The Cruise Boat

 

Above: The M.Y. Challenger
This stunning vessel was once a gentleman's private yacht - now it cruises along the waters of Port Philip Bay where the passengers partake of Sunday Brunch. Sipping a French Champagne while on the upper front deck on a warm Sunday with blue, sunny skies is a lovely way to loll away a couple of hours. And best of all - parking is free on Sundays!

Today's quote: Yachts are the closest a commoner can get to sovereignty. ~ Charles Simonyi.

Salmon Skies

 

Above: Sunset

Sunsets never fail to make me feel good.



Today's quote: “The sky, at sunset, looked like a carnivorous flower.”
― Roberto Bolaño, 2666

Bakery Beauties

 

Above: Goody Num-Nums at the Bakery Cafe
These delightful delicacies are all edible - the lime is not a lime and the the wee red pumpkin is not a pumpkin. These are just some of the scrumptious sweeties for the sweet-tooth to savour.

Today's quote: Because you don't live near a bakery doesn't mean you have to go without cheesecake - Hedy Lamarr

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Australia Day 2012

What is Australia Day?
Once again it is the 26th of January - Australia Day ~ our national day. It is a day when we celebrate our country as a nation and join in festivities and ceremonies. It is a day when people get together and have a barbie, wear some Australiana and bend the elbow.

 

Above: The Australian flag and some of our native wildlife.

From the top left-hand corner going in a clock wise direction:
The Kookaburra, Bandicoot, Platypus, Koala, Leadbeater's Possum, Echidna, Wombat, Fairy Penguins, Kangaroo.

Why the 26th January?
It was the date of arrival of the "First Fleet" ~ In 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip landed in Sydney Cove and so began settlement. The First Fleet consisted of eleven ships - The Alexander, The Borrowdale, The Charlotte, The Fishburn The Friendship The Golden Grove, The Lady Penrhyn, The Prince of Wales, The Scarborough, H.M.S. Sirius and H.M.S. Supply.

Above: The Founding of Australia. By Capt. Arthur Phillip R.N. Sydney Cove, Jan. 26th 1788
Painted in 1937 by Algernon Talmage (1871 – 1939)


We Are Australian







Dream-Time: According to Aboriginal belief, long, long ago in the far distant past; the great spirit ancestors of the Dreamtime created everything living ~ the people, the birds, the animals and fish, the rivers and waterholes, hills and rocks. The Dreamtime is the story of creation.

Convict: A person found guilty of something - often as little as stealing a loaf of bread or a political prisoner sent to transportation to Australia.
Digger: Aussie soldier
Bushy: Person who lives in the outback, the "bush"
Battler: Someone who works hard and barely scrapes by and holds their head up high in the face of adversity
Albert Namatjira: Famous Aboriginal painter of Australian landscapes
Clancy: Drover immortalised in the Banjo's poem "Clancy of the Overflow"
Ned Kelly: Famous Australian bushranger
Matilda: Name given to a bushman's "swag"
The Rock: Ayers Rock/Uluru




THIS LAND OF OURS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This land of ours so red and vast
Doth stretch before the eye
And show unto me all the beauty
Of a far and distant past.

Of gums so tall
And eucalypt
They tower o'er me
And sweet their fragrance to inhale
Their beauty for to see.

Oh yes, this precious land of mine
With all your beauty free
And listen to the sweet carol
Of birds in fancy free.

My country you are more to me
Than earth of fire or sky
For I shall love this land of ours
Until the day I die.

 

Today's quote: Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep, where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart, blushing, whispered the first word of love; it is the home that God has given you that by striving to perfect yourselves therein you may prepare to ascend to him. ~Giuseppe Mazzini

Theme Day: Photo of the year 2011

 

Above: The Red Teapot
Photo taken December 2011 in Queen's Park. I chose this photo not because it is the best but because it represents the past (old year) and the present (new year).

The Cenotaph represents the past while the red teapot children's ride signifies the present.

To see photos of 2011 from other bloggers Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Today's quote: We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day ~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce

La Guillotine électriques...?

Above: La Guillotine
This pylon does look a little like the (in)famous La Guillotine of the French Revolution only with a modern twist - powered by electricity!

Did you know
The guillotine was still in use in the 1930's! The last public guillotining was of Eugen Weidmann, who was convicted of six murders. He was beheaded on 17 June 1939, outside the prison Saint-Pierre rue Georges Clemenceau 5 at Versailles.

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Today's quote: There is only one cure for gray hair. It was invented by a Frenchman. It is called the guillotine ~ P. G. Wodehouse.

The Statue

 
Aphrodite washes her hair

Whereabouts is this - Greece? Italy? You could be forgiven for thinking you were somewhere in the warmth of the Mediterranean, with the warm hues and the statue of the goddess with the shapely limbs as she washes her hair..But no, you are not in the Mediterranean, for this photo was taken right here in Melbourne.

This classical artwork is the centrepiece of Milano serviced apartments in the heart of Melbourne's CBD in Franklin Street.

Today's quote: For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it ~ Ivan Panin

The Wire

The lines of modern living

Today's quote: The difference between utility and utility plus beauty is the difference between telephone wires and the spider web ~ Edwin Way Teale

Federation Square - Urban Garden Amphitheatre

Above: Urban Garden Amphitheatre

A sign reads,
"Hi there, you're in the Urban Garden Amphitheatre.
Enjoy it. It's yours.
Stretch out on the grass.
Or pull up a seat."

Federation Square’s most intimate outdoor space - The Amphitheatre. Encircled by zinc-clad walls with views across Flinders Street onto St Paul’s Cathedral, this unique venue lets you get close to the action at events like the Comedy Festival, the Melbourne International Arts Festival and festivals celebrating the colourful and vibrant culture of those who have come from other lands.

Walking down the steps is the "Urban Garden"

Today's quote: No two gardens are the same, no two days are the same in one garden ~ Hugh Johnson

Theme Day - Under Construction

Above: Redevelopment Project
Virtually everything here was destroyed or damaged when the Black Saturday bushfires of 7 February 2009 swept through and hit the falls reserve with such ferocity. The Steavenson Falls Recovery and Redevelopment estimated to cost around $3 million, has started. It is a massive job, and the only salvageable piece of infrastructure was the hydro-electric generator that powered the lighting system that lit up the falls at night. Before the fires, the reserve attracted up to 150,000 visitors a year and was a major regional tourist attraction.

Hazardous trees impacted by the fire are being removed as part of the recovery program - many of the trees are dead but could remain standing for several years as they decompose and eventually fall and if left unmanaged, the trees and limbs present a substantial risk to visitors and workers within the reserve.

Stage one of the redevelopment included reconstruction of Falls Road to allow visitor access, a new car park and bus parking area, a new viewing platform at the base of the falls, as well as significant underground drainage and service infrastructure.

The next stage of works will involve construction of toilet and visitor facilities, walking tracks and a spectacular viewing platform of the falls and is expected to be completed by winter 2011.

Above: Steavenson Falls Before Black Saturday
I took this photo a few short weeks before the fire swept through. Note the metal object on a pole on the left hand side in the foreground.

Above: Steavenson Falls After Black Saturday
This photo was taken November, 2010 - 21 months after the fire in almost the same place as the previous photo. The Falls were re-opened to the public eight weeks earlier.

Theme Day: Click here to view thumbnails for all participants


Today's quote: Nature often holds up a mirror so we can see more clearly the ongoing processes of growth, renewal, and transformation in our lives.

Skywatch Friday

Above: Sun on Water
Taken just after 5.00pm as the sun was slowly sinking.

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Today's quote: A person should go out on the water on a fine day to a small distance from a beautiful coast, if he would see Nature really smile. Never does she look so delightful, as when the sun is brightly reflected by the water, ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

ANZAC Day

Today, the 25th of April is Anzac Day. Ninety-six years ago today, Australian troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula.... It was dawn, Sunday the 25th April 1915 when they rushed from the beach up to Plugge's Plateau and into Australian military history, suffering many casualties on the way.
Troops from New Zealand landed at Gallipoli just after midday... Together the Australians and New Zealanders gave birth to the Anzac legend.


ANZAC TRIBUTE
I have put together a collection of original photoshots from the First World War, in honour of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who gave their yesterday for our tomorrow. Brave men who fought with courage, deternination and gave birth to the legend of the ANZACS. From them came the meaning of mateship and standing by your mates.

This tribute includes the first Anzac Day - the landing at Anzac Cove on Sunday 25th April 1915. Also included are shots of Passchendaele, Ypres, Voormezeele - names steeped in history - marches and photos taken by the soldiers.





The events on this first day set the course of the whole battle, and led to the evacuation of the Anzac troops in December 1915.

Our Diggers
The nickname "Digger" is said to be attributed to the number of ex-gold diggers in the early army units and to the trench digging activities of the Australian soldiers during World War I. The actual origin of the name has been lost in time but the Australian soldier is known affectionately around the world as the Digger.

Above: Anzacs

The legend of ANZAC was born on 25 April 1915, and was reaffirmed in eight months’ fighting on Gallipoli. Although there was no military victory, the Australians displayed great courage, endurance, initiative, discipline, and mateship. Such qualities came to be seen as the ANZAC spirit.

Many saw the ANZAC spirit as having been born of egalitarianism and mutual support. According to the stereotype, the ANZAC rejected unnecessary restrictions, possessed a sardonic sense of humour, was contemptuous of danger, and proved himself the equal of anyone on the battlefield.

Australians still invoke the ANZAC spirit in times of conflict, danger and hardship.

Above: The Last Anzac
Alexander William Campbell, known as Alec was our last surviving Anzac and our last living link with the Anzac landing at Gallipoli and the Aussies who began the Anzac legend. He died on 16th May, 2002 at the grand age of 103 years.

Alec, born in Launceston, Tassie on 26 February 1899, lied about his age when he was 16, so he could join the army without his parents permission. He was so young and hadn't even started shaving and the other men in his battalion knicknamed him "The Kid"

Today's quote: One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one ~ Agathe Christie

Easter Sunday

May this Easter bring you happiness, joy and love, and may you find new meaning in the world around you.

Above: The Resurrection
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
Alleluia.

Above: Antique Easter cards

The History of the Easter Card
We send cards for different celebrations, but do you know when the first Easter card appeared? The tradition began in the 19th century. In 1898, the first Easter cards were postcards - mail requirements for postcards stated one side was for an address and the other side was for a greeting which left little space for a long message. Mail requirements eventually changed to the familiar postcard design we see today.
Rabbits, lambs, flowers and bunnies were some of the first images to appear on Easter cards. Today, these postcards are now larger and folded in half with a picture appearing on the front and a greeting on the inside with room for the sender to write a message.

Above: The Easter egg
The egg is a symbol of the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg when the chicken hatches out. And so we give an "Easter" egg at Easter. The Easter eggs of old which were hard-boiled eggs painted with coloured paints and decorated have now been replaced with chocolate eggs.










Today's quote: The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances ~ Robert Flatt

Reflection in a Mirror

Above: Floral Fantasy
On a recent trip, I wanted to photograph this floral arrangement at my accommodation place and received an unexpected result - me. I'd forgotten about the mirror.

Click here to see other weekend reflections.


Today's quote: I love mirrors, they let one pass through the surface of things ~ Claude Chabrol

Frogmore Road

Above: Frogmore Road

This oil ochre artwork on linen was created by Australian artist Mandy Martin in 2005 and hangs in the rooms of the RACV Club in Melbourne. It is composed of three panels and measures 183 x 406 cm.


About the artist:
Mandy was born in Adelaide in 1952 and studied at the SA School of Art from 1972 - 1975. A lecturer at the School of Art, Australian National University from 1978 to 2003, she was a Fellow of Australian National University from 2003 to 2007.

Mandy Martin is a practicing artist who has held numerous exhibitions in Australia, Mexico and the USA. She has exhibited widely in curated exhibitions in Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, USA, and Italy. Her works are in many public and private collections including the National Gallery of Australia and major state galleries and collections. In the USA she is represented in the Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and many private collections. She lives in the Cowra region, New South Wales, Australia.

You can find out more about Mandy here.

Today's quote: I dream of painting and then I paint my dream ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Mirrored Reflections

Above: The Maribyrnong
Another shot of the Afton Street pedestrian bridge over the Maribyrnong River.

Today's quote: Rivers are roads which move, and which carry us whither we desire to go ~Blaise Pascal



Go to San Fransisco Bay Daily Photo to see other Sunday Bridges around the world

Go to Newtown Area Photo to see other weekend reflections around the world

The Birds

Above: The Birds
You could be forgiven for thinking you have just stepped into an Alfred Hitchcock movie -
remember ..... "The Birds"?

What Is It?
This is actually part of the Scar Project which is located at Enterprize Park. Indigenous people would traditionally take pieces of bark from some trees to make canoes, shields or baby cradles and these 'scar trees' would serve as a signpost for other clans to let them know they had entered the land of another community. The "Scar Project" is representative of these scar trees and was constructed by Indigenous artists who used original wharf poles from Queens Bridge.


The Weekend In Black and White


Today's quote: Can I bring the lovebirds, Mitch? They haven't harmed anyone ~ Cathy Brenner.

Southern Cross Station, (Theme Day: Edges)

Above: Southern Cross Railway Station
I've chosen this photo because I like the wavy edges of the roofline. I was standing on the edge of the road when I took this shot. The station is in Spencer Street from the corner of Collins Street to Little Collins Street to Bourke Street - that's a lotta station and a lotta roofline.



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Today's quote: A border, the perimeter of a single massive or stretched-out use of territory forms the edge of an area of 'ordinary' city. Often borders are thought of as passive objects, or matter-of-factly just as edges. However, a border exerts an active influence ~ Jane Jacobs

Pigeon loft - Batman Park

Walking along the northern side of the Yarra towards Spencer Street, I came upon this interesting structure. On taking a closer look, it turns out it is a pigeon loft, created to entice the pigeons away from the CBD.

This pigeon loft was placed here in Batman Park as part of the City of Melbourne's pigeon management programe and is intended as an alternative home for the city's pigeons especially those around the Town Hall, City Square and Bourke Street Mall.

Pigeons in the city have been a nuisance for decades and their droppings cause uncleanliness generally and also damage to city's buildings. Sitting in Federation Square you're surrounded by them.

The loft is painted with light coloured corrosion resistant to reflect the heat and minimise internal over-heating. It houses two hundred nesting boxes for pigeon breeding. Eggs laid will be replaced with artificial eggs intended as a humane way to control and reduce pigeon numbers.

Bird feeding around the loft base is permitted to attract birds out of the CBD to this area. Bird feeding is not permitted in any other area around the CBD.

I wonder if people had a problem in the old days when pigeons were used to carry messages? Perhaps governments could re-introduce this practise - think of the savings you'd make not having to buy postage stamps!

Today's quote: I don't mind being a symbol but I don't want to become a monument. There are monuments all over the Parliament Buildings and I've seen what the pigeons do to them ~ Tommy Douglas.

Gents Dress Instructions - Ruby Tuesday

Gentlemen please...

Bistro signage
Gentlemen you have been warned! When attending please ensure that your dress is appropriate...'Twould be an interesting exercise to find out just what is considered appropriate attire for gents.

I love this sign don't you? It's in the bar of one of my favourite drinking places in the Melbourne CBD - the Mitre Tavern, which I posted about HERE.


Ladies Loo Limericks
And in the ladies loo, the walls are festooned with limericks. They have all been...laundered. Still, it's out of the ordinary, I mean to say - how many toilets do you know that have limericks written on the wall? And with pictures too!

Above: Ladies Loo

I love limericks, they're my favourite of all rhymes. Yes, I know they don't have the classiness of prose nor are they in the "blue-stocking" league, but limericks are short, easily remembered and most of all funny. Well, the "unlaundered" ones are!

Above: Limericks

Above: Limerick
As I said, the limericks on the walls have been "laundered"


The limerick packs laughs anatomical
In a spaced which is quite economical
But the good ones I've seen
So seldom are clean
And the clean ones so seldom are comical!

Click here to see all participants of My World Tuesday

This is my contribution for Ruby Tuesday


Today's quote: Laughter is the best medicine ~ old proverb.