SUMMER CREEK

We have been having a dry, fairly hot spell fro a few weeks now and it was very pleasant to have some showers today. Darebin Creek in the Parklands was running very low in water, but still even in Summer, it looked delightful. Always a pleasure to walk there...

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

AT SOUTHERN CROSS STATION

Southern Cross (formerly known, and still colloquially known, as Spencer Street) is a major railway station in Docklands, Melbourne. It is on Spencer Street, between Collins and La Trobe Streets, at the western edge of the central business district. The Etihad Stadium sports arena is 500 metres north-west of the station.The station is managed, as part of a public-private partnership with the state government, by Southern Cross Station Pty Ltd, a private consortium which includes ABN Amro, Leighton Contractors, Daryl Jackson Architecture, Nicholas Grimshaw and Partners and Honeywell Limited.

The station is the terminus of the state's regional railway network operated by V/Line, The Overland rail service to Adelaide, and NSW TrainLink XPT services to Sydney. It also served by suburban rail services operated by Metro Trains, being one of five stations on the City Loop, a mostly underground railway that encircles the CBD. It is the 2nd busiest railway station in Melbourne's metropolitan network, with some 16.8 million passenger movements recorded in 2011/12. These figures exclude V/Line passengers who use the station.

Southern Cross Station also has a coach terminal underneath the Spencer Outlet shopping complex. Skybus Super Shuttle services to Melbourne Airport and Sunbus Shuttle services to Avalon Airport operate from there, as well as Greyhound Australia, Firefly Express, Premier Motor Service interstate coach services, and V/Line coach services to Mildura, Yarram and Mansfield, and other parts of Victoria not served by rail.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme.

RUBY ROPAR GALLERY FAÇADE

In Errol Place, just off Errol Street, in North Melbourne, the 'Ruby Ropar' gallery can be found, which shines forth in all of its technicolour glory. This is the home of a Melbourne artist, Dennis Ropar (born 1971). The art of Dennis Ropar is a curious mix of strange imagery, some pop-art references and garishly kitch colour. Images of sexuality are used to sell classic products or utilised for their shock value.

The façade of the gallery has some bright murals that make of the building a temple to kitch and surely must appease the god of bad taste. In any case, the images and colour are memorable and arresting. The artist's website is here.

This post is part of the Monday Murals meme.

IVANHOE BAPTIST CHURCH

The Ivanhoe Baptist Church is situated at 1 Livingstone Street, Ivanhoe, 3079, Victoria.

From "The Argus" newspaper article, Monday 27 July 1925:

"The new Baptist church at Ivanhoe was opened on Saturday afternoon by Mr I Bethell, the senior deacon. The dedication service was conducted by the Rev. T. P. Trinham (pastor). The Rev. F J. Wilkin offered the dedication prayer, whilst the Rev. W. M. Uartwright was the preacher. The services were continued on Sunday, when Dr. Wilkin preached in the morning and the Rev W. D. Jackson in the afternoon. At night the preacher was the Rev. W. H. Holdsworth, principal of the Baptist College. All services were attended by huge congregations. On Tuesday night a special service will be held, at which Mr. F. P. Morris, president of the Baptist Union of Victoria, will preside, and the Rev. I. E. Tranter will be the close speaker."

The most active period in the life of the church was during the 1950′s when Rev Tom Keat was pastor and the church was full to bursting and active in ministry. Like many churches after the 1950′s Ivanhoe Baptist began a steady decline in numbers. The call to become a church that is actively engaged in the life of the local community became more clear in the 1990′s and by 1998 the church had sold some property and used the proceeds to convert their old church building into a bright new Neighbourhood House.

The church articulated this new direction by calling itself "A Church for the Community". The Livingstone Community Centre has become a vibrant and well used community facility that promotes physical, mental and spiritual health. The church today is a diverse group of people from many different ethnic and faith backgrounds. It is again growing in number and welcomes everyone, affirming where they are on the journey of faith and inviting them to continue the journey with the Ivanhoe Baptist community. Rev Debbie Campbell is presently the Pastor and Rev Litha Heshusius is Assistant Pastor.

This post is part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme.

KEW REFLECTIONS

A leisurely stroll in the Kew shopping centre, which was remarkably quiet on a Saturday morning!

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

SUNRISE - BOURKE ST

Raiding my archive, I found this image from a few months back. It is taken from the lower end of Bourke St, looking towards the East.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

MELBOURNE STREET TREES 63 - BANKSIA MARGINATA

Banksia marginata, commonly known as the Silver Banksia, is a species of tree or woody shrub in the plant genus Banksia found throughout much of southeastern Australia. It ranges from the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, to north of Armidale, New South Wales, and across Tasmania and the islands of Bass Strait. It grows in various habitats, including Eucalyptus forest, scrub, heathland and moorland.

Banksia marginata varies widely in habit, ranging from a small shrub, 20 cm (8 in) high, to a large tree, 12 m (40 ft) tall. The narrow leaves are linear and the yellow inflorescences (flower spikes) occur from late summer to early winter. The flower spikes fade to brown and then grey and develop woody follicles bearing the winged seeds. Originally described by Antonio José Cavanilles in 1800, further collections of B. marginata were described as several separate species by Robert Brown in 1810. However, all were reclassified as a single species by George Bentham in 1870. No distinct subspecies have been recognised by Banksia expert Alex George, who nonetheless concedes that further work is needed.

Many species of bird, in particular honeyeaters, forage at the flower spikes, as do native and European honeybees. The response to bushfire varies. Some populations are serotinous: They are killed by fire and regenerate from large stores of seed which have been held in cones in the plant canopy and are released. Others regenerate from underground lignotubers or suckers from lateral roots. Although it has been used for timber, Banksia marginata is most commonly seen as a garden plant, with dwarf forms being commercially propagated and sold.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

THE BATTLE AT ALPHINGTON STATION

Alphington is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Alphington, on the Hurstbridge railway line. Alphington Station is unmanned and is in Metcard Zone 1. It is located in a quiet, well-treed area, with mostly single-storied, individual houses, many of which are lovely old period homes.

The State Government has announced plans to redevelop Alphington Station and build around it a large, multi-storey residential/shopping precinct, based around the Wingrove Street car parking area used by rail commuters. Traders in the small Alphington Village shopping strip (located opposite the station) welcomed the development, but most residents are against it. Residents feel that the development will create congestion, have an impact on parking, lead to tree loss and the area would lose its "village feel" if the concrete apartment blocks go up.

Several residents have become very passionate about the development and are becoming organised in order to oppose it (contact this group here: asagnow@gmail.com).  I feel for them, as I have gone through similar processes in my neighbourhood, but to no avail. The development will most probably go ahead, just as it did in my area. Good bye, green suburban Melbourne, welcome concrete city, full of rat cages for the rats of the rat race...

This post is part of the Signs, Signs meme.

PARKLANDS POND

In the Darebin Parklands, in suburban Melbourne. A quiet, relaxing place, especially on an enchanted evening like this...

This post is part of the Waterworld Wednesday 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.

MELBOURNE HIGH RISES

Away from the glamour of the Arts Centre, far from the iconic Exhibition Buildings and Flinders St Station, quite some distance from the picturesque bayside suburbs and the Dandenongs, Melbourne is just as much a modern megalopolis with lots of (well, yes, frankly ugly) high rise buildings...

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme.