THE 'MELBURNIAN MV' ON THE YARRA

The Melburnian MV was built by Bottrill Shipyards in Melbourne in 1942 for the Australian Armed Forces.   A thousand of these boats were built for service in the Pacific Islands and Papua New Guinea, specified to carry 10 tons of cargo or a platoon (20 soldiers) with equipment.  After hostilities ceased the boat was used by the Australian Customs Service in New South Wales for 30 years and subsequently worked as a tow boat on the Hawkesbury River.  In 1998 the boat was purchased by a boat enthusiast who sailed her to Melbourne where the "Melburnian" was totally refurbished to its luxury standard as a charter boat on Melbourne's Yarra River water ways.

Length 40'
Draught 4'9"
Engine 6/71 G.M super charged 280 HP
Beam 12"6"
Hull - Oregon

This post is part of the Watery Wednesday meme blog.

MELBOURNE BY NIGHT

This is a photo taken from Southbank, showing some of the landmarks of our City. On the left is the Flinders St Central Railway Station with its magnificent dome. Next to it in the centre is the Anglican Cathedral of St Paul. On the right, above the Princess Bridge over the Yarra is Federation Square with conglomerate of polygonal buildings and in the back some of the skyscrapers of the CBD.

You may like to see some more of my photos of Southbank by Night, here.

This post is part of the "Our World Tuesday" meme blog.

MELBOURNE GPO - LOGGIA

This loggia on the Western side of the old Melbourne General Post Office is now used by the many cafés that are housed just within, as an area for setting up tables and chairs for the customers to enjoy their coffee or light meal in the shade. Every evening they take the tables inside and every morning they set them up again. Here is an early morning shot, just before the clutter. The yellow light suits the old stonework well.

One of our Melbourne trams can be seen on the road and the safety barrier for the passengers is hi-viz yellow!

This post is part of the Mellow Yellow Monday meme blog.

KEW FOOTBRIDGE OVER YARRA

Continuing our trip along the Yarra River (see yesterday's post), we come along to this footbridge across the river at Kew. Many people (especially non-locals) do not know of the existence of this bridge so it often comes as a surprise when they first see it. Extensive parklands are to be found along the river on both sides of the bridge. the wattles are in full bloom as the picture was taken in late winter.

This post is part of the Scenic Sundays meme blog posting.

THE YARRA RIVER AT YARRA BEND PARK

The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches. From its source in the Yarra Ranges, it flows 242 km west through the Yarra Valley which opens out into plains as it winds its way through Greater Melbourne before emptying into Hobsons Bay in northernmost Port Phillip.

Despite the appearance of the photo, this shot is not taken out in the country, it is right smack in the middle of metropolitan Melbourne, about 3 km east of the city centre. We are so lucky in Melbourne to have extensive parklands all along the courses of the Yarra and its tributary creeks!

This entry is part of the Weekend Reflections meme, check out the links there for some excellent... reflective photos.

MELBOURNE SPRING SKIES & PLUM BLOSSOM

Melbourne's climate is a temperate Mediterranean-type with relatively warm, wet winters and dry, warm to hot summers. With the ozone layer hole in Antarctica relatively close to us, we have much UV radiation and as a consequence bright blue skies (we use a lot of sunscreen!). The mild climate means that we have a huge range of both exotic and native plants in our gardens. Here is an introduced species, a flowering plum that is often planted in Melbourne streets as an ornamental tree.

This is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme blog, and the Skywatch Friday meme blog.

SOUTHBANK - VIEW TO THE WEST

Southbank in Melbourne has seen amazing development since the Crown Casino complex was opened in 1997. High rise apartment buildings and office blocks have sprouted like mushrooms and have changed the skyline of Melbourne's CBD dramatically. Construction is still continuing at a frenetic pace. This is a view from Southbank towards the West nearing sunset. The sky is quite interesting.

This is a post for the Skywatch Friday blog meme.

IN ROYAL ARCADE - "ON SALE"

Royal Arcade is a heritage shopping arcade in the City of Melbourne.  Originally constructed in 1869, the arcade connects Little Collins Street to the Bourke Street Mall, with a perpendicular passage running to Elizabeth Street in the west. It also connects to the smaller Hub Arcade near the Little Collins Street end. Originally designed by Charles Webb, the arcade features a high glass roof and windowed stores. At the south end, the arcade features effigies of mythical figures Gog and Magog and a clock which chimes each hour. The arcade was restored between 2002-04 which resulted in additional natural light and consistency of the shopfronts. It is a magnificent Victorian era arcade, listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. In addition, Melbourne's Golden Mile heritage walk runs through the arcade. Along with Melbourne's other arcade, the Block Arcade, and Melbourne's lanes, it is a tourist icon of the city. Royal Arcade is famous for its fashion stores as well as specialty stores such as tarot card reading store and quirky fashion boutiques, jewellery shops, cafés and luxury goods shops.

This post is an entry in the Signs, Signs meme.

Do you like photographing flowers? Join me on Friday for the Floral Friday Fotos meme!

SHOPPED OUT IN MELBOURNE!

The Christmas shopping rush has started in Melbourne and the decorations have been put up in the City. Lunchtimes, especially, are hectic as the City workers go out to lunch, shop, socialise and generally mill about! Melbourne is the shopping capital of Australia and it's where many people around the nation come for a holiday or a break and take the opportunity to shop till they drop!

This woman looks as though she has had enough rushing around for a while and is enjoying a quiet moment of reflection in an unusually quiet corner of the upper level of Melbourne Central.

COBURG LAKE - WATERY WEDNESDAY

Coburg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km North from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland, and at the 2006 Census, Coburg had a population of 23,772. Merri Creek is a beautiful waterway with associated parklands that winds its way from Melbourne's North towards the Yarra River. Coburg Lake is a beautiful small lake that is surrounded by parks, providing a habitat for the water fowl as well as a wonderful place for the locals to relax in.

For more of my photos of this location, click here.

This post is part of the Watery Wednesday meme post. Click here for more wonderful photos with a watery theme!

It is also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme. Click here for more outdoor shots!

EXHIBITION BUILDINGS MELBOURNE

The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site-listed building in Melbourne, Australia, completed in 1880. It is located at 9 Nicholson Street in the Carlton Gardens, flanked by Victoria, Nicholson, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets, at the north-eastern edge of the central business district. It was built to host the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880-1881 and later hosted the opening of the first Parliament of Australia in 1901. Throughout the 20th century smaller sections and wings of the building were subject to demolition and fire, however the main building, known as the Great Hall, survived.  It received restoration throughout the 1990s and in 2004 became the first building in Australia to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, being one of the last remaining major 19th century exhibition buildings in the world. It sits adjacent to the Melbourne Museum and is the largest item in Museum Victoria's collection. Today, the building hosts various exhibitions and other events and is closely tied with events at the Melbourne Museum.

This post is part of the 'Our World Tuesday' meme.

MELBOURNE CENTRAL - WATCHWORKS

Melbourne Central is a Melbourne City shopping mall just across the street from my workplace so it is a convenient place to go at lunchtime should I need something from a shop or simply to have have a look around at lunchtime. There are always some interesting photo opportunities around as well. This is one of the stands down in the basement. The yellow clock struck me as it shone out like a beacon. Mellow indeed!

This is part of the Mellow Yellow Monday meme. See more entries here.

SHRINE OF REMEMBRANCE

The Shrine of Remembrance is Victoria’s largest and most visited war memorial and is probably Melbourne’s most recognised landmark. It is a permanent and lasting memorial to the ANZAC spirit and recognises those who served and those who died in the Great War of 1914-1918 and armed conflicts and peacekeeping duties since. The Shrine is located on Melbourne’s most recognised boulevard, St Kilda Road, just south of the Melbourne central business district.

You can view more of my photos of the Shrine of Remembrance, here.

MONTSALVAT CHAPEL

Montsalvat is an artists' colony in Melbourne's Northeaster outer suburb, Eltham, established in 1934, and home to over a dozen buildings set amongst verdant established gardens. The colony of Montsalvat has a detailed history that reflects the life of Justus Jörgensen and his friends and family. Its buildings and gardens are steeped in the art and culture of Melbourne and its surroundings. Architecturally Montsalvat has much in common with a simple French village in Provence, with a mix of rustic architectural styles. Justus Jörgensen was an architect and as a former student of Max Meldrum had spent many happy hours painting around Eltham. In 1934 Jörgensen purchased land and with his friends and students commenced the buildings that became Montsalvat, 26kms from Melbourne.

For more of my photos of Montsalvat, please visit my other Photoblog here.

AT THE EPPING PLAZA SHOPPING CENTRE

Epping is an outer suburb in Melbourne's North. It is proudly working class and multicultural. It has a large range of shopping strips, shopping malls adn centres and the houses are neat, orderly and well-looked after. Here is a shot from the Epping Plaza where we found ourselves this morning. The Christmas craze has already started!

OUR WEATHER

One thing about Melbourne's weather is that you are never bored! One moment it can be hot and humid, the next a cool change sweeps through and you have to run and put on a jumper. Fine and dry one day, cool and rainy the next! Plenty of opportunity for capturing rain puddles and the reflections of our magnificent plane trees that line many of our avenues.

This entry is part of the "Weekend Reflections" meme.

MELBOURNE CITY SKYLINE WITH CRESCENT MOON

Looking towards the north shore of the Yarra from Southbank. The City skyline and fortuitous position of the crescent moon make for a good sky shot.

This part of the Skywatch® Friday meme group.

MELBOURNE TOWN HALL

The Melbourne Town Hall is a magnificent heritage building located on the corner of Swanston and Collins Street, in the heart of the city. His Royal Highness Alfred Ernst Albert, Duke of Edinburgh, laid the foundation stone on the 29 November 1867. The new building was opened officially by his Excellency the Governor of Victoria Lord Viscount Canterbury on 9 August, 1870. The Tower was named ‘Prince Alfred’s Tower’ after the Duke of Edinburgh who, on his second visit to Melbourne in 1869, laid a capital on one of the columns of the Town Hall Clock Tower. The Duke was the first official guest in the soon-to-be-completed Town Hall. The Town Hall clock was made by Smith and Sons of London and was presented by Vallange Condell, the son of the first Mayor of Melbourne, to the Council on 7 September, 1874.

St Paul's Anglican Cathedral can be seen in the distance, right.

SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - SIGNS, SIGNS

Swinburne University of Technology is an Australian public dual sector university based in Melbourne, Victoria. The institution was founded by the Honourable George Swinburne in 1908 and achieved university status in June 1992. In 2009 there were 16,030 students enrolled in Higher education and an estimated 14,748 students enrolled in TAFE, including nearly 7000 international students from over 100 different countries. Swinburne has five campuses in Melbourne at Croydon, Hawthorn, Lilydale, Prahran, Wantirna – and one in Sarawak, Malaysia. As one of only five dual sector institutions in Australia, Swinburne offers both TAFE and higher education qualifications. This photograph is taken at the University's Hawthorn Campus.

This entry is part of the "Signs, Signs" meme.

WATERY WEDNESDAY - YARRA RIVER & MELBOURNE CITY SKYLINE

The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches. From its source in the Yarra Ranges, it flows 242 km west through the Yarra Valley which opens out into plains as it winds its way through Greater Melbourne before emptying into Hobsons Bay in northernmost Port Phillip.

This is my entry for Watery Wednesday photo theme day.

QUEEN VICTORIA MARKET - LA'DELI

The Queen Victoria Market is a major landmark in Melbourne, Australia, and at around seven hectares (17 acres) is the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere. The Market is significant to Melbourne's culture and heritage and has been listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. The Market is named after Queen Victoria who ruled the British Empire, from 1837 to 1901. The Queen Victoria Market is the only surviving 19th century market in the Melbourne central business district. There were once three major markets in the Melbourne CBD, but two of them, the Eastern Market and Western Market, both opened before the Queen Victoria, closed in the 1960s. The market also forms part of an important collection of surviving Victorian markets which includes the inner suburban Prahran Market and South Melbourne Market.

Here is the Delicatessen section with a superabundance of tasty food displayed for the discerning customers at La'Deli.

THE MELBOURNE GENERAL POST OFFICE ("GPO")

The Melbourne General Post Office ("GPO"), is a former post office in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Located on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Bourke Street in the heart of the Melbourne CBD it is a landmark of the city and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. The former purpose-built post office building currently functions as a shopping mall, having been redeveloped for adaptive reuse in 2004. The location of it remains important as it is still officially used as a measure of distances from the centre of Melbourne.

The foundation stone was laid on its present site in 1859 and built to the design of A.E.Johnson in the Renaissance Revival style. The building was later extended in 1887 with a larger clock tower, extra storeys and applied with a Second Empire styled mansard roofline. Plans for the building were never completed.

STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA - THE DOME READING ROOM

The State Library of Victoria is the central library of the state of Victoria, Australia, located in Melbourne. It is on the block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale streets, in the northern centre of the central business district. The library holds over 2 million books and 16,000 serials, including the diaries of the city's founders, John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, and the folios of Captain James Cook.
The landmark Domed Reading Room, which opened in 1913 was designed by Norman G. Peebles. Its octagonal space was designed to hold over a million books and up to 500 readers. It is 34.75 m in both diameter and height, and its oculus is nearly 5 m wide. The dome was the largest of its type in the world on completion.

SHOT TOWER IN MELBOURNE CENTRAL

The Coops Shot Tower is located in the heart of the Melbourne CBD in the Melbourne Central shopping complex. It was part of the Coops lead pipe and shot factory, completed in 1888 and is 50 metres high. The historic Coops building was saved from demolition in 1973 and was incorporated into the Melbourne Central complex in 1991 underneath an 84 m-high conical glass roof. Coop's Shot Tower is 9 storeys high, and has 327 steps to the top. The tower produced six tonnes of shot weekly up until 1961, when the demand for the lead shot dwindled, because of new firearm regulations. Recently, a museum called the Shot Tower Museum has been set up inside of the tower at the back of R.M. Williams, which is tenanted in the tower.

VICTORIAN STATE PARLIAMENT BUILDING

Parliament House is one of Melbourne's best known landmarks. Facing the intersection of Spring and Bourke streets, the west facade of the building; sweeping steps, elegant lamps, grand colonnade, suggests solidity and strength. However, Parliament House is incomplete! The generous vision of nineteenth century architect, Peter Kerr, has not been fully realised. The story of Parliament House is one of staged construction and architectural ambition thwarted. Work on this began in 1856 and progressed until 1929. A 20 storey dome that would sit on top of the Vestibule was to be the crowning glory. There had been problems with the quality of the stone used on the building. Although tests in 1882 eventually approved the stone, they delayed work. Now confronted by altered economic conditions, the Minister for Works, Alfred Deakin, cancelled the contract for the Dome which has never been built...

RAINY DAY IN THE CITY

Waiting for the tram to arrive at the corner of LaTrobe and Elizabeth Sts in the City on a rainy day is not fun. Tram stops in Melbourne are gradually being upgraded to provide a safer and more comfortable experience for commuters. Meanwhile, in many places a shared umbrella may be the only protection in Melbourne's changeable weather for many a commuter!

SHOPPING IN LALOR

Lalor is a Melbourne Northern outer suburb. It is proudly working class and very multicultural. Its shopping centre is lively and full of small shops that are mostly run by small businesspeople or families. Going there on Saturday morning is quite a wonderful experience.

REGENT THEATRE - COLLINS ST

The Regent Theatre is a 2162 seat theatre in Melbourne, Australia. It is listed by the National Trust of Australia and is on the Victorian Heritage Register.  When it opened on 15th March, 1929 as the flagship Melbourne theatre for Francis W. Thring's Regent franchise (later sold to Hoyts), the theatre had 3250 seats, was equipped with a Wurlitzer organ and was the second largest theatre after the State Theatre. It also had a ballroom, the Plaza, in the basement. The cinema was gutted by a fire on the 29 April, 1945 which destroyed both the auditorium and organ. The reconstructed Regent opened on 19 December, 1947, including a new organ, making it one of the last Picture Palaces to be built in the country.

MONASH UNIVERSITY - CAULFIELD CAMPUS

This is photo from the Monash University Caulfield Campus. It is of a sculpture unveiled by the Vice Chancellor in 1996, called "Joy" by sculptor Le Thanh Nhon.

WELCOME TO MY MELBOURNE FRESH DAILY PHOTO BLOG!

This is a blog where each day, I post a photograph from my home city, Melbourne, Victoria Australia. Australia is a big country, it is a continent after all! Here is an interesting map comparing the areas of Europe and Australia.

In the map below, state capitals are designated by the red dots, while other cities by the black dots. Our capital city Canberra is obscured by the European map, but lies inland, midway between Sydney and Melbourne.

As of June 2009, the greater geographical area had a population of 4,077,036 with its residents called Melburnians.