YARRA VIEW FROM CREMORNE

I took this photo from a moving train in Richmond, while crossing the Cremorne Railway Bridge over the River Yarra looking towards the west and the City. Although we are barely into Spring now, most of our native trees are the evergreen Eucalyptus, and our climate is mild enough to give us this type of view, during the cold winter months. We still have quite a lot of natural reserves of native vegetation, especially in many parklands associated with the Yarra. These pockets of indigenous flora and fauna are worth preserving in our City for the future generations...

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

BY THE POND

Still looks wintry by the large pond at the Darebin Parklands...

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme
and also part of the Nature Notes meme

ST KILDA ESPLANADE

The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress' guns. In modern usage the space allows people to walk for recreational purposes; esplanades are often on sea fronts, and allow walking whatever the state of the tide, without having to walk on the beach. Esplanades became popular in Victorian times when it was fashionable to visit seaside resorts.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

MARIBYRNONG RIVER

Melbourne’s second major river, the mighty Maribyrnong, runs for 160 kilometres from its source on the slopes of Mount Macedon through to Port Phillip Bay. Maribyrnong River’s name comes from the Aboriginal phrase Mirring-gnay-bir-nong, meaning ‘I can hear a ringtail possum’. It was originally called Saltwater River due to the seawater that entered from Hobson’s Bay, into which it directly flowed.

Although it flows through. Melbourne suburbs with a high density population, there are many parks and reserves along its length. The river and surrounding areas are home to a range of animals. One of the more interesting locals is the shy Black Wallaby, attracted by the ample water supply and efforts to restore its natural habitat – including coarse shrubs, bushes and grasses. It's also home to many species of plants, fish, birds, reptiles, insects, and frogs, the majority of which are native.

Here the view is from Moonee Ponds towards the City.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

PORT PHILLIP BAY

Port Phillip Bay and South Melbourne, viewed from the 25th floor of an apartment in Southbank. I'm stretching the zoom capability of my phone camera as you can see in the first photo. I've tried to clean up the photo with AI in the second image. Moral of the story, if you want best results use a dedicated camera with a decent zoom lens. It was a grey Winter's day, by the way...

Nevertheless, one can see that South Melbourne is a lovely old suburb with many trees and gardens as well as closeness to the sea. The Victorian Town Hall clock tower is evidence of many heritage buildings in this locale.

This photo is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

SUMMER MEMORY

Found this in the archives and I sighed a little as it was quite a cold Winter day today, even though it was sunny at times. Well, here's a warm Summer memory from last year in the Fitzroy Gardens in the City.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

DAREBIN CREEK

Darebin Creek, seen here flowing through the Darebin Parklands is Alphington, is a perennial creek. Along it are various nature reserves, parks and parklands, providing a welcome green belt running through suburbia. The creek joins the Yarra River further downstream. As well as much native fauna and flora found growing in its banks, there are also some introduced species, for example the Call lily "GreenGoddess" seen in the bottom left corner of the photo. There are concerted efforts to remove as much as possible of the weeds and introduced species and allow the native flora to grow again along the course of the waterway.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

WINTER PUDDLE

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

RAINY DAY

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

RAINY NIGHT

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

TOORONGO FALLS

The Toorongo Falls Reserve protects two waterfalls, Amphitheatre Falls (first below) on the Toorongo River and Toorongo Falls (second below) on the Little Toorongo River, including the confluence of those two rivers, in West Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It is located approximately 6 kilometres north-east of the town of Noojee, approximately 100 kilometres east of Melbourne.

The reserve contains two bush walking tracks, which total 2.22 kilometres, taking a loop around the two waterfalls, and allowing the visitors to take the wide range of native experiences the area has to offer.

The Reserve is home to wet forest types, including mountain grey gum, mountain ash, manna gum, blackwood and Austral mulberry. A variety of ferns thrive in the damp conditions including the necklace fern, soft tree fern, and the long fork-fern. Animals found in the reserve include common and mountain brushtail possum, ringtail possum, sugar glider, and a variety of bats. Red-bellied black snakes are commonly found during warmer periods.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

YARRA RIVER & CITY

I took this photo from a moving train in Richmond, while crossing the Cremorne Railway Bridge over the River Yarra looking towards the west and the City. Although we are well into Winter now, most of our native trees are evergreen Eucalyptus, and our climate is mild enough to give us this type of view, during the cold winter months. We still have quite a lot of natural reserves of native vegetation, especially in many parklands associated with the Yarra. These pockets of indigenous flora and fauna are worth preserving in our City for the future generations...

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

WINTRY YARRA

Yarra River at Alphington on a wintry morning. As the crow flies, the City (CBD) is about 6 km downstream We are lucky to have such a wonderful swathe of nature reserve along the couyrse of our City's river.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

POND

The large pond at the Darebin Parklands in Alphington. A natural reserve in an urban setting associated with the Darebin Creek. A place for relaxation, meditation, conservation and a haven for native fauna and flora.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

LAKE BULLEN MERRI

Lake Bullen Merri and its smaller northern neighbour Lake Gnotuk are a pair of crater lakes near Camperdown in south western Victoria, Australia.  Lake Bullen Merri has brackish water quality whereas Lake Gnotuk is hyper saline (twice as salty than seawater). 

Lake Bullen Merri has a maximum depth of 66 m, with a clover leaf outline indicating that it was probably formed by two overlapping maar volcanoes. The lake is depicted in work by Eugene von Guerard. The edge of the lake was marked by a stone in the late 1800s by James Dawson; from this and von Guerard's painting, it can be deduced that the level of the lake has dropped considerably in the last 100 years. On the south side of the lake there is a yacht club and toilets. There is a boat ramp available for the boaties. 

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

RAINY DAY

Looking towards the City on Royal Parade, in Parkville. The famous Melbourne elms are beginning to turn yellow as a prelude to Winter. Yet they are still going strong, remaining free of Dutch elm disease!

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

LAKES ENTRANCE

Lakes Entrance is a town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It is situated approximately 320 kilometres east of Melbourne, near a managed, artificial channel connecting the Gippsland Lakes to Bass Strait. At the 2016 census, Lakes Entrance had a population of 4,810. The township was originally named Cunninghame, the Post Office of that name opening on 5 February 1870. It was renamed Lakes Entrance on 1 January 1915.

Lakes Entrance, which lies almost at sea level, can be reached from Melbourne via Bairnsdale (which can be acessed via train and bus from Melbourne), and the town of Kalimna to the north-west by a stretch of the Princes Highway, which snakes down and around a point protruding into the Gippsland Lakes known as "Jemmy's Point". Views of The Entrance and of the Lakes can be seen from various look-outs on Jemmy's Point.

The town is predominantly fishing and tourism-driven. The main beach front is a harbour for commercial fishing and recreational watersport operations. The surf beach is patrolled by the Lakes Entrance Surf Life Saving Club. The waterfront is populated by the fishing fleet and two floating restaurants. The town's main residential areas lie farther inland. Lakes Entrance has a number of camping and caravan parks, and free camping spots in Colquhoun State Forest.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

and also part of the Roentare Water Meme.

YARRA RIVER

Yarra River at Dights Falls. Perfect place for some relaxation and meditation, only 4 km from the City! How lucky we are in Melbourne to have such a natural gem in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the metropolis.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

EARTH DAY

Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries.

The Darebin Parklands is a nature conservation area and educational facility that includes recreational and research areas relating to the environment. It is situated around the Darebin Creek, which flows into the Yarra River, and is a much-beloved green space amongst typical metropolitan suburbia. It is about 7 km NE of the Melbourne City Centre.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

YARRA RIVER

Photo taken from the train, while crossing the Cremorne Railway Bridge over the Yarra River in South Yarra, looking towards the East. To the left of the photo is the Citylink Freeway. The white Church Street Bridge, seen in the back, was completed in 1924, and is one of the five major metropolitan bridges over the Yarra River. The rowers in the river was an extra goodie. It's pleasing there are still lots of trees around, considering the wild redevelopment of the area in the last few decades.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme