The aim of going to Melbourne is essentially to see family and that occupied most of Labour Day. There was some mention of the Moomba Parade but that filled me with horror. Apart from the sheer number of people the COVID virus load would be massive . So we met at the Nature Playground in Royal Park (behind the Children's Hospital).
There were quite a lot of birds around, but little cooperation with photography (especially as I had left my camera behind and was using my phone). A Musk Lorikeet is indicated by the arrow
A lot of noise from the Noisy Miners announced the arrival of a Peregrine Falcon. My assumption is that it was one of the birds that nest in Collins St. This is the best I could do for a photo.
The city skyline.
As we walked away the older houses on Gatehouse St. Parkville (a suburb I had never of before) were interesting to look at. Lace iron work and brick patterns.
Chinmeys
Identical semidetached houses, but apparently built 4 years apart. Perhaps the builder had run out of '5s' but had a spare '9'?
With these two the fascinating bit is that because of the slope the architectural nicknacks on the shared wall are not lined up!
In the afternoon we headed off to Docklands Park with the Small People (SPs). We caught the free tram (#35) in La Trobe St, going anticlockwise. It was crowded.
SPs and cow sculpture by John Kelly (public art is one of the attractions of the area). I have found a
website about the works and there is a lot there we haven't seen: we shall have to go back.
A wetland was also a feature. This is Reed Vessel by Virginia King.
A detail of the path.
Blowhole by Duncan Stemler. The cups are supposed to act like an anemometer and spin, but the wind was insufficient while we were there.
This was I suspect part of the wetlands: now the dryland!
There were an astonishing number of Spotted Doves around the area: at least 8 in the vicinity of the Blowhole.
A Pied Cormorant in the River was Bird of the Day.
It was sitting on this garbage barge. I am unsure how it worked but assume volunteers collected the crud and dumped it in.
This is the Bolte Bridge, with the docks in the background.
Sculptures of baby animals with SPs feature in the next lot.
The story of this image has a little interest: it's not just a blonde showing lotsa skin. It is some form of professional shoot with the guy in the distance having crossed with us, carrying a serious camera and talking to another good looking woman about where she should pose.
In this image the photographer is marked with a red arrow and the model is somewhere under the yellow arrows (I think).
The ride back to the Ibis was weird. To begin with no #35 tram appeared so we gave up and caught a #70, intending to swap to a #30 along La Trobe St. However a #35 appeared and we - or at least I - assumed it would be going clockwise so along La Trobe. Not so: they only seemed to be running anticlockwise so we did something like 80% of the route around the CBD. The joys of Victoria and Public Holidays.
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