SEA VIEW

Looking out towards Port Phillip Bay from Southbank. The building of more and more high rise apartment buildings is increasing density, crime, noise, pollution, demand on infrastructure and services. Loss of open space and sense of community, not to mention the views...

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme
and also part of the Nature Notes meme

GREAT OCEAN ROAD

The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243-kilometre stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I.

It is an important tourist attraction in the region, which winds through varying terrain alongside the coast, and provides access to several prominent landmarks; including the nationally significant Twelve Apostles rock formations. The Twelve Apostles is a collection of miocene limestone rock stacks jutting from the water in Port Campbell National Park, between Princetown and Peterborough on the Great Ocean Road.

The apostles were formed by erosion: The harsh weather conditions from the Southern Ocean gradually eroded the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs, which then became arches, which in turn collapsed; leaving rock stacks up to 45 metres high. The site was known as the Sow and Piglets until 1922 (Muttonbird Island, near Loch Ard Gorge, was the Sow, and the smaller rock stacks the Piglets); after which it was renamed to The Apostles for tourism purposes. The formation eventually became known as the Twelve Apostles, despite only ever having nine stacks.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

INVERLOCH

Inverloch is a seaside town located in Victoria, Australia. It is located 143 kilometres south east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland Highway on the Bass Highway at the mouth of Anderson Inlet, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for the calm waters of Anderson Inlet, it is now also known for the discovery of Australia's first dinosaur bone. At the 2011 census it had a population of 4,960.

Inverloch is a popular tourist destination, particularly for swimming, kitesurfing and windsurfing at the calm waters of Anderson Inlet. Fishing and surfing are also popular. The town was first named Andersons Inlet after Samuel Anderson, the first European to settle here. It was later renamed Inverloch after Loch Inver (Lake Entrance) in Scotland. The town is also home to a tennis club which is home to the some of Australia's greatest players.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,

and also part of Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of Nature Notes meme.

MORNINGTON

Mornington is a sea side town on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, located 57 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district. It is in the Local Government Area of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula.

Mornington is known for its "village" atmosphere and its beautiful beaches. Mornington is a popular tourist destination with Melburnians who often make day trips to visit the area's bay beaches and wineries.  The Post Office opened on 21 May 1856 as Schnapper Point and was renamed Mornington in 1864.

The town centre runs into the foreshore area and local beach, which features a yacht club, restaurant and park with playground facilities. Mornington is an attractive destination for shopping and features some excellent restaurants and cafes. The north of Mornington is also home to several horse breeders and stables.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

SUMMER

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

12 APOSTLES

The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243-kilometre stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I.

It is an important tourist attraction in the region, which winds through varying terrain alongside the coast, and provides access to several prominent landmarks; including the nationally significant Twelve Apostles rock formations. The Twelve Apostles is a collection of miocene limestone rock stacks jutting from the water in Port Campbell National Park, between Princetown and Peterborough on the Great Ocean Road.

The Apostles were formed by erosion: The harsh weather conditions from the Southern Ocean gradually eroded the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs, which then became arches, which in turn collapsed; leaving rock stacks up to 45 metres high. The site was known as the Sow and Piglets until 1922 (Muttonbird Island, near Loch Ard Gorge, was the Sow, and the smaller rock stacks the Piglets); after which it was renamed to The Apostles for tourism purposes. The formation eventually became known as the Twelve Apostles, despite only ever having nine stacks.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

MORNINGTON

Mornington is a seaside suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located on the Mornington Peninsula 46 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District. It is the most populous locality in the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Mornington had a population of 25,759 at the 2021 census. Mornington is a tourist destination renowned for its bay beaches and wineries, with a town centre that runs into the foreshore area and local beach.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

SUNSET UP HIGH

Enjoying a sunset from a plane flying out into the evening skies. I always try and get a window seat when flying as there is much to see and photograph!

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

BOLTE BRIDGE, MELBOURNE

View of the Bolte Bridge in Melbourne, spanning the Yarra River and Victoria Harbour in the Docklands precinct to the west of the Melbourne CBD. Construction took three years from 1996 to 1999 and cost $75 million.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme
and also part of the Nature Notes meme

ST KILDA ESPLANADE

The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide clear fields of fire for the fortress' guns. In modern usage the space allows people to walk for recreational purposes; esplanades are often on sea fronts, and allow walking whatever the state of the tide, without having to walk on the beach. Esplanades became popular in Victorian times when it was fashionable to visit seaside resorts.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

PORT PHILLIP BAY

Port Phillip Bay and South Melbourne, viewed from the 25th floor of an apartment in Southbank. I'm stretching the zoom capability of my phone camera as you can see in the first photo. I've tried to clean up the photo with AI in the second image. Moral of the story, if you want best results use a dedicated camera with a decent zoom lens. It was a grey Winter's day, by the way...

Nevertheless, one can see that South Melbourne is a lovely old suburb with many trees and gardens as well as closeness to the sea. The Victorian Town Hall clock tower is evidence of many heritage buildings in this locale.

This photo is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

LAKES ENTRANCE

Lakes Entrance is a town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It is situated approximately 320 kilometres east of Melbourne, near a managed, artificial channel connecting the Gippsland Lakes to Bass Strait. At the 2016 census, Lakes Entrance had a population of 4,810. The township was originally named Cunninghame, the Post Office of that name opening on 5 February 1870. It was renamed Lakes Entrance on 1 January 1915.

Lakes Entrance, which lies almost at sea level, can be reached from Melbourne via Bairnsdale (which can be acessed via train and bus from Melbourne), and the town of Kalimna to the north-west by a stretch of the Princes Highway, which snakes down and around a point protruding into the Gippsland Lakes known as "Jemmy's Point". Views of The Entrance and of the Lakes can be seen from various look-outs on Jemmy's Point.

The town is predominantly fishing and tourism-driven. The main beach front is a harbour for commercial fishing and recreational watersport operations. The surf beach is patrolled by the Lakes Entrance Surf Life Saving Club. The waterfront is populated by the fishing fleet and two floating restaurants. The town's main residential areas lie farther inland. Lakes Entrance has a number of camping and caravan parks, and free camping spots in Colquhoun State Forest.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

and also part of the Roentare Water Meme.

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

WILSON'S PROM

Wilsons Promontory is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria, about 200 km southeast of Melbourne CBD. Coastal features include expansive intertidal mudflats, sandy beaches and sheltered coves interrupted by prominent headlands and plunging granite cliffs in the south, backed by coastal dunes and swamps. The promontory is surrounded by a scatter of small granite islands which, collectively, form the Wilsons Promontory Islands Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for breeding seabirds.

Wilsons Promontory is home to many marsupials, native birds and other creatures. One of the most common marsupials found on the promontory is the common wombat, which can be found in much of the park (especially around campsites where it has been known to invade tents searching for food). The peninsula is also home to kangaroos, snakes, wallabies, koalas, long-nosed potoroos, white-footed dunnarts, broad-toothed rats, feather-tailed gliders and emus. Some of the most common birds found on the promontory include crimson rosellas, yellow-tailed black cockatoos and superb fairywrens. There are also many pests, including hog deer, foxes, feral cats, rabbits, common starlings, and common blackbirds.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

and also part of the Roentare’s Water Meme.

FUN IN THE SUN, MORNINGTON

Mornington is a seaside town on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, located 57 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district. It is in the local government area of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula.

Mornington is known for its "village" atmosphere and its beautiful beaches. Mornington is a popular tourist destination with Melburnians who often make day trips to visit the area's bay beaches and wineries. The town centre runs into the foreshore area and local beach. Several conserved areas on the waterfront and hinterland preserve native flora and fauna.

Mornington is an attractive destination for shopping and features some excellent restaurants and cafes. The north of Mornington is also home to several horse breeders and stables. It has a modern library, cinema and numerous parks, gardens and historical buildings, many of which are open to the public. It holds several annual festivals, and holds a market day in the main street every Wednesday, which attracts hundreds of people.

Mornington has an active Yacht club (Mornington Yacht Club), located at Schnapper Point, catering for sailors of all levels and abilities, from beginners - “Tackers”, through to those competing at ocean racing level. The club hosts many state, National, & International regattas, as it provides a good location in sheltered, pristine waters. 2014 saw the successful running of the largest single class Yachting regatta ever held in the Southern Hemisphere - the Optimist National Championships. The Optimist is a youth class and drew over 2000 people to the Club and Mornington shire.

This post is part of the "Roentare’s Water Meme"

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

SUMMER DAY

A perfect Summer's day today in Melbourne. And as I was stuck in the City, here are some archival photos of seaside vistas. Sigh...

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday Meme

and also part of the Nature Notes Meme

Fishing in Mornington

Brighton Bathing Boxes

Sandringham Beach

Williamstown Foreshore

Dromana Pier

SOUTH MELBOURNE

South Melbourne viewed from Southbank. The Victorian building with the clocktower is the South Melbourne Town Hall.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

SUMMER DAYS

We've had some rainy, muggy days lately but from tomorrow, Summer is coming back and we're expecting a high of 34˚C. Time to take the bathing togs out!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

SEAGULL

The Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) also known simply as "seagull" in Australia, is the most common gull seen in Australia. It has been found throughout the continent, but particularly at or near coastal areas. It is smaller than the Pacific gull (Larus pacificus), which also lives in Australia.

The silver gull should not be confused with the herring gull, which is called "silver gull" in many other languages (scientific name Larus argentatus, German Silbermöwe, French Goéland argenté, Dutch zilvermeeuw), but is a much larger, robust gull with no overlap in range.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

IN WILLIAMSTOWN

The St Kilda Ferry about to approach Williamstown pier.  In the background, HMAS Castlemaine (J244/M244/A248), named for the city of Castlemaine, Victoria, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially crewed and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Launched in 1941 and commissioned in 1942, Castlemaine operated during World War II in the waters of Australia, New Guinea, and Timor. She remained in service until 1945, when she was decommissioned into reserve and converted into an immobilised training ship. In 1973, Castlemaine was presented to the Maritime Trust of Australia for conversion to a museum ship. She is one of two surviving examples of the Bathurst class, the other being HMAS Whyalla.

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