LALOR CERAMIC MURALS

In late December 2015, the final two of four murals were installed as part of the Peter Lalor Walkway Redevelopment and Graffiti Mural Project, in Lalor (an outer Northern suburb). Entitled ‘Lalor Conversation’, the four ceramic panels celebrate the rich history and development of Lalor and cover an area in Peter Lalor Walkway that was routinely tagged with graffiti. The City of Whittlesea partnered with the Victorian Government’s Community Crime Prevention Unit and the Lalor Traders Association in an effort to prevent future graffiti and improve the appearance and amenity of Peter Lalor Walk.

Artist Bern Emmerichs was commissioned to design and produce a mural that celebrates the rich cultural history and development of the suburb of Lalor. Ms Emmerichs is an accomplished ceramic artist and painter who has exhibited widely throughout Australia and overseas. Her work is held in major State and National collections. This work now connects the two sections of the shopping precinct and enhances the community feel of the area.

Mural panel one pays respect to the Wurundjeri Willum Clan, the Traditional Owners and first peoples of this land. It portrays William Barak and his sister Annie Borat, their culture and people, and their important role in the history of this place.

Panel two celebrates Peter Lalor, after whom the walkway and suburb are named. It honours his achievements at the Eureka Stockade and his contribution to democracy in Australia.

The third mural panel represents the German immigrant families of the 1850s who settled the land and established the original farms in Westgarthtown - the area now known as Lalor and Thomastown.

The fourth and final panel represents those who settled in the area through the assistance of the Peter Lalor Homebuilding Cooperative Society and the culture and diversity of the contemporary Lalor community.

This public art will bring a sense of history and pride to the community and will hopefully keep the Walkway a safe and vibrant space for years to come. The arts are an important ingredient in developing community wellbeing, place making and economic prosperity. I for one certainly appreciate these wonderful pieces of art and local history documentation and always spend sometime admiring them when I pass by.

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,

and also part of the Monday Murals meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Through my Lens meme.

CITY REFLECTIONS

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

SUNSET SILHOUETTES

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme.

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS

The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are internationally renowned botanical gardens located near the centre of Melbourne, on the south bank of the Yarra River. They are 38 hectares (94 acres) of landscaped gardens consisting of a mix of native and exotic vegetation including over 10,000 individual species. The Royal Botanic Gardens have a second division in the outer Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne, some 45 km south-east of the city. The 363 hectare (897 acres) Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne have a focus solely on Australian native plants, and feature an award-winning special section called the Australian Garden, which was opened in May 2006. The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne are adjacent to a larger group of parklands directly south-east of the city, between St. Kilda Road and the Yarra River known as the Domain Parklands, which includes: Kings Domain Alexandra Gardens and Queen Victoria Gardens.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

WANTIRNA SUNDAY MARKET

Wantirna Trash & Treasure Market is open every Sunday and it's located at the corner of Boronia Road and Mountain Highway, Wantirna, 3152 (Telephone: 24 Hour Info Line: [03] 9791 2992). There is plenty of free parking available, as well as toilet facilities and refreshments. Trash & Treasure Markets began in Melbourne in 1967 with an entirely new concept of marketing goods, by way of providing a forum where second hand goods that could legally be offered for sale, could be sold. No stall holder bookings are required, sellers just turn up from 7am and buyers from 8:00 am.

You can generally find bakery items, fresh fruit and vegetables, cheap grocery lines, batteries, hardware, fruit and flowers, plants, trees, new and second hand clothing, kitchenware, toys, books (mainly second hand) and household clearance including jewellery. We generally go for the wonderful plants and flowers that are available, at very reasonable prices.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

GEELONG BOTANIC GARDENS

The Geelong Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden in the city of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are located within Eastern Park on the eastern outskirts of the central business district. They were established in 1851 and are the fourth oldest botanic garden in Australia.

The gardens were first set aside as a public space in 1850, taking up the whole of today's Eastern Park. The botanic gardens were later isolated to a fenced-off area in the centre of the park. By the late 1800s facilities included a large wooden fernery, three miles (4.8 km) of carriage drives, an aviary, monkey house, and a fish hatchery. The first curator of the gardens was Daniel Bunce, who was appointed in 1857. In 1859 a conservatory and greenhouse were erected in the gardens. John Raddenberry took over the curatorship of the gardens in 1872 after the death of Bunce the same year. 

A fernery was opened in October 1885. It was 37 metres long, 18.5 metres wide and was located where the George M. Hitchcock Fountain now stands. The fernery was extended in 1886 by an octagon 18.5 metres high, with a pond located underneath. A third section was added in 1887, taking the total length to 92 metres. By 1920 the ferns were becoming overgrown, and the fernery was demolished some time after World War II because the wooden structure was falling into disrepair.

The gardens were renovated in 2002, with a new section for arid-climate and local native plants opened. It features a dramatic entrance with Queensland Bottle Trees (Brachychiton rupestris), combining architectural plants with modern garden sculptures.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,

and also part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

'THE CITY'

Melbourne City Centre (sometimes referred to as "Central City", and colloquially known as simply "The City") is an area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the area in which Melbourne was established in 1835, by founders John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner, and its boundaries are defined by the Government of Victoria's Melbourne Planning Scheme. Today it comprises the two oldest areas of Melbourne; the Hoddle Grid and Queen Victoria Market, as well as sections of the redeveloped areas of Docklands and Southbank/Wharf. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne.

It is the core central activities district (CAD) of Melbourne's inner suburbs and the major central business district (CBD) of Greater Melbourne's metropolitan area, and is a major financial centre in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. The Hoddle Grid in the City Centre is home to Melbourne's famed alleyways and arcades and is renowned for its distinct blend of contemporary and Victorian architecture as well as expansive parks and gardens which surround its edges. The City Centre is home to five of the six tallest buildings in Australia. In recent times, it has been placed alongside New York City and Berlin as one of the world's great street art meccas, and designated a "City of Literature" by UNESCO in its Creative Cities Network.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Trees & Bushes meme,
and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

LUNA PARK

Melbourne's Luna Park is a historic amusement park located on the foreshore of Port Phillip Bay in St Kilda, Victoria, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It opened on 13 December 1912 and has been operating almost continuously ever since. This was the first of the four Luna Parks that were built in Australia, of which only Melbourne and Luna Park Sydney are still operating. The other two, now defunct, Luna Parks were at Glenelg in South Australia (1930–1934) and at Redcliffe in Queensland (1944–1966).

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme.

CITY EVENING, WHITE NIGHT

The White Nights are a kind of all-night arts festival held in many cities in the summer. The original festival is the White Nights Festival held in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This is famous for spectacular fireworks and Scarlet Sails, a massive show celebrating the end of school year. Other festivals following this lead have arisen, using names such as White Night, Light Nights or Nuit Blanche, see that article for examples around the world.

Melbourne held its inaugural White Night festival on 23 February 2013. An estimated crowd of more than 300,000 people attended. The second, on 22 February 2014 drew an estimated 500,000 people. The third White Night in 2015, expanded the festival to more venues and locations. Art institutions such as the National Gallery of Victoria and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image featured free exhibitions and films for the public to attend, with about 500,000 people attending. The fourth White Night, held on 20th February 2016 attracted an estimated 580,000 people.

Cool conditions and fewer spectacular projections than on previous years combined to dampen the public response to this year's White Night.​ The lack of projections along Flinders Street, for which White Night had become known, drew fewer people along the thoroughfare, and for many the sight of the ornate Forum Theatre facade without illumination - a past highlight - was disappointing. The Royal Exhibition Buildings, State Library and the Arts Centre, however, provided spectacular light shows.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Saturday Show Off meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme.

Last year's illumination of the Flinders Street Station:

This year's illuminations at the Arts Centre:

This year's illumination of the Exhibition Buildings:

This year's illuminations inside the State Library:

And here are a couple of videos from the Exhibition Building and State Library illuminations: