Bairnsdale Victoria
Location of Bairnsdale, Victoria (in red)
Population:	11,282 (2006)[1]
Postcode:	3875
Elevation:	49 m (161 ft)
Location:	281 km (175 mi) E of Melbourne 67 km (42 mi) NE of Sale
LGA:	Shire of East Gippsland
State District:	Gippsland East
Federal Division:	Gippsland
Mean Max Temp Mean Min Temp Rainfall 20. In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology Postcodes are used in Australia for the purposes of sorting and directing Mail. The elevation of a Geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point often the mean sea level. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 Sale is a cathedral city in the Australian state of Victoria, in the Shire of Wellington. There are 79 Local Government Areas in the Australian state of Victoria. Shire of East Gippsland is a Local Government Area in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. State Electoral District is a term used to refer to an electorate within the Lower House or Legislative The Electoral district of Gippsland East is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. The Australian House of Representatives is elected from 150 single-member districts called Divisions. The Division of Gippsland is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. 0 °C 68 °F 8. The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 2 °C 47 °F 661. The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 6 mm 26 in

Bridge over the Mitchell River in Bairnsdale; the town centre can be seen to the left

Bairnsdale (pronounced /ˈbænsdæɪl/) is a town in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. The Mitchell River is the largest unregulated river in Victoria, Australia and provides a unique example of Riparian ecology Australian English is a non-rhotic variety of English spoken by most native-born Australians Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. With a population at the 2006 census of 11,282, it is a major regional centre of eastern Victoria along with Traralgon and Sale. The Australian census is administered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics every five years Traralgon is a regional city located in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Sale is a cathedral city in the Australian state of Victoria, in the Shire of Wellington.

Location and facilities

Bairnsdale is situated at latitude 37°49'32" S, longitude 147°36'46" E, on the Princes Highway, a section of Australia's Highway 1. The Princes Highway is a segment of Australia's Highway 1 that extends from Sydney to Adelaide and Port Augusta South Australia Highway 1 is Australia 's coastal Highway joining all mainland's state capitals and coastal towns circumnavigating the entire Australian continent It is 285 kilometres, or approximately three hours drive, east of the state capital Melbourne. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 Bairnsdale is close to the Gippsland Lakes and Bass Strait, and is the official starting point of the Great Alpine Road which winds across the Australian Alps. The Gippsland Lakes are a network of lakes marshes and lagoons in east Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering an area of about 600 km sq The largest Bass Strait (bæs is a sea Strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland ( Victoria in particular The Great Alpine Road (B500 is a country tourist road in Victoria, Australia, running from Wangaratta in the north to Bairnsdale in the The Australian Alps are the highest Mountain ranges of mainland Australia.

Bairnsdale is located on the river flats of the Mitchell River, near where the Mitchell River empties into Lake King. The Mitchell River is the largest unregulated river in Victoria, Australia and provides a unique example of Riparian ecology It is sited on a bend in the river, with the river flowing in along the northern edge of the town, before turning south to flow along the eastern edge, although suburbs are now found across the river to both north and east.

Nearby towns include Paynesville, Lakes Entrance, Bruthen and Metung. Paynesville is a tourist/holiday resort town in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Lakes Entrance is a tourist resort and fishing port in eastern Victoria, Australia. Bruthen is a small town located alongside the Tambo River between Bairnsdale and Ensay on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria Metung is a small town in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, 314 km east of the state capital Melbourne. Along the Princes Highway to the west are Stratford and Sale, and to the east is Orbost. Stratford is a town on the Avon River in Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne on the Princes Highway in Shire of Wellington Sale is a cathedral city in the Australian state of Victoria, in the Shire of Wellington. Orbost is a town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, located east of Melbourne where the Princes Highway crosses To the north along the Great Alpine Road are Ensay, Swifts Creek and Omeo, as well as Benambra. The Great Alpine Road (B500 is a country tourist road in Victoria, Australia, running from Wangaratta in the north to Bairnsdale in the Ensay is a small town located between Swifts Creek and Bruthen on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia Swifts Creek is a rural community located between Omeo and Ensay on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia Omeo is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Great Alpine Road, east of Mount Hotham, in the Shire of East Gippsland. Benambra is a small town located 28  Kilometres nbsp(17  mi) north-east of Omeo and 430 

Bairnsdale is the commercial centre for the East Gippsland region and the seat of local government for the Shire of East Gippsland. Shire of East Gippsland is a Local Government Area in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.

Educational facilities in Bairnsdale include two high schools, Bairnsdale Secondary College which has approx 1200 students (Government) and Nagle College which has about 800 students (Catholic Private), a number of primary schools and kindergartens, and limited tertiary education facilities mainly consisting of the East Gippsland Institute of TAFE. Technical and Further Education or TAFE (pronounced) institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational tertiary education courses in Australia

Bairnsdale has it own railway station, which is also the terminus of the Bairnsdale railway line. Bairnsdale Railway Station is the current operating terminus of the Gippsland railway in Victoria, Australia. This article is about the V/Line service For the railway itself see Orbost railway line The Bairnsdale Line is a regional passenger rail

History

The historic Band Rotunda in Main St

The Aboriginal name for Bairnsdale was Wy Yung (or Wy-yung), meaning spoonbill (a type of wading bird). Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. "Spoonbill" could also mean Northern Shoveler or Paddlefish. Wy Yung is now the name for a suburb of Bairnsdale, located north of the town across the Mitchell River.

The current name was taken from the name of the property owned by pioneer settler Archibald Macleod, who took up the run on the west bank of the Mitchell River in 1844. Bairnsdale is probably derived from the name of Macleod’s family home on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, which had the name ‘Bernisdale’. Skye or the Isle of Skye ( Scottish Gaelic An t-Eilean Sgitheanach əɲ tʰʲelan s̪kʲiə Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. An alternative interpretation was that Macleod returned after a long absence to find a number of ‘bairns’ (a Scottish term for babies) at the station. The name may in fact be a conjunction of these two stories, accounting for the transformation of ‘Bernis’ to ‘Bairns’.

The town site itself was not surveyed until 1859, with the first blocks of land sold in 1860. Lucknow (now an eastern suburb of Bairnsdale on the east bank of the river, was named for the Indian city of Lucknow)to which horses bred in the Bairnsdale area were sent to aid the British Crown, during the Inian uprising, was at this time already a thriving village. Lucknow is also a mansion in New Hampshire Lucknow ( लखनऊ لکھنؤ Lakhnaū) is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh

Attractions

St Mary's Catholic Church , Main St, Bairnsdale

The spectacular murals adorning the interior of St Mary's Church

The Mitchell River empties into Lake King at Eagle Point Bluff. The Gippsland Lakes are a network of lakes marshes and lagoons in east Gippsland, Victoria, Australia covering an area of about 600 km sq The largest Between the town of Bairnsdale and Eagle Point Bluff are found enormous silt jetties, second only in length to those formed at the mouth of the Mississippi River in the USA. Silt is Soil or rock derived Granular material of a Grain size between sand and clay The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

One of the most notable landmarks of Bairnsdale are the murals on the ceiling and walls of St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Main St (Princes Highway). The Princes Highway is a segment of Australia's Highway 1 that extends from Sydney to Adelaide and Port Augusta South Australia These murals were painted by out of work Italian artist Francesco Floreani during the Great Depression and remain a fascination to this day.

Also of note are the gardens maintained on the median strip of Main St. A garden is a planned space usually outdoors set aside for the display cultivation and enjoyment of Plants and other forms of Nature. On divided roads including Expressways Motorways or Autobahns the central reservation (British English, median (North American This very wide median strip stretches right from the Mitchell River to the western edge of town, a distance of about four kilometres. The main garden section runs for over half a kilometre through the central commercial district, and features beds of flowering annuals and perennials, numerous mature deciduous and evergreen trees, the town’s war memorials, and a restored historic band rotunda. Botanically an annual plant is a Plant that usually germinates, Flowers and dies in one Year. A perennial plant or perennial ( Latin per, "through" annus, "year" is a Plant that lives for more than Botany Autumn leaf color. See --> In Botany and Horticulture, deciduous Plants, including In Botany, an Evergreen plant is a plant having leaves all year round A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or A war memorial is a building monument statue or other edifice to celebrate a War or victory or (predominating in modern times to commemorate those who died or were injured A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan often covered by a Dome. The rotunda itself was first constructed in 1910, and restored to its present condition in 1993.

Bairnsdale is the site of the beginning of the East Gippsland Rail Trail which is a walking, cycling and equestrian trail nearly 100 km in length, winding along the alignment of the former railway line to Orbost. The East Gippsland Rail Trail is a Rail trail located in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Orbost is a town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, located east of Melbourne where the Princes Highway crosses

See also

• Bairnsdale Airport

References

• Gardner, P. D. (1997) Names of the Great Alpine Road Between Bairnsdale and Omeo. Ensay: Ngarak Press.
• Land.vic Vicnames

External links

• Australian Places - Bairnsdale
• Bairnsdale Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The World War I and World War II Memorial in Main St, Bairnsdale

The bridge over the Mitchell River, at the eastern entrance to Bairnsdale

Bairnsdale Court House