The sculpture “Ophelia” by artist Deborah Halpern was a resident of Southgate, but has been re-located to the river promenade. For nearly 20 years “Ophelia”, had watched over the entrance to Southgate from her courtyard position at BearBrass. As part of Southgate’s redevelopment, “Ophelia” was temporarily taken back to the artist’s studio for restoration before being permanently relocated to a prominent riverside location, right out the front of Southgate’s main entrance.
Once known as the face of Melbourne, “Ophelia” was inspired by the character from Hamlet, full of both love and sadness. Halpern says “Ophelia” is the cousin of “Angel”, the sculpture that adorned the moat of the National Gallery of Victoria for nearly 20 years and now lives upstream at Birrarung Marr. Together they bring life and humanity to the river.
This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme.
The Cape Barren goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae) is a large goose resident in southern Australia, classified in the family Anatidae. The species is named for Cape Barren Island, where specimens were first sighted by European explorers.
These are bulky geese and their almost uniformly grey plumage, bearing rounded black spots, is unique. The tail and flight feathers are blackish and the legs are pink with black feet. The short, decurved black bill and light green cere gives it a very peculiar expression. The Cape Barren goose is 75 to 100 cm long, weighs 3 to 7 kg and has a 150 to 190 cm wingspan; males are somewhat larger than females.
This bird feeds by grazing and rarely swims. Their ability to drink salt or brackish water allows numbers of geese to remain on offshore islands all year round. They are one of the rarest of the world's geese. It is gregarious outside the breeding season, when it wanders more widely, forming small flocks.
A previous decline in numbers appears to have been reversed as birds in the east at least have adapted to feeding on agricultural land. The breeding areas are grassy islands off the Australian coast, where this species nests on the ground in colonies. It bears captivity well, quite readily breeding in confinement if large enough paddocks are provided. These photos were taken on Phillip Island, where large numbers of these geese may be seen.
This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.
A freak afternoon storm caused flash flooding in Melbourne’s CBD and soaked Flemington Racecourse on Oaks Day. The worst of the storm hit about 2 pm, and emergency services received about 200 calls in two hours. Flash floodwaters breached kerbs across the CBD, including in Swanston Street and Chapel Street, Prahran.
We were fortunate in Fairfield, for although we had the storm pass through with lots of spectacular clouds and rain, we did not suffer from any flash flooding or damage to infrastructure and property...
This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Greens meme.
Agonis flexuosa is a species of tree in the Myrtaceae family, that grows in the south west of Western Australia. It is easily the most common of the Agonis species, and is one of the most recognisable trees of Western Australia, being commonly grown in parks and on road verges in Perth. The species is commonly known as Western Australian peppermint, Swan River peppermint or peppermint, and willow myrtle for its weeping habit. One may also encounter this tree commonly in Melbourne, although more of a garden specimen, rather than planted in masses or in verges.
A. flexuosa occurs mainly as a small and robust tree, usually less than 10 metres tall, although it may grow to 15 metres. It has fibrous, brown bark, and long, narrow, dull green leaves, with tightly clustered inflorescences of small, white flowers in the axes. It grows in a weeping habit, and looks remarkably like the weeping willow from a distance. Leaves are narrow and reach a length of 150mm. It is most readily identified by the powerful odour of peppermint emitted when the leaves are crushed or torn. It flowers between August and December. The fruit is a hard capsule, 3 – 4 mm across, with three valves containing many small seeds,
The tree is used in mass plantings, such as street trees, and has been introduced to Rottnest and Garden Islands near its native region. Agonis flexuosa is an attractive garden or specimen tree in temperate climates. However, care must be exercised in selecting it for small areas, as in a yard setting. Quick growing, the tree produces a large amount of detritus and its trunk sometimes becomes large and disproportionate to the rest of the tree.
This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.
Melbourne has beaten Rome, Vienna and Sydney in being judged to have the best coffee in the world. Travel website booking.com surveyed more than 1000 of its users from around the world and found Melbourne was well and truly on top when it comes to coffee. Melbourne baristas take pride in their coffee and it is appreciated by diners and tourists. Tourists love Melbourne because our coffee and café culture is a part of our lives and is a very unique thing to Melbourne. There are many great specialty roasters in Melbourne that consistently strive for excellence, while every laneway and arcade in the City is full of cafés and restaurants ready to serve you delicious brews...
This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.
This mural/sculpture is called “Wings” and the artist is Andrea Tomaselli. It is constructed of mild steel plate (8mm) rolled and epoxy finished. It is plasma cut and engineered July-September 2002. It is part of the Public Art Commission (2002) of the Banyule City Council and is located outside the Public Library in Watsonia on Ibbottson Street, Watsonia.
The artist says this of the work: “The wings of the Waa Mojety (Crow) from the Wurundjeri, native custodians of the land is the centre of the sculpture. I see the overall form of the sculpture as an interpretation of music. The first sound, the drumbeat was a primordial form of social art and cultural challenge.
The various symbols and elements represent different educational and social art forms. They are united in a vortex, a spiral that absorbs, assimilates but at the same time projects thoughts, ideas, exchanges and interactions.”
This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Monday Murals meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme.
The Anglican Church of the Holy Spirit is found at 80 Watsonia Road, Watsonia. It is a modern building of modest proportions which seems to be light and airy given that it has quite a large area of glass in the walls and windows. The interior consists of a central devotional area and on either side, dual multi-use spaces put to good use by the parish.
This post is part of the Spiritual Sundays meme,
and also part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme.
