National highways connect Melbourne with Sydney to the north and Adelaide to the west. Melbourne has the nation s busiest general cargo port and largest container port. Eight domestic airlines and 30 international airlines provide regular services into Melbourne s international airport, Tullamarine. Trade Victoria s major trading partners are Japan, USA, New Zealand and Singapore. Gold, textile fibres, non-ferrous metal products, dairy products and meat products are the major exports.
Main imports are vehicles and machinery, largely from the USA and Japan.
Visitors can stay on host farms, or hire a metal detector in country where prospectors still find gold nuggets more than 140 years after the gold rushes. Water sports, rock climbing, gliding, hang gliding and hot air ballooning are available. In the far north west, the Mildura district is an irrigated fruit growing oasis on the arid fringes of the outback. Westward are basalt plains studded with extinct volcanoes and the grand colonial mansions of the squatters, the pioneers who made Victoria some of the world s richest fine wool country. Kangaroos and koalas can be seen in the national parks, and there is a famous dusk parade of fairy penguins on Phillip Island.