YARRA SUNRISE

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

FED SQUARE, MELBOURNE

Federation Square in Melbourne's CBD, is a mixed-use development in the inner city, covering an area of 3.2 hectares and centred on two major public spaces: Open squares (St. Paul's Court and The Square) and one covered (The Atrium), built on top of a concrete deck above busy railway lines. It is located at the intersection between Flinders Street and Swanston Street/St Kilda Road in Melbourne's Central Business District, adjacent to Melbourne's busiest railway station.

The geometric shapes that make up the buildings of Fed Sq are not only an external decorative feature, but they figure prominently in the architectural construction of the buildings and covered spaces within.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,

and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

POND PANORAMA

One of the ponds in the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme.

EVENING PANORAMA

An Autumn evening in Melbourne as night falls and the cold starts.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme;
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.

KALORAMA EXCURSION

Kalorama is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 35 km east of Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. At the 2006 Census, Kalorama had a population of 1,157. The suburb was first settled by Europeans around 1855 when Isaac Jeeves, Mathew Child and Jabez Richardson took up selections. The traditional custodians of the area are the Wurundjeri of the Kulin nation.

The Post Office opened on 1 October 1909, but was known as Hand's Corner until 1910, then Mount Dandenong North until 1926. The area, renowned for its beauty, is the site of a famous lookout point named "Five Ways" which overlooks Kalorama Park, Silvan Reservoir, the National Rhododendron Gardens, and the R.J. Hamer Arboretum. The tea-rooms shown here are a well known feature of the intersection. Nearby attractions include William Ricketts Sanctuary, Olinda Falls, a gallery, and a range of tea-rooms, cafes and stores.

The forests of the region are dominated by various eucalypt species including Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans), the tallest known flowering plant. The local wet sclerophyll forests form habitat for many species of native bird including the Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) which can be sometimes heard voicing its characteristic mimicry from the deeper gullies and south-eastern aspects.The area has featured in the work of many Australian artists, including Sir Arthur Streeton.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Friday Photo Journal meme.

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PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia (WA). It is the fourth most populous city in Australia, with an estimated population of 1.97 million (on 30 June 2013) living in Greater Perth. Part of the South West Land Division of Western Australia, the majority of the metropolitan area of Perth is located on the Swan Coastal Plain, a narrow strip between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Scarp, a low coastal escarpment.

The first areas settled were on the Swan River, with the city's central business district and port (Fremantle) both located on its shores. Perth is formally divided into a number of local government areas, which themselves consist of a large number of suburbs, extending from Two Rocks in the north to Rockingham in the south, and east inland to The Lakes.

Perth was originally founded by Captain James Stirling in 1829 as the administrative centre of the Swan River Colony, and gained city status in 1856 (currently vested in the smaller City of Perth). The city is named for Perth, Scotland, by influence of Sir George Murray, then British Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. The city's population increased substantially as a result of the Western Australian gold rushes in the late 19th century, largely as a result of emigration from the eastern colonies of Australia.

During Australia's involvement in World War II, Fremantle served as a base for submarines operating in the Pacific Theatre, and a US Navy Catalina flying boat fleet was based at Matilda Bay. An influx of immigrants after the war, predominantly from Britain, Greece, Italy and Yugoslavia, led to rapid population growth. This was followed by a surge in economic activity flowing from several mining booms in the late 20th and early 21st centuries that saw Perth become the regional headquarters for a number of large mining operations located around the state.

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.

SUNSET FROM MY WINDOW

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.