"The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in Australia. The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" refers to any sparsely inhabited region regardless of vegetation. The bush in this sense was something that was uniquely Australian and very different from the green European landscapes familiar to many new immigrants.
"The Bush" also refers to any populated region outside of the major metropolitan areas, including mining and agricultural areas. Consequently it is not unusual to have a mining town in the desert such as Port Hedland (Pop. 14,000) referred to as "The bush" within the media.
The bush was revered as a source of national ideals by the likes of poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson, and contemporaneous painters in the Heidelberg School, namely Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Frederick McCubbin. Romanticising the bush in this way was a big step forward for Australians in their steps towards self-identity. The legacy is a folklore rich in the spirit of the bush. The term bush is also affixed to any number of other entities or activities to describe their rural, country or folk nature, e.g. "Bush Cricket", "Bush Music", etc.
The last image is an iconic portrayal of the bush by 19th century Australian artist Frederick McCubbin (1855 – 1917). It is the triptych "The Pioneer" (1904). The painting is part of the National Gallery of Victoria's Australian art collection and exhibited in the Ian Potter Centre in Federation Square in Melbourne.
We are very lucky in Melbourne in terms of the variety of fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables that are available in greengrocers' shops day in day out, no matter what the season. Summer, however, is particularly plentiful and in this greengrocery ("Just Ripe" in Northland), where we often shop the variety is wonderful.
This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Pink Saturday meme.
A typical suburban park and as evening falls, the Western horizon becomes golden.
This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.
Tilia × europaea, generally known as the common lime (British Isles) or common linden (North America), is a naturally occurring hybrid between Tilia cordata (small-leaved lime) and Tilia platyphyllos (large-leaved lime). It occurs in the wild in Europe at scattered localities wherever the two parent species are both native. It is not closely related to the lime fruit tree, a species of citrus.
Tilia × europaea is a large deciduous tree up to 15–50 m tall with a trunk up to 2.5 m radius. The base of the trunk often features burrs and a dense mass of brushwood. The leaves are intermediate between the parents, 6–15 cm long and 6–12 cm broad, thinly hairy below with tufts of denser hairs in the leaf vein axils. The flowers are produced in clusters of four to ten in early summer with a leafy yellow-green subtending bract; they are fragrant, and pollinated by bees. The floral formula is ✶ K5 C5 A0+5∞ G(5).
The fruit is a dry nut-like drupe 8 mm (0.3 in) diameter, downy and faintly ribbed. This hybrid is very widely cultivated, being readily and inexpensively propagated by layering; as a result, it is often the commonest Tilia species in urban areas and along avenues and streets. It is not however the best species of this purpose, as it produces abundant stem sprouts, and also often hosts heavy aphid populations resulting in honeydew deposits on everything underneath the trees. Furthermore there is substantial leaf litter in autumn.
We don't have many linden trees growing in Melbourne, so it is always a pleasant surprise to find one, especially if it in bloom. This specimen was growing up in the Dandenongs, where the weather is cooler and more amenable to this tree's growth.
This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.
View of Melbourne City from the East.
Sassafras is a locality and township within Greater Melbourne beyond the Melbourne metropolitan area Urban Growth Boundary, 43 km east of Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. At the 2006 Census, Sassafras had a population of 968. It is located at an altitude of approximately 500 metres, near the top of the ridgeline of the Dandenong Ranges, a few kilometres south of the highest peak of Mount Dandenong.
The area was named Sassafras Gully, after the trees which grew in the area. The land was opened to small scale farming in 1893 and a small township developed. The Post Office opened on 1 June 1901 and has always been known as Sassafras Gully. In the early 1900s tourism began to increase and the township consequently grew. Today Sassafras is a tourist destination with several boutique stores including Devonshire tea outlets, antique shops and nurseries.
Drawing inspiration from Agatha Christie’s classic character, Miss Marple’s Tea Room (382 Mount Dandenong Tourist Road) features an intriguing gallery full of memorabilia. The quaint, cottage style café offers a menu of traditional English fare such as cottage pies and Devonshire Tea. Unfortunately, the milieu is not good enough to make up for the shortfall in the menu - ranging from the rather ordinary, uninspired, to the much less than average food. For example, the "scones" are really a bready, cake-like concoction and the savoury dishes completely lacklustre. Still, I guess it's OK if the company is compatible, in which case, who cares about the food...
This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.
In Campbell St, Collingwood, right across the road from the zebra mural I showed you last week, is a group of murals that are quite striking and colourful. Not as much to my taste as the jaunty zebra mural, but nevertheless, they do provide an interesting vista.
This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Monday Murals meme.
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, is the metropolitical and cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of the Province of Victoria. The cathedral, which was built in stages, is a major Melbourne landmark.
St Paul's Cathedral is built on the site where the first public Christian service in Melbourne was conducted in 1835. The area of the current site became a corn market until 1848, when it was made available for the construction of St Paul's Parish Church, a bluestone church. St Paul's Parish Church was consecrated in 1852 and was in use until 1885 when it was demolished to make way for the current cathedral. A distinguished English architect, William Butterfield, designed the cathedral, in the architectural style of Gothic transitional.
The foundation stone was laid in 1880 and, on 22 January 1891, the cathedral was consecrated. St Paul's replaced St James Old Cathedral which then stood on the corner of William Street and Collins Street - later moved to a site near the Flagstaff Gardens. The erection of the spires began in 1926, to the design of John Barr of Sydney instead of Butterfield's original design.
The 1960s saw extensive work completed to the exterior of the cathedral and the T.C. Lewis Organ was restored in 1989 by a major National Trust appeal.Major restoration works were completed in 2009 with significant repairs to the spires, the building of the Moorhouse Tower Lantern and the new processional doors.
This post is part of the Spiritual Sundays meme,
Yarra Flats Park features 85 hectares of pastoral and heritage landscapes, natural bushland, wetlands, abundant birdlife and a number of informal picnic areas. There is a wood barbecue, picnic tables and shelters located near the car park. Along the Main Yarra Trail is the Heidelberg School Artists Trail, which illustrates how artists a century ago (such as Condor, McCubbin and Streeton) interpreted the landscape.
Pedestrian and cyclist access is available from various points in the park at all times. Vehicle entry is available from The Boulevard, East Ivanhoe (Melway 32 B6). Car park gates are open 6am to 6pm, extending to 9pm during daylight savings. Dogs are permitted in the park but must remain on a leash at all times. Dogs are not permitted within the (fenced) Annulus Billabong Wildlife Sanctuary.
This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme.
