Mornington is a seaside town on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, located 57 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district. It is in the local government area of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula. Mornington is known for its "village" atmosphere and its beautiful beaches. Mornington is a popular tourist destination with Melburnians who often make day trips to visit the area's bay beaches and wineries. The town centre runs into the foreshore area and local beach.
Mornington Pier was first built in the 1850's, providing a safe berth for steamships carrying holiday makers from Melbourne. It was was also a busy departure point for vessels carrying produce to the Melbourne markets before rail arrived in the early 1890s. Today the pier is a popular destination for a range of recreational activities including sightseeing, fishing and scuba diving.
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.
A show called "Gas Brigades" runs after sunset outside of Melbourne's Crown Casino. The flames can be seen reflected in the Yarra River.These never fail to impress 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. They are a spectacle from the North Side of the river as well as from Crown.
This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.
On Thursday 21 August 2014, the Brunswick Library moved back to its original location at the corner of Sydney Road and Dawson Street, Brunswick. The 90 year old iconic building that is home to the library was transformed after significant structural works and a major refurbishment. The library now has a new computer training room, increased seating for reading and wi-fi use, additional PCs, upgraded amenities and new lighting.
A spectacular mural by artist Geoff Hogg adorns the back of the library and provides a focal point for the visitor. Trained as a painter, Geoff Hogg was an early contributor to the revival of contemporary Public Art. He began his work with a strong interest in public forms including street installation, projection, integrated architecture and craft along with banner making, processional objects and in particular, large scale wall painting and drawing. This work grew from a concern to re-connect with under-valued sources and traditions in contemporary cultural life.
The mural is full of historical references and builds images
from the memories and cultural patterns that the multicultural residents of
Brunswick bring into the City in order to enliven it and enrich it. Depicted
are Turkish ceramic ornaments, Victorian reproductions of classical figures, a
Chinese poem, indigenous hand designs and persons and incident from local
history including a portrait of artist Noel Counihan active in the 1930s and an
important figure in social and political reform.
The mural (painted on the proscenium arch of the old theatre the library occupies) draws the eye straight through the main space of the library. Neutral colours in the main part of the library keep the focus on Hogg’s large and expressive mural, while soft furnishings pick out certain colours to give the space a pleasing visual unity.
This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Monday Murals meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.
Darebin Parklands is a natural bushland reserve only 7 km away from the Melbourne CBD. The main entry is via Separation street from Fairfield and visitors are greeted with a modest BBQ area. Spreading out from this are large lawns, ponds, hills and if you follow one of the many walking trails, within minutes you are in bushland and have lost sight of civilisation. There is a lookout that has amazing views back onto the city and a walking track that follows the course of the Darebin Creek. It is the Creek that enlivens the Parklands and gives many a beautiful view along its length.
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.
We have had some beautiful sunsets lately and one place to enjoy them is right on the Yarra River in the City.
This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.
Cercis canadensis (Eastern redbud) is a large deciduous shrub or small tree, native to eastern North America from Southern Ontario, Canada south to northern Florida but can thrive as far west as California.
It typically grows to 6–9 m tall with a 8–10 m. It generally has a short, often twisted trunk and spreading branches. A 10-year-old tree will generally be around 5 m tall. The bark is dark in colour, smooth, later scaly with ridges somewhat apparent, sometimes with maroon patches. The twigs are slender and zigzag, nearly black in colour, spotted with lighter lenticels. The winter buds are tiny, rounded and dark red to chestnut in colour. The leaves are alternate, simple, and heart shaped with an entire margin, 7–12 cm long and wide, thin and papery, and may be slightly hairy below.
The flowers are showy, light to dark magenta pink in colour, 1.5 cm long, appearing in clusters from Spring to early Summer, on bare stems before the leaves, sometimes on the trunk itself. The flowers are pollinated by long-tongued bees such as blueberry bees and carpenter bees. Short-tongued bees apparently cannot reach the nectaries. The fruit are flattened, dry, brown, pea-like pods, 5–10 cm long that contain flat, elliptical, brown seeds 6 mm long, maturing in late Summer-Autumn.
C. canadensis is grown in parks and gardens, with several cultivars being available. The cultivar 'Forest Pansy', with purple leaves, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.
Darebin Creek is a creek that runs through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia for about 30 km. It is the main watercourse of the Darebin Valley and a major tributary of the Yarra River. For tens of thousands of years it was used as a food and tool source sustainably by the Wurundjeri people, Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation alliance, who spoke variations of the Woiwurrung language group.
The creek rises on the northern urban fringe of Melbourne north of the suburb of Epping, following a general southerly route and meeting the Yarra at Alphington. The creek forms much of the municipal boundary between the City of Darebin and City of Banyule. Formerly an intermittent stream, increased storm-water runoff with urbanisation of the Darebin Creek catchment has resulted in permanent water flow. The creek runs through Darebin Parklands, a large nature reserve one or two kilometres northwest of the junction at which the creek meets the Yarra. The Darebin Creek Trail runs along the banks in the lower reaches of the creek.
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.
Our public library (like most others around Melbourne) has a Community Noticeboard on which people place advertisements, notices, photos, lost-and-founds, art or even bits and bots of pure whimsy. It's always amusing to look at these noticeboards every now and then as you never know what you will find...
This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.
About a week ago, we chanced upon this mural being painted on the wall of Wilbur's Café on Dawson St in Brunswick. We watched the graffitist at work and got a chance to sample the good coffee within. Today we drove past again and saw the completed mural/advertisement. It is eye-catching and certainly draws your attention to what this café is best at: Coffee, not art!
This post is part of the Monday Murals meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.
