PORT PHILLIP BAY

The Bay viewed from from the 25th floor of a Southbank tower. The lovely Victorian building with the clock tower is the South Melbourne Town Hall.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

ON MT DANDENONG

Mount Dandenong, sometimes styled as Mt. Dandenong, is a township and suburb of the Greater Melbourne area in Victoria, Australia, 44 km east of the Melbourne central business district (CBD), located within the local government area of the Shire of Yarra Ranges.

Mount Dandenong recorded a population of 1,271 at the 2021 census. Light to moderate snowfalls occur on Mount Dandenong a few times most years, mostly frequently between late winter and late spring. The area around Mount Dandenong experienced a highly unusual summer snow fall on Christmas Day 2006.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

VIEW FROM SOUTHBANK

View of Port Phillip Bay towards the southwest from Southbank.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

CITY VIEW

View to Port Phillip Bay towards the Southwest from Southbank. Most of the high rise buildings you can see are residential apartment blocks.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

BAY VIEW

View of Port Phillip Bay from Southbank. Another skyscraper is being built in the centre foreground, just behind the heritage Public Library building. The view will shrink again...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

YARRA RIVER SUNRISE

The city is certainly more lively now that most of the COVID restrictions have been lifted. The Omicron strain is causing some worry and many people are reacting by doing very silly and risky things. My favourite time in the City is at sunrise. Quiet, with few people around and lovely light!

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.

THE GRAMPIANS

The Grampians National Park (also Gariwerd), commonly referred to as The Grampians, is a national park located in the Grampians region of Victoria, Australia. The 167,219-hectare (413,210-acre) national park is situated between Stawell and Horsham on the Western Highway and Dunkeld on the Glenelg Highway, 260 kilometres west of Melbourne and 460 kilometres east of Adelaide.

Proclaimed as a national park on 1 July 1984, the park was listed on the Australian National Heritage List on 15 December 2006 for its outstanding natural beauty and being one of the richest indigenous rock art sites in south-eastern Australia. The Grampians feature a striking series of sandstone mountain ranges.

Although a bit far for a day trip, some acquaintances of ours have done it all in a day, although I must say it was a bit of a Cook's tour! Best to take your time and enjoy your trip there and back, as well as stay a few days and do all the wonderful hikes and walks.

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.

THE BAY

Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or [locally], just The Bay), is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers 1,930 square kilometres and the shore stretches roughly 264 km. Although it is extremely shallow for its size, most of the bay is navigable. The deepest portion is only 24 metres, and half the region is shallower than 8 m. The volume of the water in the bay is around 25 cubic kilometres.

Prior to British settlement the area around Port Phillip was divided between the territories of the Wathaurong (to the west), Wurundjeri (north) and Boonwurrung (south and east) Nations. Its waters and coast are home to seals, whales, dolphins, corals and many kinds of seabirds and migratory waders. The first British to enter the bay were the crews of HMS Lady Nelson, commanded by John Murray and, ten weeks later, HMS Investigator commanded by Matthew Flinders, in 1802.

Subsequent expeditions into the bay took place in 1803 to establish the first settlement in Victoria, near Sorrento, but was abandoned in 1804. Thirty years later, settlers from Tasmania returned to establish Melbourne, now the state's capital city, at the mouth of the Yarra River in 1835 and Geelong at Corio Bay in 1838.

Today Port Phillip is the most densely populated catchment in Australia with an estimated 4.5 million people living around the bay; Melbourne's suburbs extend around much of the northern and eastern shorelines, and the city of Geelong sprawls around Corio Bay, in the bay's western arm. This view is taken from Southbank, looking towards the Southwest.

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.

FLYING INTO MELBOURNE

How common it was until last year to be able to hop on a plane and travel away from Melbourne and then come back afterwards. COVID changed our lives to an inordinate degree and to travel freely for work or pleasure has become something that is a big no. 

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.

AT THE BOATHOUSE

The Studley Park Boathouse, originally established as the Burn's Boathouse, has been in continuous use since 1863. It is located in Yarra Bend Park, about 10 minutes drive from the  Melbourne City centre. This park is the largest area of natural bushland within the Melbourne Metropolitan area. The park's popularity waned mid-century as motor cars expanded leisure choices. Since the early 1980s revegetation and the construction of the Main Yarra Trail have led to a resurgence of popularity.

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.

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.

YARRA SUNRISE

A panorama of the Yarra River at sunrise, showing the Queen's Bridge on the extreme left (where I am standing to take the photo) and the Sandridge Bridge in the centre, showing the outline sculptures adorning it.

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

PANORAMIC SUNSET

A beautiful sunset to finish a beautiful day...

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.

PLANET MELBOURNE

You may have seen those photos where a panoramic shot is taken and converted into a round, "tiny planet" structure in Photoshop. Well, I watched a short video on YouTube and created one myself. The results are below, with the original photo and the "tiny planet" version underneath. Try it yourself!

This post is part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

PARKLANDS VISTA

The Darebin Parklands straddle Alphington and Ivanhoe, approximately 10 kilometres northeast of the City of Melbourne, and they are a district park covering an area of 33 hectares. Darebin Creek flows through the Parklands, to join the Yarra River, at Alphington. The Darebin Parklands are highly regarded for its social, recreation, education, conservation, water quality management, cultural and heritage values. Always a wonderful place to walk in and enjoy the wealth of natural vistas.

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

YARRA, AS THE CROW FLIES

Hunting in my archives I found some photos from last year, which were taken from the Rialto Building in the City. There are some quite nice views of the Yarra River and its bridges looking towards the East, South and Southwest.

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

AT THE PARKLANDS

Darebin Parklands is one of Darebin Council’s premier conservation parks sited along the Darebin Creek. The park is managed by the Darebin Creek Management Committee which the Cities of Darebin and Banyule are members. Darebin Parklands is a wonderful setting for walks and escaping into the natural environment, and is located only 5 km from Melbourne's CBD. The park has a full time Ranger coordinating the Education Centre which details the parks rich history and commitment to conservation and environmental sustainability. The Darebin Creek Trail runs through the centre of the park and provides shared trail access through to Bundoora Park 10km to the north.

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

SUNRISE

Sunrise in the suburbs, from my window...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DIGHTS FALLS

Dights Falls is located in Melbourne, Victoria just downstream of the junction of the Yarra River with Merri Creek, about 2 km east of the City. At this point the river narrows and is constricted between 800,000 year old volcanic, basaltic lava flow and a much older steep, Silurian, sedimentary spur.

Prior to European settlement, the area was occupied by the indigenous Wurundjeri tribe of the Kulin nation. The rock falls would have provided the Aboriginal people with a natural river crossing and place to trap migrating fish. It was also a meeting place for many clans where they would trade, settle disputes and exchange brides.

In January 1803, Charles Grimes, the deputy surveyor-general of New South Wales, was sent to Port Phillip to survey the area. Sailing on the schooner Cumberland, under the command of Acting Lieutenant Charles Robbins, the party entered Port Phillip on 20 January 1803. Grimes explored the Yarra by boat for several miles until he reached Dights Falls on 8 February. On a ridge above the falls, 250 metres to the east, is a historic marker commemorating the “first white men to discover the river Yarra reaching Yarra Falls on 8th February, 1803.

Also to make the first crossing near here with the cattle by the first overlanders John Gardiner, Joseph Hawdon and Captain John Hepburn in December 1836”. In the 1840s, an artificial weir was built on the natural bar of basalt boulders to provide water to the “Ceres” flour mill, one of the first in Victoria. In the early 1840s John Dight established Melbourne’s first water-powered flour mill on the site. In 1888 “Yarra Falls Roller Mills” built a water-turbine powered mill, which was the largest and most sophisticated of the thirty two water powered mills built in Victoria before 1900.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections 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.