TOWN HALL

Walking on Swanston St, looking towards the North, outside the Melbourne Town Hall.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

SUNDAY BEST #436 - ALBURY-WODONGA

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in.
The rules are simple:

1) Create your image and post it up on your blog;
2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;
3) Leave a comment here once you have posted;
4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity.
Please do not use this meme to advertise our goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately.

Albury-Wodonga is the broad settlement incorporating the twin Australian cities of Albury and Wodonga, which are separated geographically by the Murray River and politically by a state border: Albury on the north of the river is part of New South Wales, while Wodonga on the south bank is in Victoria.

This is an aerial photo I took on a flight from Brisbane to Melbourne and Albury is the city on the left of the photo, while Wodonga is on the right of the photo. It pays to have a window seat!

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Last week, Violetta from Austria shared some photos from a trip to Amsterdam. Please visit her blog for more excellent shots of this wonderful city.

SUNDAY BEST #433 - LITTLE INDIA, SINGAPORE

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in.

The rules are simple:
1) Create your image and post it up on your blog;
2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;
3) Leave a comment here once you have posted
4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity.

Please do not use this meme to advertise your goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately.

Apologies for the hiccough last couple of weeks, it was a rather disruptive time and I missed posting.

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AT CERES, BRUNSWICK

CERES Community Environment Park is a 4.5-hectare (11-acre) not-for-profit environmental education centre and social enterprise hub located in urban Brunswick East, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1982 on a former rubbish dump, CERES Park operates on land owned by Merri-Bek City Council.

The CERES Park is one of four locations run by the governing body of CERES EARTH Ltd, trading as CERES. CERES is registered as a company limited by guarantee and is governed by a voluntary Board. It provides a range of programs and services including environmental education programs and workshops, an urban farm and community gardens, cafe, grocery, plant nursery and various other social enterprises. Its charitable purpose is "protecting and enhancing the natural environment, including by providing information and education to increase understanding of human impacts on the natural environment".

CERES is run by about 160 employees and many volunteers. CERES stands for "Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies", and is pronounced like the word "series." The name also connects with Ceres the goddess of agriculture in Roman mythology, as a large part of the Park is dedicated to urban farming.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

SUNDAY BEST #320 - VIETNAM

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in. 

The rules are simple:
1) Create your image and post it up on your blog;
2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;
3) Leave a comment here once you have posted;
4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity.

Please do not use this meme to advertise your goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately.

On the paddy fields of Vietnam

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Last week, Lydia in Sydney shared some photos of an early morning walk of hers. This was my favourite. Please visit her blog for more lovely photos.

SUNDAY BEST #304 - FLYING AWAY

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in.

The rules are simple:
1) Create your image and post it up on your blog;
2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;
3) Leave a comment here once you have posted;
4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity.

Please do not use this meme to advertise your goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Last week, Roentare in Australia shared this lovely image of an anchor of a wrecked ship. Please visit his blog for more great photos.

VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

Victoria (abbreviated as Vic) is a state in southeastern Australia. Victoria is Australia's most densely populated state and its second-most populous state overall (at September 2020 Victoria's population was at 6,681,000). Most of its population lives concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city, Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city.

Geographically, the smallest state on the Australian mainland, Victoria is bordered by Bass Strait and Tasmania to the south, New South Wales is to the north, the Tasman Sea is to the east, and South Australia is to the west. Named in honour of Queen Victoria, who signed the division's separation from New South Wales, the colony was officially established in 1851 and achieved self government in 1855.

The Victorian gold rush in the 1850s and 1860s significantly increased both the population and wealth of the colony, and by the time of the Federation of Australia in 1901, Melbourne had become the largest city and leading financial centre in Australasia. Melbourne served as federal capital of Australia until the construction of Canberra in 1927, with the Federal Parliament meeting in Melbourne's Parliament House and all principal offices of the federal government being based in Melbourne.

The city of Melbourne has many attractions, including shopping, the Crown Casino, Melbourne Zoo, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne Aquarium, Melbourne Docklands, Southbank and St. Kilda. Melbourne is also the home of cultural and sporting icons such as The Arts Centre, National Gallery of Victoria and the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) which held the 1956 Summer Olympic Games. The historic cities of Ballarat, Beechworth, Bendigo, Castlemaine, Maldon and Daylesford which were all towns built on the goldfields during the 1850s.

Natural attractions include The Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road, Wilson's Promontory, The Grampians, Buchan Caves, Gippsland Lakes and the penguins on Phillip Island. The Dandenong Ranges just east of Melbourne has the Puffing Billy Railway and Healesville Sanctuary. The Murray River which is the state's northern border, has towns including Echuca and Mildura. Boating, fishing and other water sports are popular along the river.

Geelong, south west of Melbourne on Corio Bay, has many beaches, and hosts the Australian International Airshow. Nearby is the Bellarine Peninsula, which has many famous beaches such as Bells Beach, Torquay and Queenscliff. The Mornington Peninsula is well known for its beaches and wineries. The Victorian Alpine Region in the Australian Alps is popular for skiing with resorts at Falls Creek, Mount Hotham, and Mount Buffalo.

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

CAPRI, ITALY

Capri is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic. Some of the main features of the island include the following: The Marina Piccola (the little harbour), the Belvedere of Tragara (a high panoramic promenade lined with villas), the limestone crags called sea stacks that project above the sea (the Faraglioni), the town of Anacapri, the Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra), and the ruins of the Imperial Roman villas.

Capri is part of the region of Campania, Metropolitan City of Naples. The town of Capri is a comune and the island's main population centre. The island has two harbours, Marina Piccola and Marina Grande (the main port of the island). The separate comune of Anacapri is located high on the hills to the west. The island combines wild beauty, scenic views, cultural and archaeological treasures, cosmopolitan lifestyle, wonderful food and drink and hospitable people.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

LOS ANGELES, USA

Los Angeles (Spanish for “The Angels”), officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the cultural, financial, and commercial centre of Southern California. With a U.S. Census-estimated 2016 population of 3,976,322, it is the second-most populous city in the United States (after New York City) and the most populous city in the state of California. Located in a large coastal basin surrounded on three sides by mountains reaching up to and over 3,000 m, Los Angeles covers an area of about 1,210 km2. The city is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the country.

Los Angeles City Hall (photo), completed 1928, is the centre of the government of the city of Los Angeles, California, and houses the mayor’s office and the meeting chambers and offices of the Los Angeles City Council. It is located in the Civic Center district of downtown Los Angeles in the city block bounded by Main, Temple, First, and Spring streets.The building was designed by John Parkinson, John C. Austin, and Albert C. Martin, Sr., and was completed in 1928. Dedication ceremonies were held on April 26, 1928. It has 32 floors and, at 138 m high, is the tallest base-isolated structure in the world, having undergone a seismic retrofit from 1998 to 2001 so that the building will sustain minimal damage and remain functional after a magnitude 8.2 earthquake. The concrete in its tower was made with sand from each of California's 58 counties and water from its 21 historical missions.

City Hall’s distinctive tower was based on the shape of the Mausoleum of Mausolus in Asia Minor, and shows the influence of the Los Angeles Public Library, completed shortly before the structure was begun. An image of City Hall has been on Los Angeles Police Department badges since 1940. To keep the City’s architecture harmonious, prior to the late 1950s the Charter of the City of Los Angeles did not permit any portion of any building other than a purely decorative tower to be more than 46 m. Therefore, from its completion in 1928 until 1964, the City Hall was the tallest building in Los Angeles, and shared the skyline with only a few structures having decorative towers, including the Richfield Tower and the Eastern Columbia Building.

City Hall has an observation deck, free to the public and open Monday through Friday during business hours. The peak of the pyramid at the top of the building is an airplane beacon named in honour of Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh, cf Lindbergh Beacon. Circa 1939, there was an art gallery, in Room 351 on the third floor, that exhibited paintings by California artists. The building was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1976.

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

IN PERTH

The Swan River is a river in the south west of Western Australia. Its Aboriginal Noongar name is the Derbarl Yerrigan. The river runs through the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia's capital and largest city. This photo is taken from Charles Paterson Park, on the East bank of the river, about 3 km from the CBD.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND, NZ

The University of Auckland is New Zealand's pre-eminent research-led University. Established in 1883, it has grown into an international centre of learning and academic excellence and is New Zealand's largest university. Its mission is to be an internationally recognised, research-led university, known for the excellence of its teaching, research, and service to its local, national and international communities. It aims to be a vibrant and intellectually challenging place of learning, nurturing a community of scholars who share a passion for discovery, the advance of knowledge and human progress.

Seen here is the signature building of the University is the Clock Tower, which is a wonderful Victorian confection in white, reminding one of a wedding cake bedecked in icing sugar filigree decorations. The campus is quite extensive and is an agglomeration of modern and Victorian buildings, beautiful parks, gardens, roads and pathways.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

BOATS IN BLUE

Sailing in St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

SUNDAY BEST #210 - GRAND CANYON

Welcome to the meme, "My Sunday Best", which is a photographic and creative meme that allows you to showcase your talents in imaging. Every Sunday, you can post here showing an image you have created using your camera, (and/or) image processing software, and/or painting and drawing in the conventional way and have scanned in.

The rules are simple:
1) Create your image and post it up on your blog;
2) Put the "My Sunday Best" logo image link somewhere on your post so people can click and come by here;
3) Leave a comment here once you have posted;
4) Visit other posters' blogs and be amazed with their creativity!

Please do not use this meme to advertise your goods or services. This is a creative meme and any inappropriate links or comments shall be removed immediately.

The theme is of your own choosing, so post on any subject you desire.

This post is also part of the My Sunday Photo meme

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Last Sunday, Jesh from the USA posted some lovely photos, and this sky was one of my faves. Please visit Jesh's blog for more photos. 

OLD BRIDGE, GREECE

Τhis old, one-arched stone bridge of Palaeokarya was built around 1525, and has a length of 26 metres, an arc opening of 19 metres and a height from the river bed 10 metres. Behind it is a 12 metre high waterfall, with the river continuing after the bridge to a lesser waterfall 2 metres high. The river that passes through the spot is Palaeokaritis and if we continue the journey downstream we reach the gorge of Palaeokarya where there is still a functioning watermill where one can watch flour being milled.

The bridge of Palaiokarya joined Thessaly to Epirus and was a busy route at that time. Now it is in a deserted spot and is surrounded by great natural beauty. The bridge frames steep, high rocks with much low-lying vegetation and trees. A large variety of herbs and rare wildflowers grows in the area in Spring and Summer. There is also a great number of animals and birds in the forest around the old bridge.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

OTHONOI, GREECE

Othonoi (Greek: Οθωνοί, Italian: Fanò) is an island and a former community of the Ionian Islands, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Corfu, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the westernmost point of Greece, located northwest of Corfu. Population 392 (2011). It is the biggest of the Diapontia Islands. In the 19th century the island used to be the capital of the Diapontia Islands municipality, which also included nearby islands of Ereikoussa, Mathraki islets and rocks of Diakopo, Diaplo, Karavi, Kastrino, Leipso, Ostrako, Plaka, Plateia and Tracheia.

Othoni is about 47 nautical miles from Santa Maria di Leuca cape, Italy. According to a legend, in the ancient times it was the island of nymph Calypso who lived in a large cave. Odysseus fell in love and remained like a prisoner there for seven years. Homer called thιs island Ogygia. In the Odyssey one reads that there was a strong scent of cypress on this island. Othonoi is a place with many of these trees and on a hot day one may smell their resin.

Odysseus left Ogygia by raft, which sank at Scheria on the island of Corfu. This is an extra element that justifies the legend of Othonoi being Ogygia, because of the short distance that separates the two islands. Most beaches on the island are accessible by boat, including Ammos, Molos, Kamini, Kanoula, Kontoskes, Rogi, Fyki, Xilosermi, and Aspri Ammos (photo). It is a well known island for underwater photography because of the peculiar geomorphology of the seabed and the many caves. Othoni was frequently visited by the French naturalist Jacques Cousteau and his exploratory vessel Calypso.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

WASHINGTON DC, USA

In the last week, Washington has been in the news much more so than usual, and with good reason. The USA elections have been and gone and the 46th President of the United States of America has been announced in the person of Joe Biden. "United", I think is the operative word, since these past four years divisions, disharmony, incitement to discord, violence and public unrest have been the order of the day.

For me, the interesting part was that scores of Republicans spoke out and supported Biden both pre-election and post-election. It made me recall Edmund Burke's dictum: 'The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing,' Ultimately, the goal of an election campaign in the world's most influential and powerful democracy is to elect an honest, fair, logical and patriotic person whose goal is to unite all people in the country in order to achieve benefits for all citizens.

Both Democrats and Republicans have in their ranks 'good men' and in Biden's successful candidature for president, it seems that these 'good men' prevailed, and not 'evil'. Now Biden has in front of him a momentous task: Unite the divided, heal the harm done, deal with the unchecked COVID pandemic, deal with the numerous economic and diplomatic problems, and rule the country with dignity, compassion, fairness, kindness, common decency, and respect for all. It is Biden's hands now to make the USA great again and to make his country respected abroad again.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Blue Monday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

PYRAMID SKY

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

POSTCARD FROM SYDNEY

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

FREMANTLE, AUSTRALIA

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829. It was declared a city in 1929, and has a population of approximately 25,000. The city is named after Captain Charles Howe Fremantle, the English naval officer who had pronounced possession of Western Australia and who established a camp at the site. The city contains well-preserved 19th-century buildings and other heritage features. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for Fremantle is Freo.

The native Australian Noongar people inhabited the area that is now Fremantle, which was known as Walyalup. The area was considered as a site for possible British settlement in 1827, when Captain James Stirling, in HMS Success, explored the coastal areas near the Swan River. As a result of Stirling's report, Captain Charles Howe Fremantle of HMS Challenger, a 603 ton, 28-gun frigate, was instructed to sail to the west coast of Australia to establish a settlement there. On 2 May 1829, Fremantle hoisted the Union Flag in a bay near what is now known as Arthur Head, and in accordance with his instructions, took formal possession “of the whole of the West Coast of New Holland” in the name of George IV of the United Kingdom.

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

YORKSHIRE MOORS

The North York Moors is a national park in North Yorkshire, England, containing one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. It covers an area of 1,430 km2, and has a population of 23,380. The North York Moors became a National Park in 1952, through the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949.

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

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.