Post is the government's postal service. Most suburbs will have at least one post office. Opening times are mostly from around 8:00 or 9:00am to 5:00pm though larger ones keep longer hours sometimes. A standard letter or postcard sent within Australia will cost $0.60. Internationally, it costs $1.70 to send postcards anywhere in the world. Letters cost $1.85 to send within the Asia Pacific region and $2.60 to anywhere else in the world.^[1]. It is also possible to send things as parcels or by express mail. You can also use use private courier companies like TNT, UPS or DHL as they are competitive and reliable.