RIVER VIEW

The view towards the East on the Yarra River in the City of Melbourne. Queens Bridge, a historic road bridge can be seen. The bridge was built in 1889 and has five wrought iron plate girder spans, and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. The bridge was built by contractor David Munro, and replaced a timber footbridge built in 1860.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Weekly TopShot meme,
and also part of the Photo of the Week meme,
and also part of the Pink Saturday meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

WINDOW VIEW

View from my window in early Summer in Melbourne.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

KURRAJONG FLOWERS

Brachychiton populneus x acerifolius 'Bella Pink' is a small to medium sized shade tree offering glossy green foliage and pretty clusters of salmon pink, bell-shaped flowers in Summer.   As a grafted tree, it is more compact in size which makes it highly suitable for domestic landscapes. Flowers are bird attracting.

The form and colour of this magnificent Australian tree makes it suitable for many urban situations including commercial landscapes, streetscapes, schools, parks and golf courses. It is a very reliable shade tree in smaller gardens.

Brachychiton populneus, commonly known as the Kurrajong, is a small to medium sized tree found naturally in Australia in a diversity of habitats from wetter coastal districts to semi-arid interiors of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The extended trunk is a water storage device for survival in a warm dry climate. The bell-shaped flowers are variable in colour while the leaves vary considerably in shape.

The leaves are either simple and pointed, or may be 3 - 9 lobed. Saplings grow from a drought and fire resistant tap-rooted tuber. Kurrajong has multiple uses. Seeds are eaten by Aboriginal people after roasting. The soft spongy wood was used for making shields, and the bark as a fibre. The leaves are also used as emergency fodder for drought-affected animal stock. It has been introduced as an ornamental tree to south-western Australia, South Africa, Louisiana, California, Arizona and Mediterranean countries. In Western Australia it was observed to be invasive in disturbed areas.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

EUSTON, NSW, AUSTRALIA

Euston is a small town on the banks of the Murray River, southern New South Wales (NSW), Australia in Balranald Shire. The twin town of Robinvale is on the other side of the river in the state of Victoria. Euston belongs to the traditional lands of the Tati Tati Aboriginal people. At the 2006 census, Euston had a population of 462 people. Until the irrigation development at Robinvale, Euston was the main town in the area. A Post Office opened on 1 May 1852. It closed in 1853, then reopened in 1856.

The Murray River or River Murray is Australia's longest river at 2,508 kilometres in length. The Murray arises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between the states of New South Wales and Victoria as it flows to the northwest, before turning south for its final 500 kilometres  into South Australia, reaching the ocean at Lake Alexandrina.

The photos of the Murray near Euston I post here are from my archive and are early ones that I took with a digital camera in April 1999. Since that time, I have not been using film and have been gradually upgrading to better cameras. However, even at that time I was impressed with the technology and I still like the type of image that digital technology offered in 1999!

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.

NEARLY CHRISTMAS!

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

FIGTREE FUN

This huge ficus tree with its prodigious roots was found in the Yarra Bend Park in Melbourne, Australia. After some playing with Photoshop I obtained some interesting results.

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Mandarin Orange Monday meme,
and also part of the Nature Footsteps Inspiring Photography meme.

CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST SAVIOUR, VEROIA

The Church of the Resurrection of Christ Saviour is a landmark historical building in the Northern Greek city of Veroia. The church began to be built in the late 13th/early 14th century by Xenos Psalidas, and upon his death was completed by his wife, Euphrosyne. The deed of ownership of the church was transferred to the monk Ignatios Kalothetos by imperial decree of Andronicus II in February 1314.

In 1314/1315 the church was decorated with frescoes by Georgios Kallergis. Internally the frescoes on the wall are divided into three zones: The lowermost shows full-bodied depictions of the saints; in the middle narrower zone there are busts of evangelists, saints and prophets; and in the upper zone there are biblical scenes.

Pride of place are given depictions of the Crucifixion of Christ and of His Resurrection, found in the northern and southern apses. Also of interest is the portrait of the monk Ignatios Kalothetos who is praying to Saint Arsenios.

The church also has frescoes from 1326 and 1355 depicting local nobles such as Maria Synodené on her death bed. There are some frescoes from 1727 on the Northern external aspect, which also include votive inscriptions of local inhabitants. It is perhaps unfortunate that the frescoes are not well preserved, but one gains a powerful impression of how splendid this small church must have been in its heyday.

This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme,

and also part of the Spiritual Sundays meme,

and also part of the inSPIREd Sunday meme.

GARDEN REFLECTIONS

In the System Garden of the University of Melbourne, the Botany Department buildings fittingly reflect the gardenscape outside...

This post is part of the Geometric Friday meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

SUBURBAN SUMMER SKY

The outer suburb of Lalor of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, is 18 kilometres north of Melbourne's central business district in the local government area of the City of Whittlesea. At the 2011 Census, Lalor had a population of 19,873. Lalor is named after Peter Lalor, leader of the Eureka Stockade rebellion and later member of the Victorian parliament. It has been a stalwart working class suburb and its typical suburban brick veneer houses on generous land allotments reflect the realisation of the "Great Australian Dream" of owning your own home...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

NATIVE FUCHSIA

Eremophila maculata, also known as Spotted Emu Bush, Swamp Fuchsia, or Native Fuchsia, is a shrub which is native to Australia and is in the Scrophulariaceae family. It occurs in Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. It grows to between 0.2 and 3 metres in height and has red, pink, mauve, orange or yellow flowers between late autumn and late summer (May to November in Australia). The species was first published in 1822 by J.B. Ker Gawler as Stenochilus maculatus Ker Gawl.

E.maculata is widely cultivated in many areas and, although best suited to dry climates, can be successfully grown in more humid areas. The var.brevifolia is, however, difficult to maintain in such areas. The species prefers soils which are alkaline to mildly acidic and well drained. Full sun is preferred and, once established, the plant tolerates extended dry periods. It is also tolerant of at least moderate frost.

Propagation from seed of Eremophila species is unreliable. A number of treatment methods have been tried including sowing the ripe fruits, sowing of aged and washed fruits and splitting the fruits to extract the seeds prior to sowing. The latter involves splitting the fruits in halves and quarters but some seeds are inevitably damaged during the process. Most forms of E. maculata strike readily from cuttings of hardened, current season's growth.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.