SWAN STREET BRIDGE

The upgrade of the historic Swan Street Bridge in 2009 ensured that one of Melbourne’s most iconic and busiest bridges would serve the city for many years to come. An important link to Melbourne sports and entertainment precinct, the bridge which first opened in 1952, experienced some movement on its south side due to Melbourne’s silt foundations. The upgrade included underpinning the bridge foundations, replacing approach slabs on the south side and replacing existing expansion joints. The landscaping and retaining walls were also upgraded. Carrying some 35,000 vehicles per day, most of the works that may have impacted traffic using the bridge took place in the evenings, with crews working around the clock to get the project completed as quickly as possible.

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Waters meme,
and also the Sunday Bridges meme.

TWILIT CITYSCAPE

A rather quiet Easter Saturday in Melbourne tonight, with few people in the streets and relatively little traffic, as most Melburnians it seems have gone away for the long weekend. Just as well, for those of us left in the City, a nice twilight walk along the banks of the Yarra, with some lovely views to be had of the City from the East.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme.

MORNING BALLOONS

Hot air balloons are a common sight in the early morning sky in Melbourne, Here are some I snapped while walking to work last week.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

MELBOURNE FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL

Melbourne Food and Wine Festival started as a spark of an idea in 1993 with a modest program of 12 events dreamt up by Peter Clemenger. Twenty years later, the Festival has grown to host over 200 events annually with a core team of 18 staff and hundreds of dedicated volunteers working behind the scenes during peak season. This is fitting for Melbourne, Australia's "Foodie Capital".

Beyond the buzz of the Festival in March, there are hundreds of other food and wine events taking place year-round across Victoria, showcasing the very things that make Melbourne - and our surrounding regions - a gastronomic playground: An abundance of fresh seasonal produce, bustling food markets, innovative chefs and their award-winning restaurants, expert winemakers, the warmest hospitality and passionate artisan producers.

On the day that I attended, there were Italian cooking classes and an Urban Coffee Garden. This had coffee bushes in pots balanced on a castle made of wooden pallets and of course, lots and lots of coffee being made and consumed by the gallon. Melbourne really has the best coffee in the nation!

This post is part of the Signs, Signs meme.

SUMMER WALK

The Darebin Parklands has a natural bush and country feel that is unique given it is only 7km from the Melbourne CBD. There are hidden treasures within the park including remnant orchards and crops that were grown on the fringe of a growing city during the mid-1800s. A dairy farm, vineyard, quarry and tip site were all at times active industries within the bounds of the park, and clues of this can still be found if one knows where to look. BUt first and foremost are the creek, the waterholes, the lakes and other water features!

This post is part of the Water World Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme.

EMERALD

Emerald is a town and semi-rural locality in the Greater Melbourne area, Victoria, Australia, 44 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district, outside the urban area. Its Local Government Area are the Shires of Cardinia and Yarra Ranges. At the 2011 Census, Emerald had a population of 5,813.Emerald also includes Cardinia Reservoir, Melbourne's second largest reservoir.

Set in wonderful rolling hills with rich market and flower gardens, Emerald also has many areas of open pasture and mixed use farmland. Bushland also is to be found aplenty in this true gem of Melbourne and there are many leisure activities available on Emerald's lakes and parklands.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme.

EARLY MORNING IN THE CITY

I am in at work quite early and now that the days are getting shorter, I can see the morning breaking out of the window. This is looking south towards Southbank and the Eureka Tower. Venus (the Morning Star) can be seen to the immediate right of the Tower.

This post is part of Nature Footsteps Inspiring Photography meme.

ST MARY'S THORNBURY

St Mary's Catholic church on High Street, Thornbury is a fine red brick church dating back to the 1920s. The associated school adjacent to the church first opened in January 1920 in one of the old wooden buildings, which was transported from St Joseph’s, Northcote. As the population increased, the school expanded. In February 1925 Archbishop Mannix laid the foundation of a new brick school building, which was later blessed and officially opened by Bishop McCarthy of Sandhurst.

As part of the Commonwealth centenary celebrations, a fountain was constructed outside the church. It has a fine mosaic of native water flora and fauna. Fortunately the fountain was not running so I was able to take these photos - you have to imagine the jets of water gushing forth!

This post is part of Psalm Sunday meme,
and the Nature Footsteps Waters meme.

Psalm 95

O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

MELBOURNE BY NIGHT

The view of the City from the East, reflected on the still waters of the Yarra River, on a warm, early Autumn night.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,

and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme.

SUNRISE IN THE CITY

Our days have now started to become shorter as we usher Autumn in, post-equinoctially. Still time to catch the sunrising over the Yarra on my way to work...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

MELBOURNE MUSEUM

Melbourne Museum is adjacent to the Royal Exhibition Building. It was designed by Denton Corker Marshall Architects and finished construction in 2001. It was commissioned by the Victorian Government Office of Major Projects on behalf of Museums Victoria. The museum is a rich response to Melbourne’s urban condition, and provides a place for education, history, culture and society to engage with each other in a contemporary setting. It is now an important part of Melbourne’s soft infrastructure.It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a venue of Museum Victoria, which also operates the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum.

The museum has seven main galleries, a Children's Gallery and a temporary exhibit gallery on three levels, Upper, Ground and Lower Level and was constructed by Baulderstone Hornibrook.The Touring Hall is where temporary exhibits are displayed. Past exhibits include mummies from Egypt and dinosaurs from China. The Big Box is part of the Children's Gallery. In addition, the museum has other facilities such as the Sidney Myer Amphitheatre and The Age Theatre. The Discovery Centre, on the Lower Level, is a free public research centre. The museum also has a cafe and a souvenir shop.The IMAX Theatre, which is situated on the Lower Level is also part of the museum complex. It shows movies, usually documentary films, in 3-D format.

This post is part of the Signs, Signs meme.