DAREBIN PARKLANDS

The Darebin Parklands is a 33-hectare urban bushland reserve located in Alphington and Ivanhoe, just 7 kilometers northeast of Melbourne's central business district. The image highlights a tranquil pool surrounded by native River Red Gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) and Ribbon Barked Manna Gums, which characterize the lower reaches of Darebin Creek.

Long before European colonization, the land and waterways were sustainably managed for tens of thousands of years by the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation. Darebin Creek served as a vital source of food, tools, and materials. The name Darebin is derived from a Woi-wurrung word thought to mean "swallow" or "swallow-creek".

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

CREEK

Darebin Creek, a permanent waterway in Ivanhoe. On the West bank there is a light industrial area, while on the east side, an up market residential area. The quality of the water is excellent as it is frequently monitored by the Environmental Protection Authority and stiff fines are imposed for pollution and rubbish dumping.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

CITY SKYLINE

City skyline from Seddon Reserve in Ivanhoe, a distance of 9.1 km as the crow flies.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

IVANHOE LIBRARY

The Ivanhoe Library and Cultural Hub is a state of the art public building offering access to 200,000 library items, several exhibition spaces, meeting rooms, artists' studio spaces and access to Banyule Council services. A great place to take part in all sorts of activities and then relax with a coffee or lunch at the attached café.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.

AUTUMNAL WALK

A walk in the neighbourhood today as the weather was mild and sunny in the morning. The leaves are turning, the berries and fruits are ripening and the days continue to shorten. Just as well for the morning walk, as the weather changed to cold and rain later in the afternoon.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

BY THE CREEK

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

IVANHOE, MELBOURNE

Ivanhoe is a suburb of Melbourne, 10 km north-east from Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Banyule. At the 2011 Census, Ivanhoe had a population of 11,085. Upper Heidelberg Road is the suburb's centre, where the former Heidelberg Town Hall, now known as The Centre Ivanhoe, is located. The town hall is a classic 'art-deco' building on top of a hill, with a green neon clockface on a tower.

Upper Heidelberg Road features a newsagent, book store, numerous restaurants and cafés, various banks, real estate agents and two supermarkets. In 2011 the average individual in Ivanhoe earned $728 per week, which was more than the national average of $577 per week. Ivanhoe is renowned for its older style homes, with many dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It has several parks and nature reserves, as well as various sporting facilities.

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.

VINTAGE MELBOURNE

Melbourne is a wonderful place to go hunting for vintage objects, see old homes, explore historic neighbourhoods and do the rounds of the antique shops. We are lucky to have quite a lot of recent historical objects, heritage collections, Victoriana and interesting museums and galleries. However, in some neighbourhoods, one just needs to take a walk, look at the old homes and imagine what life was like then...

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.

IVANHOE WALK

Ivanhoe is a suburb of Melbourne, 10 km north-east from Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Banyule. At the 2011 Census, Ivanhoe had a population of 11,085. Upper Heidelberg Road is the suburb's centre, where the former Heidelberg Town Hall, now known as The Centre Ivanhoe, is located. The town hall is a classic 'art-deco' building on top of a hill, with a green neon clockface on a tower.

Upper Heidelberg Road features a newsagent, book store, numerous restaurants and cafés, various banks, real estate agents and two supermarkets. In 2011 the average individual in Ivanhoe earned $728 per week, which was more than the national average of $577 per week. Ivanhoe is renowned for its older style homes, with many dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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

AUTUMN GARDEN

An elderly back yard in Ivanhoe in suburban Melbourne.

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,

and also part of the Through my Lens meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

MELBOURNE STREET TREES 177 - ERYTHRINA

Erythrina crista-galli is a flowering tree in the family Fabaceae, native to Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil and Paraguay. It is widely planted as a street or garden tree in other countries, most notably in California (in the United States).

It is known by several common names within South America: ceibo, seíbo (Spanish), corticeira (Portuguese) and the more ambiguous bucaré, to name a few. In English it is often known as the Cockspur Coral Tree.

The ceibo is the national tree of Argentina, and its flower the national flower of Argentina and Uruguay. This species characteristically grows wild in gallery forest ecosystems along watercourses, as well as in swamps and wetlands. In urban settings, it is often planted in parks for its bright red flowers. The flowers are rich in nectar and are visited by insects, which usually have to crawl underneath the carina and thus pollinate the flowers. The tree's fruit is a legume, a dry pod a few centimetres in length derived from a single carpel and contains about 8-10 chestnut-brown bean-shaped seeds.

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

MELBOURNE STREET TREES 159 - OLEARIA

Olearia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae. There are about 130 different species within the genus found mostly in Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand. The genus includes herbaceous plants, shrubs and small trees. The latter are unusual among the Asteraceae and are called Tree daisies in New Zealand. All bear the familiar daisy-like composite flowerheads. The genus is named after Johann Gottfried Olearius, a 17th-century German scholar and author of Specimen Florae Hallensis.

Olearia phlogopappa, the dusty daisy-bush shown here, occurs in open forest, woodland, heath and coastal shrubland in New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania. It grows to between 0.3 and 3 metres in height. The leaves are quite variable, but are usually grey-green with minute hairs on the underside which impart a whitish or yellowish appearance. The leaf margins are often bluntly toothed. White, pink or mauve "daisy" flower heads around 20–25 mm in diameter are mainly produced in spring and early summer.

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

AT THE FOOTY OVAL

The Australian Football League (AFL) has numerous grounds upon which senior VFL/AFL games have been played. This list comprises current grounds in use, former grounds in use (both major and minor), regional pre-season grounds and international grounds. In accordance with the Laws of Australian football, a ground must be grassed, have a minimum length of 135 metres (443 ft) and a minimum width of 110 metres (360 ft).

Most Australian rules football grounds are also used for cricket, which is also played on a grassed, oval-shaped ground, and it is commonplace for a ground to be used for football in winter and cricket in summer. Due to the popularity of Australian rules football, particularly in southern Australia, most of Australia's largest stadiums by capacity are used for Australian rules football; and it is therefore common to use those stadiums for other high-drawing events, particularly sporting events. Sports such as Rugby and soccer can be readily played on an Australian rules football arena, as their rectangular fields are typically small enough to be set on the larger oval.

We are fortunate in Melbourne to have many other football grounds that are used for junior and regional games. Each suburb may have several of these, which are maintained by the regional councils and each ground is host to one or more junior and/or amateur teams. Here is the Seddon Reserve in Ivanhoe, an inner suburb of Melbourne. The West Ivanhoe Roosters Junior Football Club participates in the Northern Football League and has its home ground on this reserve. There are teams in the U9, U10, U11 and U12 age groups. Games are played on a Sunday morning from April to August.

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

ST JAMES' IVANHOE

St James' Anglican Church in Ivanhoe has an evangelical tradition and emphasis on Bible teaching. The church caters for people of all ages, has strong missionary links and outreach active since 1908. The purpose of this church as a Christian Community is to be following Jesus' teachings and loving people, growing connected communities which are Strong, healthy and vibrant. A variety of worship services, ranging from the traditional such as the Thursday morning Holy Communion Service where the 1662 Prayer Book is used to more contemporary worship at some of the other services. A Chinese Mandarin Service is held at 1.30pm on Sunday. All services are reflective focusing on the Word of God, prayer, praise and worship.

This post is part of the Spiritual Sundays meme,
and also part of the  inSPIREd Sunday meme,
and also part of the  Monday Mellow Yellows meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Through my Lens meme.

IVANHOE SHOPPING STRIP

Ivanhoe is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Banyule. At the 2011 Census, Ivanhoe had a population of 11,085. Upper Heidelberg Road is the suburb's centre, where the former Heidelberg Town Hall, now known as The Centre Ivanhoe, is located. Upper Heidelberg Road features a newsagent, book store, numerous restaurants and cafés, various banks, real estate agents and two supermarkets.

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