TWILIGHT CITY VIEW

This is taken on the Princes Bridge, looking towards the Northeast.

This post is part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

PRINCES BRIDGE BY NIGHT

On a cold Winter's night, a walk by the banks of the Yarra River on Southbank rewards you with a sight like this...

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

SUNRISE ON THE SANDRIDGE BRIDGE

"There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope." - Bernard Williams

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

MELBOURNE STREET TREES 82 - WHITE BOX

Eucalyptus albens known as the white box is a common eucalyptus tree of the western slopes and plains of New South Wales and adjacent areas in Queensland and Victoria. An isolated population grows in the southern Flinders Ranges in South Australia. The scientific and common names is derived from the white deposits over the leaves and gumnuts, while the epithet "box" comes from the box-like tesselated pattern in the bark.

George Bentham described the white box in 1867 from material collected by botanist and explorer, Allan Cunningham, along the Macquarie River. Joseph Henry Maiden had regarded it as a subspecies of Eucalyptus hemiphloia in 1904. It is related to grey box (E. moluccana) and inland grey box (E. microcarpa). Hybridization with grey box has been reported in the Hunter Valley.

Eucalyptus albens will grow into a medium to tall tree. The trunk is short and straight. The crown is rounded to spreading. Bark is persistent, light grey to whitish with bleached patches. Branches are smooth and white. Leave are oval to lance-like and are grey to bluish-green on both surfaces. The buds are carried in clusters of three to seven and are spindle-shaped. Large flowers are profuse and creamy-white. The gum nuts are barrel-shaped.In the winter and spring white boxes flower generously over a long period. Large honeyeaters and rainbow lorikeets fill the trees with strident bird song as they eat the nectar.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

MERRI CREEK, BRUNSWICK

The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia which flows through the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It begins in Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70 km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Falls. The area where the creek meets the river was traditionally the location for large gatherings of the Wurundjeri people and is suspected to have been the location for one of the earliest land treaties in Australia between Indigenous Australians and European settlers.

The creek was the site of heavy industrial use throughout much of the 20th century, being home to quarries, landfills and accepting waste runoff from neighbouring factories. This has degraded the riparian ecology of the creek leaving behind pollutants such as heavy metals and various greases. Recent decades have seen some regenerative planting and the foundation of several community groups dedicated to protecting and regenerating the creek's ecology. It is on its way to becoming a living natural waterway again.

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.

CITY, LUNCHTIME

This photo was taken in the Bourke St pedestrian mall at lunchtime. The fellow in red is selling "The Big Issue". This magazine is a not-for-profit social enterprise that develops solutions to help homeless, marginalised and disadvantaged people positively change their lives. See more here: http://www.thebigissue.org.au

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

ROSE MURAL IN FITZROY

This little neighbourhood in Fitzroy, an inner suburb of Melbourne, still has many Victorian brick terrace house dating from the 19th century. Many of these have been renovated and are well-maintained, with most of their original features intact. The rose mural was a surprise, but it was quirky and bright and beautiful.

The mural is signed Nate Gamble and the website http://nategamble.com/walls/ provides more details on this artist's work.

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

ST ANTHONY'S CHURCH, ALPHINGTON

St. Anthony’s Parish formally came into existence in 1915, after having spent a number of years under the Northcote Parish and operating as a “church of ease” for the growing number of Catholic families in the Fairfield/Alphington area. Fr. Michael Hayes was appointed as St. Anthony’s first Parish Priest in 1915 and a presbytery ,formerly the property “Rosebank”, was opened and blessed on St Anthony’s feast day 13th June 1915.

One of the primary objectives of the parish community was to secure a school building to provide for the educational and religious instruction of its youngest parishioners. It was with much enthusiasm that some 1,200 people gathered on St. Patricks Day 1917 to observe the official opening of the St Anthony’s Parish School, located at No 43 Austin Street.

In 1939 the parish suffered the loss of its original church which was burnt down by an arsonist. The Parish rallied to oversee the construction of a new church. This was achieved surprisingly quickly as it was blessed and opened in 1940. This is the building that exists with few structural changes to this day.

This post is part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme,
and also part of the Shadow Shot Sunday meme.

WINTER MORNING

Looking East on Bourke St, from the Southern Cross railway station, early one Winter's morning.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme.

EARLY MORNING TRAIN

Waiting for the commuter train, early one morning!

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.