PICTURES: What does Doncaster in Australia look like?

It is pretty common knowledge there's another Doncaster on the other side of the world - but what does our namesake town in Australia look like?
Doncaster in Australia - or the set of Neighbours? (Photo: Google).Doncaster in Australia - or the set of Neighbours? (Photo: Google).
Doncaster in Australia - or the set of Neighbours? (Photo: Google).

As you'd expect from a town more than 10,000 miles away on the other side of the globe, things are a little bit different Down Under.

There's no Mansion House, no racecourse and no airport - but there are some similarities between our twin, which is a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria.

Doncaster Bowling Club in Australia. (Photo: Google).Doncaster Bowling Club in Australia. (Photo: Google).
Doncaster Bowling Club in Australia. (Photo: Google).
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Courtesy of Google Earth, we've taken a trip to the other side of the globe to take a look at life in the Aussie Doncaster, which, reassuringly, the locals over there also call Donny.

Take a tour of the huge shopping centre, the leafy suburbs and see where the young and old of Doncaster spend their days at work, rest and play.

Here's everything you need to know about Doncaster, Australia

1. The suburb is 15km east of Melbourne's Central Business District and its local government area is the City of Manningham.

The Westfield Shopping Centre is one of the biggest in Australia.(Photo: Google)The Westfield Shopping Centre is one of the biggest in Australia.(Photo: Google)
The Westfield Shopping Centre is one of the biggest in Australia.(Photo: Google)
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2. At the 2011 census, Doncaster had a population of 18.359.

3. The area is situated on land around the top of the 120m high Doncaster Hill.

4. The Westfield Doncaster Shopping Centre, which is situated in Doncaster, is one of the largest in Australia.

5. In 1841 Frederic Unwin, a Sydney solicitor, bought 5,120 acres of land, including most of the present suburb of Doncaster, from the Crown for one pound an acre.

Doncaster School - a little different from some of our educational establishments! (Photo: Google).Doncaster School - a little different from some of our educational establishments! (Photo: Google).
Doncaster School - a little different from some of our educational establishments! (Photo: Google).
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6. The Doncaster region was settled in the 1860s and 1870s, predominantly by German settlers who called the area Waldau before the name Doncaster gradually became commonly accepted.

7. A Lutheran church was the first one in Doncaster in 1858. Doncaster Post Office opened on 17 May 1860.

8. Doncaster was the location of the first electric tram to run in Melbourne in 1889. The tram started in Doncaster and ended in Box Hill (about 3.5 km away)

9. In 1969, Westfield Doncaster was built on the corner of Doncaster and Williamsons Roads and is a well-known shopping complex in Melbourne.

10. The suburb has an Australian Rules football team, The Doncaster Sharks, competing in the Eastern Football League.[10]