Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Melbourne, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Melbourne and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Melbourne
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Melbourne:
- 46.947201, -123.622824
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Melbourne
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Grays Harbor County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Grays Harbor County
- Since Melbourne is near Pacific County and also Mason County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Pacific County
- eBird sighting report for Mason County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Melbourne ...
We found twelve communities that share the name Melbourne.
Within Washington, the name Melbourne is unique.
Beyond Washington, we know of another twelve communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these twelve communities, eight are located in the United States and four are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Arkansas
- California
- Florida
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Manitoba
- This Melbourne lies 1,132 miles [1,821.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Melbourne that is located in Grays Harbor County.
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Nova Scotia
- This Melbourne lies 2,737 miles [4,404.8 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Melbourne that is located in Grays Harbor County.
- Ontario
- This Melbourne lies 2,052 miles [3,302.4 km]<1> to the east of the Melbourne that is located in Grays Harbor County.
- Quebec
- Tennessee
Curious and Interesting Names Near Melbourne ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Brady
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
- Brady is located in Grays Harbor County
- Cedarville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedarville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedarville
- Cedarville is located in Grays Harbor County
- Fuller
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east) - Garden City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garden City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Garden City is located in Grays Harbor County
- Grays Harbor City
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grays Harbor City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Harbor City
- Grays Harbor City is located in Grays Harbor County
- Greenwood
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east) - Junction City
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Junction City have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
- Junction City is located in Grays Harbor County
- Pilgrim Heights
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pilgrim Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilgrim Heights
- Pilgrim Heights is located in Grays Harbor County
- Sine
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sine
- Sine is located in Grays Harbor County
- Woodlawn
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
How Far From Melbourne to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Melbourne to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Melbourne and extending to:
- Montesano, which is the Seat of Grays Harbor County, lies just to the North Northeast.
- Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 34 miles [54.7 km]<1> to the east (E). If you could walk a straight line from Melbourne to Olympia, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of two days to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take just about two full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,383 miles [3,835.1 km] to the east (E). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take 5 days, a buggy would take 93 days and walking would take 136 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,836 miles [11,001.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,596 miles [12,224.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,730 miles [9,221.5 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Melbourne. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Grays Harbor County: www.co.grays-harbor.wa.us/
The official website for State of Washington: https://access.wa.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Melbourne) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Melbourne. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.9472, Longitude: -123.6228 |
| <2> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Melbourne, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Melbourne could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <6> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Melbourne to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 341.915 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 343.606 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 328.654 degrees. |