The Cruiser

This is the beautiful Cruiser Butterfly, but because of it's lovely orange colour I think I'll name it Ginnie instead. :)

Mövenpick

Mövenpick - the art of Swiss ice cream. Nice on hot summer days, apparently.

Shake It Baby! YEA!

I posted a picture of this fellow earlier (here). Each time after he returned the ball to his owner he would shake off the annoying water, only to dive back into the sea again to fetch the ball the next time.

Ballroom

This is the interesting and very creative art work by Patrick Dougherty, woven from a whopping 10 tonnes of willow tree saplings and sticks. It was commissioned by Fed Square and Creative Production Services to celebrate Federation Square's 10th birthday celebrations.

For more interesting facts on this 'sculpture', visit the Fed Square website.

Sunrise Over The MCG

I was in Melbourne the other night and just couldn't get to sleep. Eventually I closed my eyes at around 1:30am. As you can imagine I felt a little brittle the next morning, but with a sunrise like this you just have to get out of bed and grab the camera!

...after which I promptly got back into bed... :)

Bug Army, Panzer Division

I have no idea what bug this is, but it's pretty cool! It was 6 or 7 mm long, or under a quarter inch. The colour is simply stunning, just shows the diversity in nature even at this scale.

The Passageway

This dark passageway caught my eye as I was walking along Collins street . I took a step back and snapped this picture which I think turned out rather nice.

WHO GOES THERE !?

This is Australia. On a farm you would expect to see sheep, or cattle. Maybe even a kangaroo or two, but a llama?? It looks like this fellow was as surprised to see me as I was to see him! :)

And a funny song to go with it :)

Hercules Morse

Where do you go for the best coffee in Melbourne? Hercules Morse, of course!

Hercules Morse is a stunning little kitchen & bar in Clarendon Street, Melbourne. Not only do they serve the best coffee in town, but their food is amazing, as is their interesting cocktails. Well worth a visit!

So where did the name come from? Kelly explains;

It is basically the nickname that was given to one of our dogs (Axel) a long time ago, when a little kid and his nanny were walking through the dog park. They started pointing out different dogs and naming them. They pointed to a Dalmatian and said "ooh look, there's Bottomley Potts, all covered in spots". Another dog, "ooh look, there's Muffin McLay, like a bundle of hay". They then pointed at Axel and said "ooh look, there's Hercules Morse, as big as a horse". (We later discovered that all of the rhymes are from a book "Hairy McLary from Donaldson's Dairy")

The name stuck and we decided that we'd use it for our bar, as a bit of a tribute to our big boy. It's probably a better choice than calling it the nickname we gave to our other dog (Milla) - "Mootchy McTwat, she thinks she's a cat".

Paparazzi

The paparazzi are in Melbourne :)

Up Close With The Birdwing

I visited the Melbourne Zoo Butterfly House and saw some amazing butterflies. The one shown here is native to the Northern parts of Australia and is called the Cairns Birdwing Butterfly.

Come Little Butterfly

Gloomy Monday

The weather today reminded me of a lovely song by Sinead O' Connor called Gloomy Sunday, except that it was Monday and I was on my way to the office in Brisbane. While waiting for a bus I looked up to the opposite building and saw this warm, cozy room contrasting nicely with the gloomy grey on the street.

Here is Sinead with her version of the beautiful song:

Strategies

These two playful dogs appeared to have different strategies in getting to the ball that their owner threw. The Labrador would start running even before the ball was thrown, jumping over the waves as best he could before swimming eagerly to get the ball. His friend however would take a more subdued approach, waiting for the ball to be retrieved from the deep water and then attempting to take it from his mate, sometimes attempting a swim. If we could display the same enthusiasm that they had the world would be a very different place.

Window To The Soul

While in Melbourne last week I visited the zoo. Most of my time was spent in the butterfly house, but I couldn't resist taking lots of pictures of one of my favourite birds, the pelican.

Scuttle The Seagull

I was lucky enough to catch this fellow in flight the other day.

Thirsty Work

Horse-drawn carriages are a common sight in the evenings in Melbourne, taking one back to an era long gone. These two were given a rest and some water when I passed them on Swanston street.

Ivan the Terrible

I named him Ivan the Terrible, just look at the "don't mess with me" look on this butterfly's face.

Grinnnn

This dog really enjoyed the day out on the dog beach, dutifully fetching his toy each time. Cute litte fellow.

The Leap

I went for a walk through the University of Melbourne campus grounds and saw some very energetic people training in their various sport disciplines, providing many opportunities for some interesting photos.

Power To The People

This is the Kriel Power Station, one of a number of power stations dotted along the coal-rich Highveld area in South Africa. I have many fond memories of this place, growing up in a tiny town with the same name not far from where my dad took this picture.

Golf - African Style

I thought this was rather funny, although I think it would be less funny if you are about to hit a drive shot and you hear a dry twig breaking behind you. This is a golf course that was built for the staff of the Kruger National Park and is not open to the public. It is not fenced off at all, so you can see any number of animals walking about on a given day, including the Big 5.  I just love the views over the appropriately named Lake Panic, which is a man-made feature of the course.

No Smoking

It was late afternoon at Federation Square in Melbourne, with the last rays of the sun peeking through the restaurants.

Ten Past Seven

The benefit of being far from the equator and having daylight savings time is that you can wander around after work and still have enough daylight for some pictures. This shot caught my eye as I wandered the streets of Melbourne.

Ciminalisation Of Dissent

As I was packing up at work when someone mentioned that there was a protest outside. When I got out I saw about 5 people protesting about the criminalisation of dissent. Huh?

Flinders Street Station

This is the beautiful architecture of Flinders Street Station in Melbourne.

Departing Freighter

This freighter departed as the sun was setting over the bay.

Waiting For The Big One

I went for a long walk after work yesterday, which brought me to the Port of Melbourne. Here I met a few people patiently waiting for the big one as the sun was setting over the water.

The Beauty Of Innocence

I think this picture speaks for itself.

Hobsons Bay

I went for a long walk this evening, all the way to Port Melbourne South of the CBD. I took quite a few pictures, this was one of the last, the view of Hobsons Bay.

Yellow Wild Iris

A really beautiful flower, this is a Yellow Wild Iris.

Faces

This is another example of graffiti art in Sydney, on the Burwood line. Interesting.

Eureka Storm

I was walking to the office last week in Melbourne with some dark clouds looming behind the Eureka Tower.

The Majestic One

This is the view from the aptly named Olifants Camp (translated as 'Elephant Camp') in the Kruger National Park. This fellow was lazily grazing with no stress and all the time in the world.

Outback Driveby

I drove on the M1 Freeway tonight and was happy to be a passenger and not the driver, affording me the opportunity to snap a few pictures of a lovely sunset. This one has the Australian Outback Spectacular venue in the foreground. I would have preferred to set up the tripod to get a sharper image, but was happy with this shot given that it was taken while driving.

Joy Exhuberant

If plants were emotion, I think these flowers would be exuberant joy. I was walking from the client's the office in Melbourne when I passed these colourful flower boxes.

Hold On Little Fella!

This bug was flying from one flower to the next gathering nectar, buzzing quite loudly.

Flight Status: DELAYED

Melbourne airport, on my way home...tonight hopefully. I took this picture in the Virgin Lounge.