LIBRARY IN MILL PARK

Mill Park is a relatively new outer Northern suburb in Melbourne, situated 23 km from the CBD, in a "population growth corridor". Its Local Government Area is the City of Whittlesea. At the 2006 Census, Mill Park had a population of 31,642.

The Mill Park Library opened in 2002 at a cost of $8 million, and was the first library in Victoria to be designed on the concept of a hybrid digital/print library. It serves the northern outer suburbs. This iconic library building on Plenty Road has a spacious children’s library, a fully equipped training room with 12 PCs, an extensive Local History collection and a quiet reading area. As well as material in English, the library offers community language material in Italian, Greek, Maltese and Chinese.

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

SUNRISE IN THE PARK

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

MELBOURNE STREET TREES 75 - PROTEA

Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of South African flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: suikerbos). The Proteaceae family to which proteas belong is an ancient one. Its ancestors grew in Gondwana, 300 million years ago.

The Proteaceae family is divided into two subfamilies: the Proteoideae, best represented in southern Africa, and the Grevilleoideae, concentrated in Australia and South America and the other smaller segments of Gondwana that are now part of eastern Asia. Africa shares only one genus with Madagascar, whereas South America and Australia share many common genera — this indicates they separated from Africa before they separated from each other.

Protea neriifolia x susannae 'Pink Ice' is the hardiest of all proteas. Protea 'Pink Ice' is well suited to low maintenance, low water use gardens. It has an abundance of spectacular flowers, that can be used fresh or dried in flower arrangements.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DAREBIN CREEK

A view of the Darebin Creek in Fairfield, in Autumn.

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

AUTUMN IN YARRA BEND PARK

Yarra Bend Park is the largest area of natural bushland near the heart of Melbourne. The park features steep river escarpments, open woodlands, playing fields and golf courses. It is always a pleasure to walk there, but especially so during Autumn near the plantings of deciduous trees, which display their beautiful Autumn colours.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

HIGH ST, NORTHCOTE

High Street Northcote is one of Melbourne's oldest shopping streets starting at the top with Ruckers Hill down to Northcote Shopping Plaza. There is a variety of shops, bars, restaurants and services, making for an all-inclusive shopping experience.

The City of Darebin is north-east of Melbourne's CBD. Bordered by the Darebin and Merri creeks to the east and west, this municipality is genuinely "the land between two creeks". As Darebin’s designated arts precinct, High St, Northcote is one of Melbourne’s most unique and creative locations. With a growing number of independent designer clothing and specialty stores for grownups and babies alike, cool retro furniture and clothing stores as well as a host of hair and beauty retreats, the eclectic mix of businesses is a reflection of a diverse and vibrant community.

As we have been having some very warm and mainly sunny autumnal weather lately, it has been perfect for walks, not only in the parks and gardens of the neighbourhood, but also the shopping streets! As you can see, lots of blue skies and sun...

This post is part of the Monday Murals meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

ST JOSEPH'S, NORTHCOTE

St. Joseph's Catholic Church, at 140 Westbourne Grove, Northcote is a fine old church in a very prominent place on Rucker's Hill. The first Northcote Catholic Church services were held in 1891 in a small wooden church in Arthurton Road. In 1897 a more suitable site for a church was chosen and on January 15 1899, St Joseph's was opened at 140 Westbourne Grove, Ruckers Hill. Extensions were made in 1900 and a new school hall was opened in January 1903.

This post is part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme.

SUNSET REFLECTIONS

The view towards the South from Southbank, out towards Port Phillip Bay. The apartments buildings are reflecting the sunset...

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

CITY VIEW FROM RUCKER'S HILL

Rucker's Hill is an elevated part of Northcote, named after William Rucker who built a mansion on Bayview Street in 1842. In 1835, after arriving from London, William Frederick Augustus Rucker established himself as a wine merchant in Hobart. In 1837 after moving to Melbourne, he opened one of town’s first stores. In February the following year he also opened Melbourne’s first bank, an agency for the Derwent Bank of Hobart. This merged with the Union Bank, of which Rucker became a director.

At the time, the mansion was described as "the most expensive country house in the colony". It probably was never occupied by Rucker and became known as "Rucker's Folly". Rucker went bankrupt and the Union Bank took over his estate.

Whilst Rucker’s Hill itself has the form of a flat topped plateau, the sides are quite steep with the result that it constitutes a discrete element in the urban landscape. The 360˚ views from the top of the Hill are quite spectacular. These photos look towards the South, with the Melbourne CBD prominently.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

MELBOURNE STREET TREES 74 - HAKEA

Hakea laurina is a plant of Southwest Australia that is widely cultivated and admired. The species is often referred to as Kodjet, Pincushion Hakea, and Emu Bush. The specific epithet, derived from the Latin laurus, is given for the resemblance to the leaves of laurel. The habit of this plant is an upright shrub or tree, reaching a height between 2.5 and 6 metres. It does not possess a lignotuber. The habitat is often sandplains, sometimes occurring on sandy-clay, most recorded specimens are in the southern districts of its botanical province.

Flowers are initially pale or cream, perhaps hidden by the leaves in the early stages, and are contained by scale-like bracts before opening. These are deep pink to red on the globular centre, a clustered flowerhead at the leaf axils, pale styles emerge from these. This resembles a pin cushion. Nectar and a slight fragrance is produced from the flowerheads. In the language of flowers, Hakea laurina symbolises nobility and longevity.

The flowering period occurs between April and August. Leaves are simple and slightly blue green, they are flat, glabrous, have entire margins, and are obovate or lanceolate in outline, coming to a sharp point at the tip. The leaves vary in size on the plant, they may be 6–29 mm wide and reach 180 mm in length. Foliage is dense and in alternate arrangement on the upright branchlets; in some forms this may be pendulous and reach the ground. Bark is grey and smooth. Fruit is retained on the plant, is ovoid, slightly beaked at the end, and a smooth surface on the valve.

The species occurs in the sandplains of the coastal Southwest of Australia, the northernmost range being Narrogin and extending east to Esperance. The plant, which is propagated from seeds, is used in cultivation in the Eastern states of Australia, and as a hedging or street plant in America and Italy. Adaptable to a number of soil types, the plant is also tolerant of frost. The uses of this species include ornament and shading in public streets, wildlife habitat, windbreaks, and control of soil erosion.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.