AT THE LUNA PARK

The St Kilda Luna Park in Melbourne has been one of the city's most prominent landmarks ever since its opening in 1912, and is intrinsic to the suburb's resort character. Melbourne's Luna Park is acclaimed as the world's oldest amusement park under private management and is possibly the only one of its kind still in operation. It is typical of the type developed in America in the late 19th century, catering for the entertainment and relaxation of large numbers of people.

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

BATMAN MARKET, COBURG

Batman Market is a new weekend market located at 14 -22 Gaffney Street, Coburg. It is centrally located, 15 minute drive from Melbourne Airport and 8km from Melbourne CBD. Getting to Batman Market by public transport is easy, as it is located right next to Batman Railway Station (Upfield Line – 20 minutes from CBD) and the Sydney Road/Gaffney Street intersection where one can catch the #19 tram or several bus routes The market provides its surrounding communities access to a variety of Melbourne’s food, fresh produce and unique local products.

We visited this market last Sunday, on its opening weekend, when the weather was perfect: Temperatures around 30˚C, sunny and fine. The market was well-attended and a large variety of stalls were set up, predominantly selling street food of various kinds. Indian, Argentinian, Colombian, Chinese, Sri Lankan, Turkish, etc, etc. There were some art and craft stalls, fresh flowers and vegetables, clothing, some trash and treasure stalls and buskers. The politicians were not absent either, with Liberals handing out blue balloons and Labor handing out red ones - no surprise, a state election is nigh...

This post is part of the Nature Footsteps Floral Macros meme,

and also part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.

CHINESE NEW YEAR IN MELBOURNE

It was Chinese New Year's Eve yesterday and today the Year of the Snake begins. The year will be 4711 of the Chinese Calendar. Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival. Chinese New Year is the main Chinese festival of the year and it is not a religious event.

As the Chinese use the Lunar calendar for their festivals the date of Chinese New Year changes from year to year. The date corresponds to the new moon in either late January or February. Traditionally, celebrations last for fifteen days, ending on the date of the full moon. In China the public holiday lasts for three days and is the biggest celebration of the year.

Melbourne, with its large Chinese community, celebrates the New Year with much joy and great festivity. Yesterday we were at Southbank in front of the Crown Casino foreshore where all sorts of events were taking place. Now in its eleventh year, Crown’s Chinese New Year Festival and Riverwalk Hawker’s Bazaar has become an annual tradition in Melbourne’s Lunar New Year celebrations and has continued to expand its offerings. To celebrate the Year of the Snake, Crown Riverwalk features a series of activities and entertainment including cooking demonstrations, 45 food and market style stalls, a host of cultural activities, exhibitions and live entertainment including roving and interactive performances.

Crown’s Atrium was transformed with an elaborate Chinese aerial structure, clustered with delicate spring flowers, lucky charms, firecrackers and stunning internally lit lanterns. To commemorate the Year of The Snake, Crown has added to the Atrium decorative display, a 30-metre gold snake hand cut in perforated floral motifs symbolising nature's beauty and surrounded by eight lucky gold coins.

This post is part of the Scenic Sunday meme,
and also part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footsteps Inspiring Photography meme.

ACLAND ST, ST KILDA

Acland Street is a street in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, which enjoys great popularity as a recreational area, mainly due to its many restaurants and its proximity to the entertainment areas along St Kilda beach.

Acland Street runs on a north-west to south-east axis between Fitzroy and Barkly Streets. It was one of the first streets laid out when St Kilda was surveyed in 1842.The north-west end of the street is largely residential, and features many fine houses from the late 19th century, some of them converted to flats or other uses, such as the Linden Gallery. The south-east end of the street, between Carlisle and Barkly Streets, is a commercial strip. The section of Acland Street between Barkly Street and Carlisle Street is a tram zone where route 96 terminates.

Near the junction of Carlisle St and Acland St is Luna Park, one of Australia's best-known amusement parks, which attracts large crowds during the summer. Almost next door is one of Melbourne's oldest theatres, The Palais. Also on Acland St is the St Kilda Army and Navy Club, which has recently been renovated and become a popular gambling venue.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme.

CROWN CASINO PROMENADE

Prominently located in Southbank on the Yarra River is the Crown Casino.It has earned itself a reputation as their slogan suggests, for being “A World of Entertainment”.  Crown Casino has more then a dozen bars and clubs, numerous dining and shopping options, free entertainment and much more all within the opulent surrounds of the Crown complex. There is something to cater for everyone including some gambling, clubs, pubs and bars for the adults and games, cinemas and shopping for all ages.

At night, on the boulevard, Crown Casino erupts into a riverside show of fireballs. These never fail to impress and wow visitors. When the weather is cooler the flames warm bystanders, people reporting they can even feel the heat from the other side of the river. The fireballs are the biggest in the world and explode in a show each hour between times that are subject to the season and weather conditions.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme.