MELBOURNE SPRING SKIES & PLUM BLOSSOM

Melbourne's climate is a temperate Mediterranean-type with relatively warm, wet winters and dry, warm to hot summers. With the ozone layer hole in Antarctica relatively close to us, we have much UV radiation and as a consequence bright blue skies (we use a lot of sunscreen!). The mild climate means that we have a huge range of both exotic and native plants in our gardens. Here is an introduced species, a flowering plum that is often planted in Melbourne streets as an ornamental tree.

This is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme blog, and the Skywatch Friday meme blog.

SOUTHBANK - VIEW TO THE WEST

Southbank in Melbourne has seen amazing development since the Crown Casino complex was opened in 1997. High rise apartment buildings and office blocks have sprouted like mushrooms and have changed the skyline of Melbourne's CBD dramatically. Construction is still continuing at a frenetic pace. This is a view from Southbank towards the West nearing sunset. The sky is quite interesting.

This is a post for the Skywatch Friday blog meme.

IN ROYAL ARCADE - "ON SALE"

Royal Arcade is a heritage shopping arcade in the City of Melbourne.  Originally constructed in 1869, the arcade connects Little Collins Street to the Bourke Street Mall, with a perpendicular passage running to Elizabeth Street in the west. It also connects to the smaller Hub Arcade near the Little Collins Street end. Originally designed by Charles Webb, the arcade features a high glass roof and windowed stores. At the south end, the arcade features effigies of mythical figures Gog and Magog and a clock which chimes each hour. The arcade was restored between 2002-04 which resulted in additional natural light and consistency of the shopfronts. It is a magnificent Victorian era arcade, listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. In addition, Melbourne's Golden Mile heritage walk runs through the arcade. Along with Melbourne's other arcade, the Block Arcade, and Melbourne's lanes, it is a tourist icon of the city. Royal Arcade is famous for its fashion stores as well as specialty stores such as tarot card reading store and quirky fashion boutiques, jewellery shops, cafés and luxury goods shops.

This post is an entry in the Signs, Signs meme.

Do you like photographing flowers? Join me on Friday for the Floral Friday Fotos meme!

SHOPPED OUT IN MELBOURNE!

The Christmas shopping rush has started in Melbourne and the decorations have been put up in the City. Lunchtimes, especially, are hectic as the City workers go out to lunch, shop, socialise and generally mill about! Melbourne is the shopping capital of Australia and it's where many people around the nation come for a holiday or a break and take the opportunity to shop till they drop!

This woman looks as though she has had enough rushing around for a while and is enjoying a quiet moment of reflection in an unusually quiet corner of the upper level of Melbourne Central.

COBURG LAKE - WATERY WEDNESDAY

Coburg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km North from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Moreland, and at the 2006 Census, Coburg had a population of 23,772. Merri Creek is a beautiful waterway with associated parklands that winds its way from Melbourne's North towards the Yarra River. Coburg Lake is a beautiful small lake that is surrounded by parks, providing a habitat for the water fowl as well as a wonderful place for the locals to relax in.

For more of my photos of this location, click here.

This post is part of the Watery Wednesday meme post. Click here for more wonderful photos with a watery theme!

It is also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme. Click here for more outdoor shots!

EXHIBITION BUILDINGS MELBOURNE

The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site-listed building in Melbourne, Australia, completed in 1880. It is located at 9 Nicholson Street in the Carlton Gardens, flanked by Victoria, Nicholson, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets, at the north-eastern edge of the central business district. It was built to host the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880-1881 and later hosted the opening of the first Parliament of Australia in 1901. Throughout the 20th century smaller sections and wings of the building were subject to demolition and fire, however the main building, known as the Great Hall, survived.  It received restoration throughout the 1990s and in 2004 became the first building in Australia to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, being one of the last remaining major 19th century exhibition buildings in the world. It sits adjacent to the Melbourne Museum and is the largest item in Museum Victoria's collection. Today, the building hosts various exhibitions and other events and is closely tied with events at the Melbourne Museum.

This post is part of the 'Our World Tuesday' meme.

MELBOURNE CENTRAL - WATCHWORKS

Melbourne Central is a Melbourne City shopping mall just across the street from my workplace so it is a convenient place to go at lunchtime should I need something from a shop or simply to have have a look around at lunchtime. There are always some interesting photo opportunities around as well. This is one of the stands down in the basement. The yellow clock struck me as it shone out like a beacon. Mellow indeed!

This is part of the Mellow Yellow Monday meme. See more entries here.

SHRINE OF REMEMBRANCE

The Shrine of Remembrance is Victoria’s largest and most visited war memorial and is probably Melbourne’s most recognised landmark. It is a permanent and lasting memorial to the ANZAC spirit and recognises those who served and those who died in the Great War of 1914-1918 and armed conflicts and peacekeeping duties since. The Shrine is located on Melbourne’s most recognised boulevard, St Kilda Road, just south of the Melbourne central business district.

You can view more of my photos of the Shrine of Remembrance, here.

MONTSALVAT CHAPEL

Montsalvat is an artists' colony in Melbourne's Northeaster outer suburb, Eltham, established in 1934, and home to over a dozen buildings set amongst verdant established gardens. The colony of Montsalvat has a detailed history that reflects the life of Justus Jörgensen and his friends and family. Its buildings and gardens are steeped in the art and culture of Melbourne and its surroundings. Architecturally Montsalvat has much in common with a simple French village in Provence, with a mix of rustic architectural styles. Justus Jörgensen was an architect and as a former student of Max Meldrum had spent many happy hours painting around Eltham. In 1934 Jörgensen purchased land and with his friends and students commenced the buildings that became Montsalvat, 26kms from Melbourne.

For more of my photos of Montsalvat, please visit my other Photoblog here.

AT THE EPPING PLAZA SHOPPING CENTRE

Epping is an outer suburb in Melbourne's North. It is proudly working class and multicultural. It has a large range of shopping strips, shopping malls adn centres and the houses are neat, orderly and well-looked after. Here is a shot from the Epping Plaza where we found ourselves this morning. The Christmas craze has already started!