Bairnsdale

Bairnsdale
State :  Australia State : Victoria
Coordinates : 37 ° 50 ′  S , 147 ° 37 ′  E Coordinates: 37 ° 50 ′  S , 147 ° 37 ′  E Height : 49  m
Residents : 12,952 (2016)
Time zone : AEST (UTC + 10) Postal code : 3875 LGA : Shire of East Gippsland
Bairnsdale

Bairnsdale
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     60   25th 13     50   26th 13     67   24 11     50   21st 9     54   17th 7th     58   15th 5     50   14th 4th     49   15th 4th     57   17th 6th     70   20th 8th     64   21st 9     68   23 11 Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: Bureau of Meteorology, Australia, data: 1896–1970

Bairnsdale [ ˈbænsdæɪl ] is the capital of the Local Administrative Area (LGA) East Gippsland Shire in Victoria , Australia . Alongside Traralgon and Sale, the city is one of the economic centers in eastern Victoria. In 2016 the city had 12,952 inhabitants.

Bairnsdale is located approximately 285 km east of Melbourne . It is also the starting point of the Great Alpine Road , which leads through the Australian Alps . The Gippsland Lakes and Bass Strait are nearby .

The city lies on a bend in the Mitchell River, which flows around it first to the north and then to the east. However, there are now also residential areas across the river. Floods occur at irregular intervals, but these only affect residential areas close to the banks. Highs were mainly reached in the 1870s and 1890s, as well as in the 1930s, 1949 and 1952.

Closest cities or towns are Paynesville, Lakes Entrance, Bruthen and Metung. Sale and Stratford are to the west and Orbost to the east along the Princes Highway. To the north along the Great Alpine Road are Ensay, Swifts Creek, Omeo and Benambra.

history

In the local Aboriginal language, the Bairnsdale area was called Wy Yung (or Wy-yung ), which is a type of spoonbill that is found there. Today a district north of the Mitchell bears this name.

The name of the city goes back to the name of the farm of the pioneer Archibald Macleod, who had settled on the western bank of the Mitchell since 1844. The Macleods family emigrated from the village of Bernisdale on the Isle of Skye in Scotland and so it could be a modification of the name. Another thesis is that after a long absence he found a number of bairns , this is the Scottish Gaelic term for children, on his return . It is also likely that there is also a combination of both attempts at explanation, i.e. a change from 'Bernis' to 'Bairns' took place.

On the eastern shore of Mitchell, another settlement under the name of Lucknow, named after the Indian city already emerged in 1842 Lucknow . Due to the gold rush that began in the 1850s, the settlement grew rapidly. After an official survey of the area on the western bank of the Mitchell in 1859, land was gradually sold for further settlements from 1860 onwards. As early as the mid-1860s, around 300 people lived there. During this time, a port was opened in Bairnsdale, which further favored the development of the town. So the agricultural products produced in the area could be transported more quickly to the markets, especially to Melbourne. Mainly wheat was grown, later hops and maize gained importance. Livestock was also an important source of income. In 1888, Bairnsdale was connected to the rail network, which led to a significant decrease in shipping traffic. The economic crisis of the 1890s ended the positive development of the place for the time being. It only began to grow again in the 1920s, as fruit and vegetables were now being grown in the area. Even the "rural exodus" of the 1970s did not end the steady development of the place. In 1990 Bairnsdale received city rights.

Population development
year	Residents
1865	300
1871	900
1891	3,270
1947	4,644
1976	9.130
1991	10,770
2006	11,282
2016	12952

Economy and Infrastructure

economy

Bairnsdale's economy today is dominated by agriculture , fishing and forestry . Corresponding processing companies for these products have therefore set up shop. For example, the well-known manufacturer of meat pies "Patties Pies" is based here. Even the tourism played an important role in the city and region.

traffic

The city is conveniently located on the Princes Highway , part of Australia's National Highway 1 that connects Adelaide with Melbourne and Sydney .

Bairnsdale now also has a rail link to Melbourne, which is operated by the state "V / Line". Bairnsdale station is now also the terminus of the line. In 1888, the city was connected to the rail network, with passenger traffic in the meantime in August 1993 and finally freight traffic in December 1995. The line was reopened for freight traffic in mid-1999 and for passenger traffic in May 2004.

Bairnsdale Airport ( IATA airport code : BSJ , ICAO code : YBNS ) has two asphalt runways and is the home airport of the airline "Bairnsdale Air Charter". It goes back to a pre-war airfield. During the Second World War , the airport was briefly used by a flight training squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force . Passenger flights have also been taking place since 1950.

education

In addition to kindergartens and various primary schools, there are also two higher schools in Bairnsdale, on the one hand the state "Bairnsdale Secondary College" with around 1200 students and on the other hand the private Catholic "Nagle College" with 800 students. The tertiary education sector is covered to a limited extent by the "East Gippsland Institute of TAFE", TAFE here stands for Technical and Further Education (German technical and further education).

Attractions

city

One of Bairnsdale's main attractions is the murals in St Mary's Roman Catholic Church. They were during the Great Depression created by unemployed Italian artist Francesco Floreani.

The median of Main Street is also worth seeing. In the city center there are around 500 meters of gardens, in which the memorial for those who died in the two world wars and the historic rotunda from 1910, restored in 1993, are located.

nature

The Mitchell flows into the King Lake, one of the Gippsland Lakes, not far from a steep slope called Eagle Point. Between Bairnsdale and the escarpment there are huge headlands made of mud, which are the second largest in the world after those at the mouth of the Mississippi in the USA .

In Bairnsdale is the starting point of the "East Gippsland Rail Trail", a riding, hiking and biking trail that leads along an abandoned railway line 100 km east to Obrost.

• 

  St Mary's

• 

  St Mary's (inside)

• 

  cenotaph

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  rotunda

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  Courthouse

Bairnsdale celebrities

• Hubert Clifford (1904–1959), composer and conductor
• Leiv Warren Donnan (* 1938), painter, graphic artist, draftsman and art teacher
• Michael Joseph McKenna (* 1951), Bishop of Bathurst

Web links

Commons : Bairnsdale  - album containing pictures, videos and audio files

• Website of the Shire of East Gippsland (English)
• "Australian Places" - Bairnsdale ( Memento of April 4, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Australian Bureau of Statistics : Bairnsdale ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
2. ↑ Bureau of Meteorology, Australia: Klimeinformationen Bairnsdale. World Meteorological Organization, accessed April 6, 2012 . 
3. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics : Bairnsdale (Urban Center / Locality) ( English ) In: 2006 Census QuickStats . October 25, 2007. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
4. ↑ Timeline of Victorian Railways (English)
5. ↑ Airport data on World Aero Data ( English, as of 2006 )