CITY BATHS, NIGHT

City Baths in Melbourne, Australia, is an architecturally and historically significant building. It is located at 420 Swanston Street.

The triangular site between Swanston, Victoria and Franklin streets was reserved for a public bath facility in 1850. Melbourne City Council opened the first City Baths on 9 January 1860, which housed public baths. The objective was to stop people from bathing in the Yarra River, which by the 1850s had become quite polluted and the cause of an epidemic of typhoid fever which hit the city resulting in many deaths. However, people continued to swim and drink the water. The Baths were leased to a private operator, but lack of maintenance resulted in such deterioration of the building that the Baths were closed in 1899.

After a design competition was won by John James Clark, construction of a new building in the Edwardian Baroque style started in 1903, and the bath was opened on 23 March 1904. Strict separation of men and women was maintained, right down to separate street entrances. Two classes of facilities were maintained, with second class baths in the basement and first class baths on the main floor. The popularity of the swimming pool increased with the introduction of mixed bathing in 1947.

The Baths now house a swimming pool, spa, sauna, squash courts and a gymnasium. To cater for all types of swimmers, the swimming pool is divided into four lanes: an aqua play lane, a medium lane, a fast lane and a slow lane (or aquatic education, when swimming lessons are given).

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

SUMMER MEMORIES

Our Winter seems to be dragging on this year and as today was quite gray and wet, I am posting a few photos from my archive, taken last Summer around Christmas (remember I'm in the Southern Hemisphere!). Well, it's done me a lot of good and topped up my patience reservoir...

The Werribee River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment that is located on the plain West of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The headwaters of a tributary, the Lerderderg River, are north of Ballan near Daylesford and it flows across the basalt plain, through the suburb of Werribee to enter Port Phillip. A linear park follows the Werribee River along much of its course. In total the Werribee River completes a journey of approximately 110 kilometres.

The river flows through the Werribee Gorge State Park before being utilised for irrigation of market gardens at Bacchus Marsh, then through Werribee where it is crossed by the Maltby By-pass. It then flows through the Werribee Open Range Zoo in Werribee Park, and finally the small coastal settlement of Werribee South before entering Port Phillip. The Western Treatment Plant, a sewage treatment site, is located near the mouth of the river, and supplies irrigation needs to the zoo. The Werribee River Trail winds beside the Werribee River from Davis Creek in Tarneit to the Princes Highway in Werribee.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,

and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme,

and also part of the Our Beautiful World meme,

and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

MELBOURNE FULL MOON

On 18 August 7:26 PM we had a full moon in Melbourne. Although there was a little cloud around, I managed to catch a few shots of the moon around 7:00 pm.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme,
and also part of the Weekend in Black and White meme.

McDONNELL PARK, NORTHCOTE

This park is next to the gym I go to and it's always good to see the seasonal changes that are apparent there. We are experiencing quite unsettled weather at them moment and one minute it's sunshine and Spring, another it is grey clouds, rain and Winter.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,

and also part of the Friday Greens meme.

STIRRINGS OF SPRING

We have had a few days of good weather with sunshine, higher temperatures and a noticeable increased duration of daylight. Spring is arriving in the Southern Hemisphere and Melbourne's street trees are suddenly awakening and blooming!

The stars in order of appearance are: Almond; Magnolia; Wattle; Purple-Leaf-Plum; Grevillea; White Plum; Wax Flower; Robinia.

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

FITZROY GARDENS WALK

The Fitzroy Gardens are 26 hectares (64 acres) located on the southeastern edge of the Melbourne Central Business District in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The gardens are bounded by Clarendon Street, Albert Street, Lansdowne Street, and Wellington Parade with the Treasury Gardens across Lansdowne street to the west. The gardens are one of the major Victorian era landscaped gardens in Australia and add to Melbourne's claim to being the garden city of Australia.

The Fitzroy Gardens are of historical significance as one of a ring of public reserves around Melbourne established in the nineteenth century to provide respite and relaxation for the city's residents. The Fitzroy Gardens have been viewed as the flagship of this group of city gardens, which includes the Flagstaff, Treasury, Carlton and Alexandra Gardens and the Kings Domain. In a statewide context, while not as intact as the Royal Botanic Gardens or the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, the Fitzroy Gardens are an important remnant of the city's nineteenth-century garden heritage.

They are also a reminder of the city's relatively large investment in public gardens, a reflection of 19th century beliefs about the moral and health benefits of green spaces in often dirty, smelly and overcrowded cities. The Fitzroy Gardens are of social significance because, from their establishment in the early 1860s, the Gardens have been a place of relaxation, passive recreation and entertainment; the Gardens have been the people's park in the city.

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,

and also 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,

and also part of the Trees & Bushes meme.

YARRA AT NIGHT

A few shots of the Yarra River by night on Boathouse Drive. The Morell Bridge was completed in 1899 by John Monash and J. T. N. Anderson, it is notable for being the first bridge in Victoria to be built using reinforced concrete. It was a rather cold night and I was shooting quickly without a tripod, hence the grainy images.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Trees & Bushes meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

SPRING AT THE FAIRFIELD BOATHOUSE

Today we had our first true Spring day in Melbourne! The sun shone all day, the temperature climbed steadily until it reached 19˚C and the lovely weather induced us to go out for a walk in the middle of the day. We could hardly fail to notice the trees blossoming: Wattles, grevilleas, wild plums, almonds, magnolias...

A cup of coffee in the sunshine at the Fairfield Boathouse, while looking out onto the Yarra and the Fairfield Pipe Bridge was true bliss!

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

PRINCES BRIDGE, NIGHT

Princes Bridge (originally Prince's Bridge), is an important bridge in central Melbourne, Australia that spans the Yarra River. It is built on the site of one of the oldest river crossings in Australia. The bridge connects Swanston Street on the north bank of the Yarra River to St Kilda Road on the south bank, and carries road, tram and pedestrian traffic. The present bridge was built in 1888 and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. Because of its position, Princes Bridge is often a focal point for celebratory events in Melbourne such as the Moomba Festival, New Years Eve and many celebrations taking place on the Yarra River where it flows through the city.

This post is part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Our Beautiful World meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme.

GUM TREE IN WHITTLESEA

Whittlesea is a town in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 40 kilometres north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the City of Whittlesea. At the 2011 census, Whittlesea had a population of 4,826.

Although located only a few kilometres from the outer fringes of metropolitan Melbourne, Whittlesea lies outside the Urban Growth Boundaries of the Melbourne 2030 metropolitan development plan. It is therefore expected to maintain its status as a separate town until 2030 and beyond. City of Whittlesea planning policy for Whittlesea township envisages minimal growth over the next decade, so that the township will retain its rural character.

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