St Kilda Beach
Address
St Kilda, Victoria 3182
GPS
-37.8638261, 144.981637
Stretching out for around 700m, it promises sandy shorelines and a range of waterfront activities between St Kilda Marina and St Kilda Harbour.
According to locals in Melbourne, it’s not summer until you’ve kicked back for a day by the seaside at St Kilda Beach, which can easily be reached via the city tram line from the Central Business District. Along the esplanade, you can watch walkers, joggers, and rollerbladers race by, while the waters make the perfect place to kitesurfers, windsurfers, and swimmers.
Add to this the glut of restaurants, bars, and cafes that line the beach, and you have the backdrop for a memorable and fun day.
The history
The Boon Wurrung of the Kulin Nation were the original inhabitants of the area now known as St. Kilda; they referred to the land as Euroe Yroke. St. Kilda is littered with relics from a long-gone civilization. Stop at St. Kilda Junction’s ‘Corroboree Tree,’ a massive red gum tree where early tribes gathered.
When Superintendent La Trobe saw the ship ‘Lady of St. Kilda’ docked off the coast in 1841, he decided to rename the area after it. Many grand houses were built in St. Kilda along its hills and shoreline in the early 20th century, when it was a popular neighbourhood among Melbourne’s wealthy.
With the construction of Luna Park in 1912, Melbourne’s waterfront transformed into the city’s entertainment district. Roller coasters and arcade games are still available at the historic Luna Park.
St. Kilda rapidly grew into Melbourne’s’red light district’ after the war’s end. In the 1960s, it gained a reputation as a haven for young artists and musicians due to the low cost of living there. The suburb’s unique aesthetic has survived to the present day.
