PORTARLINGTON, VICTORIA

Portarlington is a historic coastal township located on the Bellarine Peninsula, 27km from the city of Geelong, in the state of Victoria, Australia. The gently rising hills behind the town feature vineyards and olive groves, overlooking Port Phillip Bay. Portarlington is a popular family holiday destination and a centre of fishing and aquaculture (mussels). At one time the town claimed the largest caravan park in the Southern Hemisphere, although the size has reduced considerably in recent decades.

At the 2006 census, Portarlington had a population of 3,021. Portarlington also has a large number of Maltese, Croatian, Italian and Islander immigrants. In 2002, the Victorian Coastal Strategy report named Portarlington as a potential site for a multi-million dollar Safe Harbour development on the Bellarine Peninsula. In December 2005, private independent consultants delivered a feasibility study which identified Portarlington as the preferred site for the development.

These photographs were taken in the Spring of 2003 during a day trip there. Hence the canola fields in bloom.

This post is part of the Scenic Sunday meme.

BOURKE ST, CITY

Early winter morning in Bourke St, in the City. The rain has made the streets reflective, and the traffic has begun to build up.

This post is part is of James' Weekend Reflections meme.

MELBOURNE - "FOODIE CAPITAL"

Melbourne is known as the "Foodie Capital" of Australia and everywhere one goes will find cafés, bistros, restaurants, delis, taverns, pubs, take away food shops and all other sorts of food-related retail shops. Combine that with the small lanes that criss-cross the CBD and one has a huge array of venues to explore and thousands of gastronomic delights to sample.

This post is part of the Challenge Walk in the Street meme.

SOUTHERN CROSS STATION

Southern Cross (formerly Spencer Street) is a major railway station and transport hub in Melbourne Docklands, Victoria, Australia. It is located on Spencer Street between Collins and La Trobe Streets at the western edge of the central business district.

The station is the terminus of the state's regional railway network operated by V/Line, The Overland rail service to Adelaide, and the Countrylink XPT service to Sydney. It is one of five stations on the City Loop, a mostly underground railway that encircles the CBD. Based upon suburban passenger boardings it is the third busiest railway station in Melbourne, in 2009 the average was 42,900 per day. These figures exclude V/Line passengers that also use the station.


Southern Cross Station also has a coach terminal under the shopping complex, from which operates the Skybus Super Shuttle service to Melbourne Airport and Sunbus Shuttle service to Avalon Airport; Greyhound Australia, Firefly Express Coaches, Premier Motor Service interstate coach services; and V/Line coach services to Mildura, Yarram, Mansfield and other non-rail served towns.

Southern Cross was redeveloped by the Civic Nexus consortium, following an innovative design by Grimshaw Architects which features an undulating roof. Construction began in October 2002 and was completed in late 2006, with the majority of the transport facilities finished in time for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The central features of the design include a wave-shaped roof, a new entrance and concourse on Collins Street, a new bus interchange, a new food court, a bar/restaurant, separate retail outlets inside the station and a separate shopping complex between Bourke and La Trobe Streets.

This post is part of Lesley's Signs, Signs meme.

RAINY DAY AT MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY

The University of Melbourne, my alma mater, is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1853 and is thus the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria. The main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb just north of the Melbourne CBD.

It is colloquially known as a sandstone university (see photos of the buildings!) and has one of the largest financial endowments of any Australian university, standing at $1.173 billion as of 2010. The University of Melbourne consistently ranks among the best universities in Australia and the world. The university has been placed top in Australia, 37th in the world by the Times Higher Education 2011-2012 rankings of the world’s top 400 universities, and 31st in the world by QS 2011-2012 ranking.

In Australia, the University of Melbourne is the second largest research organisation after the CSIRO. In 2010, it spent $767.5m on research and has consistently ranked first or second on the major national research indicators which are used by the Australian Government to allocate public funds for research and training infrastructure. The university has more than 49,000 students, who are supported by just over 7,300 staff members.

This post is part of Kim's Water World Wednesday meme,
and also part of Susan's Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also part of Nature Footsteps Waters meme.

CROWN CASINO PROMENADE

Prominently located in Southbank on the Yarra River is the Crown Casino.It has earned itself a reputation as their slogan suggests, for being “A World of Entertainment”.  Crown Casino has more then a dozen bars and clubs, numerous dining and shopping options, free entertainment and much more all within the opulent surrounds of the Crown complex. There is something to cater for everyone including some gambling, clubs, pubs and bars for the adults and games, cinemas and shopping for all ages.

At night, on the boulevard, Crown Casino erupts into a riverside show of fireballs. These never fail to impress and wow visitors. When the weather is cooler the flames warm bystanders, people reporting they can even feel the heat from the other side of the river. The fireballs are the biggest in the world and explode in a show each hour between times that are subject to the season and weather conditions.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme.

CHINATOWN MURAL, CITY

Melbourne has a thriving Chinatown (more photos of this in a later post) along Little Bourke St. In a parking lot tucked away from the main strip is this unlikely, colourful and whimsical mural adorning the bare gray wall. There are some wonderful humorous details one may see on close up. However, the whole reminds me of an alien creature! Would have been wonderful to have a colourful sky decorating the expanse of gray wall around the creature, but it is a very large area...

This post is part of the Monday Murals meme.

ST FRANCIS, MELBOURNE

St Francis' Church is the oldest Catholic church in Melbourne, Australia. Located on the corner of Lonsdale Street and Elizabeth Street, it is one of only three buildings in central Melbourne which predates the Gold Rush of 1851.

This post is part of Robert's and Louis' Psalm Sunday meme,
and also part of the Spiritual Sunday meme.

The Romanian Orthodox church maintains the Byzantine tradition in its liturgy and the choral singing is particularly beautiful. Here is a byzantine setting of Psalm 102.

QUEEN ST REFLECTIONS

Although there are many skyscrapers and tall buildings in Melbourne's CBD, one never feels claustrophobic. The wide roads help, as do the heritage buildings in between the modern ones. The regular grid of the city centre may also be another factor. The façades of glass provide many an opportunity for reflection.

This post i spart of James' Weekend Reflections meme.

SANDRIDGE BRIDGE ON THE YARRA

The Sandridge Bridge is a historic former railway bridge over the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia, which has been redeveloped in 2006 as a new pedestrian and cycle path featuring public art. It is the third bridge on the site and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. The bridge is 178.4 metres long is made up of five spans, and is 17 metres wide while the girders are 2.74 metres high from the top to the bottom of the flange.

In 2005 it was announced that artist Nadim Karam had been commissioned to create ten abstract sculptures in a piece titled "The Travellers", which represents the different types of immigrants who traditionally arrived by train over the bridge from Station Pier. Nine of the sculptures move across the bridge in a 15-minute sequence, moving on bogies running between the two bridge spans. 128 glass panels of the Travellers exhibit offer information about Australian indigenous peoples or the countries of immigrants to Australia, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

The Southgate Footbridge in the last photo was built in 1989 over the Yarra River in Melbourne, and provides the main pedestrian link for thousands of workers and tourists between Flinders Street Station and the Southgate business and entertainment precinct. This pedestrian bridge over the Yarra is a focal point from both sides of the river and its graceful curves are much photographed.

This post is part of Sylvia's Skywatch Friday meme,
and also the Challenge Walk in the Street meme,
and also part of Louis' Sunday Bridges meme.