Highton also refers to the highest level of Aristos in the Saga of the Skolian Empire

Saga of the Skolian Empire

The Saga of the Skolian Empire, informally called the Skolian Saga or Tales of the Ruby Dynasty, is a series of science fiction novels, novelettes and novellas by Catherine Asaro, revolving around characters from an interstellar empire known as the Skolian Empire and their power struggle with the...

 by Catherine Asaro

Catherine Asaro

Catherine Asaro is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is best known for her books about the Ruby Dynasty, called the Saga of the Skolian Empire.- Biography :...

.

Highton is a residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is bordered by the Barrabool Hills

Barrabool Hills

Barrabool Hills is an area in Geelong, Victoria, located roughly 6 or 7 km west of Highton. The hills are best seen from Ceres a small town 5 minutess out of Highton....

 and Wandana Heights

Wandana Heights, Victoria

Wandana Heights is a residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Suburban development of the suburb commenced in the 1980s which due to the current high property prices in Australia, and the fluctuation of prices in previous years housing development has been sporadic with periods where...

 to the west, the Barwon River

Barwon River (Victoria)

The Barwon River rises in the Otway Ranges of Victoria, Australia, runs through Winchelsea and the city of Geelong, where it is joined by the Moorabool River, and enters the sea at Barwon Heads after passing through Lake Connewarre on the Bellarine Peninsula...

 to the north and east, the former Kardinia Creek to the south-east, and the Princes Highway

Princes Highway

The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....

 and Pigdons Road to the south.

History

Grazier John Highett set up a farm and finished building his house on a hill overlooking the Barwon River in 1837. Later his property became the Montpellier vineyard, hotel and picnic ground. Highton was named after an abbreviation of his name. Reserves and reservoirs in this beautiful suburb still bear the Montpellier name.

The district had been extensively subdivided by the mid-1860s and boasted a hotel, a post office (opened on 1 December 1864)
and a population of about 300 people. Vineyards, orchards and farmland were the major commercial activities for some decades. Between 1927 and 1933, two major orphanages and the Glastonbury children's home were opened in the suburb.

Residential development reached Highton by the post war 1950s, the scenic hills overlooking the Barwon River valley being popular with residents. The Highton shopping centre in Bellevue Avenue was constructed in the mid 1960s. Highton Post Office moved here in 1965 and a Highton South office opened the same year.
Kardinia Creek separating the suburb from Belmont was placed underground. Further residential expansion continued southwards and by the 1990s housing had reached the Glastonbury Drive area.

Education

The Highton Primary School was the first school to open in the suburb, opening in 1854. Post war growth led to the opening of the Montpellier and Bellaire primary schools. The Geelong Grammar School

Geelong Grammar School

Geelong Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, co-educational, boarding and day school. The school's main campus is located at Corio, on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, overlooking Corio Bay and Limeburners Bay....

 once occupied a campus in Highton from 1973 to 1998, and Christian College

Christian College, Geelong

Christian College is an P-12 independent school located over four campuses in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Three campuses are located in suburban Geelong: the Senior Campus at Waurn Ponds , the Middle School in Highton , and the Junior School in Belmont , while the Bellarine Campus in located in...

 opened in the former St Augustine’s orphanage in 1980.

Transport

Highton is connected by road to the centre of Geelong by Barrabool Road and the Princes Highway

Princes Highway

The Princes Highway extends from Sydney to Port Augusta via the coast through the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, a distance of 1941 km or 1898 km via the former alignments of the highway ....

. Traffic to Melbourne is able to use the recently opened Geelong Ring Road that passes to the west of the suburb.\\.

Public transport to the area is provided by bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

es operated by Benders Buslines, on routes to the Geelong city centre travelling via Deakin University

Deakin University

Deakin University is an Australian public university with nearly 40,000 higher education students in 2010. It receives more than A$600 million in operating revenue annually, and controls more than A$1.3 billion in assets. It received more than A$35 million in research income in 2009 and had 835...

, Belmont

Belmont, Victoria

Belmont is a southern suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The name means "beautiful hill". Belmont is geographically separated from the Geelong central business district by the Barwon River. The suburb is primarily residential, with some light industry along Barwon Heads Road...

, Buckley Falls and Newtown

Newtown, Victoria

Newtown is an inner western suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is a primarily residential area occupying one of the highest points of urban Geelong, has always been a desirable place of residence and it is the location of many of Geelong's oldest and most valuable properties.The locality of...

.

Sport

Golfers play at the Queens Park Public Golf Course on Queens Park Road. The Geelong Amateur football and netball club and the Newtown and Chilwell cricket club are also located at Queens Park. The Geelong Falcons

Geelong Falcons

The Geelong Falcons are a junior Australian rules football representative club in the TAC Cup competition, Victoria, Australia.The club takes in talented junior players from the Geelong, Colac and Warrnambool regions in order to groom them for AFL selection...

are based at the oval adjacent to the Highton shopping centre. The Highton bowls club and tennis courts are also adjacent to the oval.