Places I Love: Melbourne

Today I've been playing around in Photoshop, making collages and stuff.

Melbourne is my favourite of the Australian cities I've been to. 

Right now, it has the Australian Open (tennis is the only sport I like to watch) 

- and blistering heat.

All year round, it has the Yarra River, beautiful buildings, fantastic shops, wonderful food 

- and a sense of humour!

Thematic Threesies

Haven't been around much lately - I find that I barely have time to 

draw a breath at the moment.

Here's a trio of mounted police in Melbourne - for Thematic Photographic 279.

Treetops

Posted for Thematic Photographic # 272 - Treetops

This topic took me straight back to Australia in October a couple of years ago. 

A friend and I visited the Otway Fly, 2½ hours' drive from Melbourne.

The walkway is built among the treetops, and is 30m (98½ ft) above the forest floor - if you 

climb the 'spiral tower', you will be 47m (154 ft) up. 

I don't normally feel too comfortable with heights, but this was a great experience.

Please click to enlarge.

Shiny and new - Thematic Photographic 249

Carmi's theme for us this week is Shiny and New.

The first thing I thought of was a mall - more particularly, the GPO mall in central Melbourne. The old building has been made super-shiny, and given a new look to suit all of its fashionable boutiques and cafés.

I walked through early one morning, before the stores were open:

Speaking of shining...

Curvaceous - Thematic Photographic 248

Curvaceous , this week's theme over at Written.Inc, could describe some more of my Australian holidayshots.

Footbridge over the Yarra River. Melbourne, Australia:

Another footbridge. St Kilda, Melbourne:

These were all taken at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne:

Finally, some more curvy-necked swans:

 "My curves are not crazy" ~ Henri Matisse

On the Water... TP 247

Thematic Photographic 247 !!  I've missed a few, I think.

On the water - my favourite place.

Last term holidays I was in Melbourne, one of my favourite cities.

The Yarra River runs through the central city

It was autumn, hence the grey skies. Not too cold though. 

I never seem to have much luck at St Kilda, the famous beachside suburb - for me, the skies are always grey and lowering:

Swan number 36

And a re-post of a late afternoon sky at Seacliff, Adelaide, on the same trip -

Visiting the Market

On my recent visit to Melbourne, I deliberately booked a hotel within walking
distance of the Queen Victoria Market.
I don't like going out at night alone in a big city, so I planned to buy supplies
at the market, and enjoy some of the great variety of delicious food available.

Melbourne has large populations of Greeks, Italians, Germans, Lebanese...
a liquorice allsorts of nationalities.
I think they all have food stalls in the deli area of the market!

I enjoy just walking around looking at all of the different choices - so many!
I bought ciabatta bread, still warm. I chose spicy Italian sopressa, German cheese, Greek yoghurt - all made near Melbourne by recent immigrants or second-, third-, ninth-generation Australians. I bought tomatoes, grapes, melon, olives... all so beautiful, so fresh. I dined like royalty every night.

Everybody seems to enjoy the ambiance of the market...

 One of the things I miss about living in a small town is the markets that big cities have, so the Queen Vic market was a highlight of my 2 weeks in Australia.

 

Don't worry, I had plenty of great lunches in fabulous restaurants, thanks to 

friends and relatives. 

But I have to confess I enjoyed my delicious solitary 'picnics'. 

Oh - and (sorry, Aussie mates) I only bought New Zealand wine!!

And - I'm on a diet ....

Thematic Photographic 242: Vegetative Melbourne

Carmi's latest theme suits me. I've just come back from a holiday in Melbourne, Australia,
where I found lots to photograph in the way of growing things. 

Early morning light showed off the trees in the Treasury Gardens beautifully:

I love the Conservatory in the Fitzroy Gardens -
there are always wonderful displays (and it's warm!)

Nearby, Captain Cook's cottage has some spectacular vegetation around it.
There's a statue of the old explorer himself, keeping watch:

On my walkabouts I saw many of Melbourne's old terraced houses:

Along the banks of the Yarra River the trees are beginning to change colour:

Lastly - the produce in the organic hall at the Queen Victoria market
is so fresh that it's practically still growing:

For other people's vegetative musings go here.

“Ideas, like individuals, live and die. They flourish, according to their nature, in one soil or climate and droop in another. They are the vegetation of the mental world.”
~William MacNeile Dixon

Leaving on a Jetplane...

It's school holidays - and I do know when I'll be back again. 

Early (VERY early) on Tuesday morning, I will drive for almost two hours to Auckland airport.

Then it's off to Adelaide for 5 days to see my daughter, my son-in-law and best of all,  my two grandchildren. I can't wait! It's only 3 months since they were here, but at age 2 and 4 they change so quickly. And I've never been to Adelaide before.

Then I'm going to have 5 days on my own in Melbourne, which will be wonderful. Melbourne is my favourite Australian city and I have so many things I want to do there. Mmm Melbourne: great shopping; interesting buildings, both old and new; every sort of cuisine you can think of, and then some; galleries, gardens, and the sea...

This has been a very long, hard term, and I need a rest. 

See you soon!

TP 210: ///////

Thematic Photographic is running along parallel lines this week over at Carmi's - see more there.

I've got parallels, some natural, some unnatural natural, and some man-made. Hope you like them.

Glowering skies over a line of trees, somewhere near Dunedin:

Arrowtown:

Are you sure they don't meet at the horizon?

In the grounds of Larnach Castle:

Dunedin railway station:

A quick flit over the ditch*; treetop walkway near Melbourne:

And what you're walking over:

Back to New Zealand. Art gallery ceiling:

and for the bird-lovers amongst us, some cranes:

Can't wait for some fine, warm weather so I can get out and take some photos!!!

* the ditch = New Zealand/Australian slang for the Tasman Sea, which divides the two countries