Wednesday 31 October 2018

QUIETUDE

quietude | ˈkwʌɪɪtjuːd |
noun [mass noun]
A state of stillness, calmness, and quiet in a person or place: It highlights her quietude and wise passivity | A moment of quietude.
ORIGIN
Late 16th century: from French quiétude or medieval Latin quietudo, from Latin quietus ‘quiet’.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

Tuesday 30 October 2018

SUMMER COMMENCES

Phillip Island is an Australian island about 140 km south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. Named after Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, Phillip Island forms a natural breakwater for the shallow waters of the Western Port. It is 26 km long and 9 km wide, with an area of about 100 km2. It has 97 km of coastline and is part of the Bass Coast Shire.

A 640 m concrete bridge (originally a wooden bridge) connects the mainland town San Remo with the island town Newhaven. In the 2011 census the island's permanent population was 9,406, compared to 7,071 in 2001. During the summer, the population swells to 40,000. 60% of the island is farmland devoted to grazing of sheep and cattle.

Here is Cowes Beach. We are having fine, summery weather in Melbourne at the moment, with a maximum of 36˚ C expected next Thursday...

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

Monday 29 October 2018

Sunday 28 October 2018

CITY SKYSCRAPERS

A view of Melbourne City taken from a building on Collins St and looking towards the West.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.


Saturday 27 October 2018

BLACK CAT

As Halloween nears, what better reminder than a chance encounter with a black cat?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

Friday 26 October 2018

SUNSET WALK

A sunset walk along a nature reserve parallel the Werribee River in Melbourne's Western outer suburbs.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme,
and also part of the Orange you Glad It's Friday meme.

Thursday 25 October 2018

ROSA 'ALTISSIMO'

Rosa 'Altissimo' ( Delbard, 1966), is an outstanding showy climber that bears clusters of large single red flowers. Vigorous and hardy, this rose is also shade tolerant so will reliably bloom in most situations.

Climbing roses are ideal for using to cover a bare wall or fence to train up and over an arch or to cover an obelisk. Allow 2m between each plant and take care to train the canes in the direction you want. To ensure the rose has established itself do not prune the bush for the first few years.

Roses are already plentiful in Melbourne gardens at the moment, and many bloomings are to follow over the next few weeks.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.



Wednesday 24 October 2018

Tuesday 23 October 2018

MELBOURNE'S GROWING PAINS

Melbourne's population is presently estimated to be 4.88 million people. The population density of Melbourne is 440 people per square kilometre. Melbourne is booming as far as population is concerned. The population is totally expanding at a quick speed. It has been said that the city grows by 1800 individuals every 7 days. Melbourne is hustling at a quicker rate to rival Sydney as the nation’s biggest city. The city had the biggest population growth contrasted with all the capital urban cities in the nation.

The population of Victoria is expected to hit 10 million people by the 2050s and Melbourne's population will double by 2031, new figures indicate. Population growth will continue to be strong, according to new figures from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and the capital will need another 2 million homes to accommodate the growth. The rising trends in births, life expectancy and migration are said to account for the strong population growth.

As the building boom continues and infrastructure lags behind the unchecked growth, our city is becoming overcrowded, noisier, more polluted, more congested and more unsafe (the number of criminal offences recorded in Victoria went up by more than 50,000 last year — an 8 per cent rise in the per-capita crime rate)... Nevertheless, it's still a good place to live and to visit...

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

Monday 22 October 2018

CASUARINA "CONES"

In a previous post I had shown you some casuarina trees in flower, and also in seed. Here are some seeds I found that many people call "cones", although these are flowering plants and not conifers.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

Sunday 21 October 2018

ETERNAL FLAME

The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne is Victoria's memorial to the men and women who have served Australia in armed conflicts and peacekeeping operations throughout our nation's history. The Eternal Flame is placed nearby, representing eternal life. The gas flame has burned continuously with few interruptions since it was first lit in 1934.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.



Saturday 20 October 2018

DUCK & COOT

A duck and coot ignore one another in a pond - must be because there was no bread to fight over...


This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.



Thursday 18 October 2018

FLOWERING MALUS

Malus ioensis ‘Plena’ or double, pink flowering crab apple is possibly the best ornamental flowering tree there is. It is a beautiful little deciduous tree that only grows to approximately 5 mts tall, and 3 - 4 mts wide with lovely green foliage appearing at the start of Spring. Once a layer of foliage is produced, clusters of bright pink buds form all over the tree and burst open in mid-Spring. The flowers open to blush pink and then fade to white. The blossom is beautifully perfumed.

In Autumn the foliage turns to a mixture of orange and red then falls to let the Winter sun in. The tree is an attractive shape and looks good even bare, in Winter. Malus like full sun and well drained soil and prefer mulch to keep the moisture in for Summer. It is a self-forming tree so only prune if branches are in your way. Feed with All-Purpose Fertiliser when first foliage begins to appear.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.




Wednesday 17 October 2018

OLIVE FLOWERS

The olive (Olea europaea, meaning "olive from/of Europe") is a species of small tree in the family Oleaceae, found in much of Africa, the Mediterranean Basin from Portugal to the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, and southern Asia as far east as China, as well as the Canary Islands, Mauritius and Réunion. The species is cultivated in many places and considered naturalised in France, Corsica, Crimea, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Java, Norfolk Island, California and Bermuda.

Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the Mediterranean region as the source of olive oil. The tree and its fruit give its name to the plant family, which also includes species such as lilacs, jasmine, Forsythia and the true ash trees (Fraxinus). The word "olive" derives from Latin ŏlīva ("olive fruit", "olive tree"; "olive oil" is ŏlĕum) which is cognate with the Greek ἐλαία (elaía, "olive fruit", "olive tree") and ἔλαιον (élaion, "olive oil"). The oldest attested forms of the latter two words in Greek are respectively the Mycenaean e-ra-wa, and e-ra-wo or e-rai-wo, written in the Linear B syllabic script.

The word "oil" in multiple languages ultimately derives from the name of this tree and its fruit. Melbourne has an excellent climate for raising olives and olive trees are commonly seen in streets and gardens of Melbourne. Numerous olive groves have now been established in close proximity to the City. At the moment, olive trees are in full bloom in Melbourne and it looks as though it will be a bumper season this year!

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.
and also part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.




Tuesday 16 October 2018

ECHUCA

Echuca is a town located on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia, 214 km North of Melbourne. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Shire of Campaspe. At the time of the 2016 census, Echuca had a population of 12,906. The population of the combined Echuca and Moama townships was estimated to be 20,660 at June 2016.

Echuca lies within traditional Yorta Yorta country. The town's name is an Aboriginal word meaning "meeting of the waters". Echuca is situated close to the junction of the Goulburn, Campaspe, and Murray Rivers. Its position at the closest point of the Murray to Melbourne contributed to its development as a thriving river port city during the 19th century.

By the 1870s Echuca had risen to prominence as Australia's largest inland port. Echuca was both a key river port and railway junction. Steam-driven paddleboats would arrive at the 400-metre long redgum Echuca Wharf, unloading it to be transported by rail to Melbourne. Wool, wheat, other grains, livestock and timber were the most common cargoes. The wharf has been listed as a Heritage Place on the Australian National Heritage List. This industrial boom led to a rapidly expanding population, at one stage in excess of 15,000, with more than a hundred hotels rumoured to exist in the Echuca district at one time. An iron bridge was constructed over the Murray River in 1878 by the NSW Railways Department.

The expansion of the railways from Melbourne to most parts of Victoria, as well as improvements to roads and fickle river conditions all combined to lessen Echuca's importance, and by the 1890s the paddlesteamer fleet was in decline. An economic depression and the collapse of several banks virtually ended Echuca's role as a major economic centre, and its population began to disperse.

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

Monday 15 October 2018

Sunday 14 October 2018

ST PAUL'S

St Paul's Cathedral in Melbourne is the metropolitical and cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of the Province of Victoria. The cathedral, which was built in stages, is a major Melbourne landmark.

A distinguished English architect, William Butterfield, designed the cathedral, in the architectural style of Gothic transitional. The foundation stone was laid in 1880 and, on 22 January 1891, the cathedral was consecrated. St Paul's replaced St James Old Cathedral which then stood on the corner of William Street and Collins Street - later moved to a site near the Flagstaff Gardens. To fit the block, the cathedral building is orientated NNW.

The erection of the spires began in 1926, to the design of John Barr of Sydney instead of Butterfield's original design. The 1960s saw extensive work completed to the exterior of the cathedral and the T.C. Lewis organ was restored in 1989 by a major National Trust appeal. Major restoration works were completed in 2009 with significant repairs to the spires, the building of the Moorhouse Tower Lantern and the new processional doors.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.





Saturday 13 October 2018

BIRDS IN MELBOURNE

All these birds were photographed in the space of an hour in the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne. In this pocket of natural bushland in the centre of a busy large city of millions is a very fortunate resource to have.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme,
and also part of the I'd Rather Be Birdin' meme.
One of several ponds in the Parklands provides a habitat for water birds.

The Australian white ibis (Threskiornis moluccus) is a wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia. 
Dusky moorhens (Gallinula tenebrosa) are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family (Rallidae).


The chestnut teal duck (Anas castanea) is a dabbling duck found in Australia. Males have a distinctive green head.

Kookaburras are terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus Dacelo native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between 28–42 cm in length.

The galah (Eolophus roseicapilla) also known as the rose-breasted cockatoo, galah cockatoo, roseate cockatoo or pink and grey, is one of the most common and widespread cockatoos, and it can be found in open country in almost all parts of mainland Australia.

The rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus) is a species of parrot found in Australia. It is common along the eastern seaboard, from northern Queensland to South Australia.

The common bronzewing (Phaps chalcoptera) is a species of medium-sized, heavily built pigeon. Native to Australia and one of the country's most common pigeons, the common bronzewing is able to live in almost any habitat, with the possible exception of very barren areas and dense rainforests.

Thursday 11 October 2018

GOLDEN WATTLE

Acacia pycnantha, commonly known as the golden wattle, is a tree of the family Fabaceae native to southeastern Australia. It grows to a height of 8 m and has phyllodes (flattened leaf stalks) instead of true leaves. Sickle-shaped, these are between 9 and 15 cm long, and 1–3.5 cm wide. The profuse fragrant, golden flowers appear in late winter and spring, followed by long seed pods. Plants are cross-pollinated by several species of honeyeater and thornbill, which visit nectaries on the phyllodes and brush against flowers, transferring pollen between them. An understorey plant in eucalyptus forest, it is found from southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, through Victoria and into southeastern South Australia.

Explorer Thomas Mitchell collected the type specimen, from which George Bentham wrote the species description in 1842. No subspecies are recognised. The bark of A. pycnantha produces more tannin than any other wattle species, resulting in its commercial cultivation for production of this compound. It has been widely grown as an ornamental garden plant and for cut flower production, but has become a weed in South Africa, Tanzania, Italy, Portugal, Sardinia, India, Indonesia, New Zealand, as well as Western Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales. Acacia pycnantha was made the official floral emblem of Australia in 1988, and has been featured on the country's postal stamps.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.






Wednesday 10 October 2018

NIGHT BY THE YARRA

Having the Yarra River course its way through our city is quite marvellous as it affords beautiful vistas along its length. By night, some magical reflections can be seen in the City as the lights come on. These views are taken from Southbank, an entertainment and residential precinct.

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