TRAVEL TUESDAY 548 - MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA

“Railway termini are our gates to the glorious and the unknown. Through them we pass out into adventure and sunshine, to them, alas! we return.” - E. M. Forster

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Flinders Street Station is Melbourne's iconic central railway hub and a primary cultural landmark located at the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets. Completed in 1909, its distinctive yellow facade and green copper dome make it one of Australia’s most recognisable buildings. Here is Platform 1, which is the longest railway platform in Australia and the fourth longest in the world, stretching 708 metres.

Flinders St Station serves the entire metropolitan rail network and regional V/Line services to Gippsland. It is the busiest suburban station in the Southern Hemisphere, handling over 1,500 trains and 110,000 commuters daily.

The third floor of the Station houses a grand, abandoned ballroom that was a popular dance hall in the 1950s and 60s. In the late 1980s, heating was installed under the stone steps at the main entrance of the Station to keep commuters warm while they wait. Local lore tells of a ghost named "George," often spotted holding fishing gear on Platform 10.

A row of 13 indicator clocks above the main entrance of Flinders St Station shows the next departure for each line. This is Melbourne's most famous meeting point, often accompanied by the phrase: “Meet me under the clocks.”

As of late 2025, the station connects to the new Town Hall Station via the Flinders Link underground walkway, allowing for seamless interchange with the new Metro Tunnel. The station includes takeaway kiosks (coffee, sushi, hot food), public toilets, and Travellers Aid for travel assistance. A historic hat shop  “City Hatters” located in the station since 1910, was originally the station master's office.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 370 - BOULEVARD CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

“Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.” - Charles M. Schulz

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Appealing to an audience from right across Melbourne and country Victoria, The Boulevard Christmas Lights Display has become one of Melbourne's longest-standing Christmas traditions. Since the 1950s, residents have been hanging lights to decorate their gardens and windows at Christmas. Approximately 100,000 people visit each year over the course of the two weeks.

While many people just drive by to see the light displays and decorations, it's much better to park the  car and walk along the Boulevard, seeing everything in greater detail and on Christmas Eve, especially, listen to the carols, and feel part of the Christmas spirit.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 291 - PARLIAMENT BUILDING, MELBOURNE

“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness” - Frank Gehry

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Parliament House in Melbourne, Australia, located at Spring Street in East Melbourne at the edge of the Melbourne city centre, has been the seat of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia, since 1855 (except for the years 1901 to 1927, when it was occupied by the Parliament of Australia).

In 1851, even before the colony of Victoria acquired full parliamentary self-government, Governor Charles La Trobe instructed the colonial surveyor, Robert Hoddle, to select a site for the colony’s new parliament to meet. Hoddle selected a site on the eastern hill at the top of Bourke Street, which at that time, when few buildings were more than two storeys high, commanded a view of the whole city.

A competition was held for a design for the building, and John Knight’s design won the first prize of £500, but was not used. The government architect, Charles Pasley, subsequently came up with a design of his own. Subsequent observers have suggested that he borrowed heavily from Leeds Town Hall, which even today is widely considered to be among the finest civic buildings in the world. The design was later modified by an architect in his office, Peter Kerr. Construction of the project was managed by John Knight who was also on Casley’s staff.

The story of Parliament House is one of staged construction and architectural ambition thwarted. Work on this began in 1856 and progressed until 1929. A 20 storey dome that would sit on top of the Vestibule was to be the crowning glory. There had been problems with the quality of the stone used on the building. Although tests in 1882 eventually approved the stone, they delayed work. Now confronted by altered economic conditions, the Minister for Works, Alfred Deakin, cancelled the contract for the Dome which has never been built...

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 277 - EUBOEA, GREECE

“Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality.” - Nikos Kazantzakis 

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Euboea or Evia (Modern Greek: Εύβοια) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. The narrow Euripus Strait separates it from Boeotia in mainland Greece. In general outline it is a long and narrow, seahorse-shaped island; it is about 180 kilometres long, and varies in breadth from 50 kilometres to 6 kilometres. Its general direction is from northwest to southeast, and it is traversed throughout its length by a mountain range, which forms part of the chain that bounds Thessaly on the east, and is continued south of Euboea in the lofty islands of Andros, Tinos and Mykonos. It forms most of the regional unit of Euboea, which also includes Skyros and a small area of the Greek mainland.

Euboea has wonderful beaches, a pleasant climate, renowned monuments, many thermal springs and tasty food, and is thus a popular and easily accessible destination for the inhabitants of Athens who often holiday here. The cosmopolitan capital city of Chalkis is situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from antiquity and is derived from the Greek χαλκός (chalkos - copper, bronze), though there is no trace of any mines in the area. In the late Middle Ages, it was known as Negropont, a name that was applied to the entire island of Euboea as well. Its people are known in English as Chalcidians. Chalkis has a population of about 105,000 people.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 271 - KEW BOATHOUSE, MELBOURNE

“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” - Rahm Emanuel

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COVID-19 is still at large and wreaking havoc with our lives, not least our travel plans. Local travel and tourism is fortunately an option here in Melbourne, with many places in Victoria still offering a wealth of options for local tourists both in the metropolitan area, as well as further afield, daytripping!

An institution in Melbourne is the historic Studley Park Boathouse in Kew (often referred to as the “Kew Boathouse”), which is only 10 minutes from Melbourne’s  city centre. It offers visitors the opportunity to dine in the restaurant, relax over a lighter meal in the indoor/outdoor café, or have a light snack from the kiosk while enjoying sweeping views of the Yarra River and natural bushland.

There are numerous bush walks to take along the Yarra River and adjacent parklands, with something to see whatever the season, whatever the weather. Guests can also hire row boats, canoes and kayaks from the oldest operating boathouse in Australia. Open every day of the year except Christmas Day. Kids love the place as there are activities, animals and wide open spaces to play in.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 247 - CORONAVIRUS DIARIES XII

 

“A pestilence does not have human dimensions, so people tell themselves that it is unreal, that it is a bad dream which will end. But it does not always end and, from one bad dream to the next, it is people who end, humanists first of all because they have not prepared themselves.” ― Albert Camus 

Last Sunday, our Premier declared Victoria to be in a “State of Disaster” as the second-wave  COVID-19 cases and deaths continued to rise despite the second lockdown and Stage III restrictions that had been imposed about three weeks ago. These measures, however, failed to control the outbreak and hence the Stage IV restrictions imposed now. The new restrictions will last for six weeks, at least, but hopefully will be curbing the alarming spread of the virus in the community sooner than that.

Under Melbourne’s new restrictions, beginning 6pm Sunday night, only one person in each household can do shopping once a day. Exercise can be undertaken once a day for one hour, and no more than two people can exercise together. Residents can’t travel more than five kilometres from their home for shopping or exercise. The wearing of masks by everyone is mandatory and social distancing rules still apply. Regional Victoria will enter stage 3 restrictions from midnight on Wednesday. Travel of course, is out of the question, especially so travel for pleasure. The state borders have already been closed and there is no international flight traffic into or out of Melbourne Airport.

From the 2nd of August, a curfew will be in place in metropolitan Melbourne. Curfews will be in operation from 8pm to 5am every evening, with people only allowed to leave their house for work, and essential health, care or safety reasons. Furthermore, retailers that have been deemed non-essential will need to close for six weks from 11.59 pm on Wednesday 5th of August. The list of retailers forced to close includes furniture and homewares, stationery, electrical and electronics, motor vehicle and motor parts, recreational goods, department stores, and clothing and footwear retailers. Hardware, building and garden supplies retailers will be allowed to serve only trade customers in stores; consumers will have to rely on online delivery or click and collect.

Perhaps more alarming for some people is the declaration of a “State of Disaster”. Deeming our current situation thus, confers extra powers on the police minister to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. It allows the minister to direct government agencies to act in certain ways (or refrain from doing so) in order to deal with the disaster, and they can also override legislation. Other relevant powers conferred on the minister include the power to control movement within, and entry into or departure from, the disaster area (which is the whole of the state) or any part of it.

Most people reacted positively to the declaration of a State of Disaster and realise that the current situation with spread of COVID-19 is a grave emergency that warrants such drastic measures being taken. However, we also have the minority component of the population who are screaming and shouting that our civil liberties are being eroded, our democracy is being suspended and that a totalitarian regime has been imposed on us. Needless to say that there are also those people who believe that COVID-19 is not real and that we are being duped by a multinational conspiracy. The latter groups are usually the ones that engage in behaviours that are risky and contribute greatly to the spread of virus in the community.

The truth of the matter is that people are becoming sick, are being admitted into hospital, some in intensive care, and some unfortunately dying. The elderly, the infirm and those with pre-existing health conditions are more vulnerable. The pandemic has revealed immense deficiencies in our aged care sector, with many nursing homes for the aged being substandard in their level of care and in basic hygiene procedures. This has caused enormous numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths in the sector. Needless to say, psychological problems and suicide rates are on the increase throughout the community, with depression becoming a common affliction.

The economy is taking nosedives into abysmal regions and many businesses have been forced to close their doors permanently. For the first time in many decades we are seeing deflation and the price of real estate is decreasing while the gold price is increasing. Many people have become unemployed, our unemployment rate jumping to double figures and predicted to rise even further, making people dependent on special government allowances in order to survive. Many are dipping into their superannuation funds, making withdrawals so as to cope financially. It seems that our affluent, pleasure-seeking and lackadaisical lifestyle has been disrupted in a major way and the future may be quite a different one to what most Australians had planned and envisioned for themselves.

Politicians here in Australia are struggling to cope with these enormous social, health and financial problems, while at the same time juggling with populist policies to appease an increasingly disgruntled and skeptical electorate. We are seeing a wide spectrum of political responses and quite often the blame game is started, with opposing sides finger-pointing and trying to exonerate themselves from past inappropriate decisions that allowed us to reach the present critical situation.

Internationally, some politicians are doing even worse. There are deniers, obfuscators, and blatant, arrogant and deceiving demagogues that have blood on their hands as they have done next to nothing to protect their country’s people from this scourge that the world has to deal with. They abjure science, twist facts to suit their own agendas and label anything that they cannot logically discount as “fake”, but at the same time they fabulate their own personal little worlds that have nothing to do with reality or truth.

We are travelling on rough ground here in Melbourne and the road ahead is uneven, precipitous and bleak. I look out of my window on this dark, wet, cold Winter’s night and the normally busy road outside is deserted and eerily lit by the sickly street lamps. As the rain falls, a solitary car careers down the street, and one hopes that the person in it is not rushing to some emergency that has forced them to break curfew. Travel Tuesday is rather gloomy today, but excuse my melancholy, as these are sad times we are experiencing.

I leave you with some wisdom and some hope, some simple and effective advice that we should all heed and try and follow. These are the thoughts and words of 92-year-old Joss Ackland:

 

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 243 - CORONAVIRUS DIARIES X

“I often think that the night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day.” - Vincent Van Gogh 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

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After a record spike in coronavirus cases in Victoria yesterday, our Premier Daniel Andrews announced the border with NSW would be closing. This is the first time in 100 years the border between the nation’s two most populous states has closed, and the last closure was also due to a pandemic, the Spanish ‘flu of 1919.

Victoria recorded its largest daily increase of 127 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, 16 more than the previous peak of 111 cases on March 28. A second wave of an epidemic could be defined as the return of an outbreak where the numbers of new daily cases reach a peak as high or higher than the original one. Melbourne is unfortunately experiencing just that, with nearly 200 new cases recorded today and another two COVID-19 deaths.

This week, the Victorian government placed the residents of nine public housing towers in inner Melbourne under “hard lockdown” due to the “explosive potential” of increasing COVID-19 cases.  The lockdown requires all residents of these estates to remain inside their homes for at least five days, placing around 3,000 residents under special punitive measures that apply to none other in Victoria. The lockdown is being enforced by a significant police presence on the estates, with officers on every floor, with no warning and with immediate effect.

Other outbreak areas have been given more than 24 hours’ notice for similar numbers of coronavirus cases. For example, an outbreak in the more affluent Mornington Peninsula has not been met with the same Draconian restrictions. The government’s justification for this action is that residents of public housing are vulnerable and living in high density with many shared spaces. But this is true of any large apartment building in Melbourne. Public housing for the underprivileged in Melbourne, however, has long been a neglected area of care and numerous problems have been chronically associated with it.

The poor and underprivileged, the homeless and the unemployed, the drug addicts and the have-nots are more vulnerable to many of society’s ills and it is harder to reach out to them and help them actively in times of crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic is now proving to be a case in point and unless a greater community effort to help these more susceptible people is undertaken, then Victoria’s outbreak may become a national problem with second wave outbreaks appearing in other states.

Tomorrow at midnight, Melbourne will go into lockdown again in a renewed attempt to stem the return of unchecked infection rates and even more deaths. We have been complacent and the lackadaisical amongst us have allowed the virus to spread, threatening the whole community once again. Stage 3 restrictions in Melbourne means another wave of isolation, enforced social distancing, the closing of gyms, restaurants, hotels, shops with non-essential wares, and of course the stopping of travel.

Looking out on the Yarra River at night, the invisible enemy at the heart of the pandemic is even better camouflaged by the darkness and the shimmer of the reflected multicoloured lights. Pretty images such as this are full of hidden dangers. Complacency and ignoring the advice of experts puts everyone at risk. Over-enthusiastic and misinformed politicians who ignore the warnings of medical experts, in an attempt to restart economies and generate “prosperity” are dangerous and morally reprehensible. Success at the polls and making of the rich richer should not be the priority in these times of crisis when one false step is followed by a return of increased COVID-19 death rates.

A grim Travel Tuesday this week, but I am writing this in a city under a renewed quarantine, where a greater infection risk and the possibility of an unpleasant death have reared their ugly head again. Take care, look after yourself, your loved ones, your community. The world in the past has survived numerous pandemics, a great many economic crises, countless social upheavals, wars, revolutions and the rule of a host of demented, violent and megalomaniac dictators. It is up to us now in these trying times to show a greater intelligence and solidarity in order to overcome this renewed threat. Be wise and prudent and survive. Dead people cannot revive flagging economies. Survivors can rebuild prosperity. The night may be dark, but countless small lights illuminate our lives with multicoloured brilliance and give us hope.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 200 - MORNINGTON, AUSTRALIA

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” - Jacques Yves Cousteau

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Mornington is a seaside town on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, located 57 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district. It is in the local government area of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula.Mornington is known for its "village" atmosphere and its beautiful beaches. Mornington is a popular tourist destination with Melburnians who often make day trips to visit the area's bay beaches and wineries. The town centre runs into the foreshore area and local beach.

Mornington is an attractive destination for shopping and features some excellent restaurants and cafes. The north of Mornington is also home to several horse breeders and stables. It has a modern library, cinema and numerous parks, gardens and historical buildings, many of which are open to the public. It holds several annual festivals, and holds a market day in the main street every Wednesday, which attracts hundreds of people.

Mornington has an active Yacht club (Mornington Yacht Club), located at Schnapper Point, catering for sailors of all levels and abilities, from beginners - “Tackers”, through to those competing at ocean racing level. The club hosts many state, National, & International regattas, as it provides a good location in sheltered, pristine waters. 2014 saw the successful running of the largest single class Yachting regatta ever held in the Southern Hemisphere - the Optimist National Championships. The Optimist is a youth class and drew over 2000 people to the Club and Mornington shire.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY #180 - MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

“I think Melbourne is by far and away the most interesting place in Australia, and I thought if I ever wrote a novel or crime novel of any kind, I had to set it here.” - Peter Temple 

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Melbourne is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in Australia and Oceania. The name “Melbourne” covers an urban agglomeration spanning 9,992.5 km2, which comprises the broader metropolitan area, as well as being the common name for its city centre. The metropolis is located on the large natural bay of Port Phillip and expands into the hinterlands towards the Dandenong and Macedon mountain ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley. Melbourne consists of 31 municipalities. It has a population of 4,725,316 as of 2016, and its inhabitants are called Melburnians. 

Founded by free settlers from the British Crown colony of Van Diemen’s Land on 30 August 1835, in what was then the colony of New South Wales, it was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837. It was named “Melbourne” by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard Bourke, in honour of the British Prime Minister of the day, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.

It was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria, to whom Lord Melbourne was close, in 1847, after which it became the capital of the newly founded colony of Victoria in 1851. During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world’s largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it served as the nation’s interim seat of government until 1927. Additionally, it was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Melbourne rates highly in education, entertainment, health care, research and development, tourism and sport, making it the world’s most liveable city (for the seventh year in a row in 2017), according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. It is a leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region, and ranks among the top 15 cities in the world in the Global Financial Centres Index.

Referred to as Australia’s “cultural capital”, it is the birthplace of Australian impressionism, Australian rules football, the Australian film and television industries, and Australian contemporary dance. It is recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature and a major centre for street art, music and theatre. It is home to many of Australia’s largest and oldest cultural institutions such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the National Gallery of Victoria, the State Library of Victoria and the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY #177 - YARRA VALLEY, AUSTRALIA

“If you have two friends in your lifetime, you're lucky. If you have one good friend, you're more than lucky.” ― S.E. Hinton 

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Last week we had friends visiting us from interstate and while they were here we drove out to the northeast of Melbourne to the Yarra Valley. It is about 60 km from the City centre and is situated amongst low hills. The Yarra River flows through the valley to make its way to the City centre. Several picturesque small towns are found in this valley, amongst many vineyards and prime sheep and cattle country. Lilydale, Yea, Yarra Glen and Healesville are all thriving communities and prime tourist attractions.

Numerous wineries have made themselves famous in this location, some very old ones as well as many new. We drove to Yarra Glen, a small town full of charm on the banks of the Yarra and made our way to Domaine Chandon, a winery owned by the motherhouse of Môet et Chandon in France. This establishment produces sparkling wine that is as good as (or better, I say!) than the champagne produced by Môet in France. They have a restaurant and wine tasting room onsite where one may enjoy the local wine and food while viewing the vineyards outside and towards the horizon the lovely blue hills. Autumn colours dotted the landscape, and fortunately we had a glorious, fine, warm and mellow day.

We then proceeded to Yering Station Winery, one of my favourite wineries there and enjoyed the hospitality of their restaurant. Having had lunch washed down by some excellent Australian wine, we proceeded to Healesville, whose claim to fame is an Australian animal wildlife sanctuary. This is another tourist destination where one may see Australian animals in their natural habitat: Kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, echidnas, possums, platypuses, emus, cassowaries, pelicans, brolgas, eagles, ibises, cockatoos, rosellas, galahs, kookaburras and many more.

We enjoyed a cup of excellent coffee in an old-fashioned bakery and sampled some of the traditional sweets: Caramel slices, chocolate mousse slices, chocolate hedgehogs, coconut slices, apple and blueberry pies and chocolate éclairs. The day was concluded by a visit to a few shops selling old wares and antiques, and the drive back was pleasant with lots of music and laughter. Needless to say that the day was enjoyed very much by everyone…

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TRAVEL TUESDAY - MELBOURNE ANZAC

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” - Pericles

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The Shrine of Remembrance is Victoria’s largest and most visited war memorial and is probably Melbourne’s most recognised landmark. It is a permanent and lasting memorial to the ANZAC spirit and acknowledges those who served and those who died in the Great War of 1914-1918 and armed conflicts and peacekeeping duties since. The Shrine is located on Melbourne’s most famous boulevard, St Kilda Road, just south of the Melbourne central business district.

Designed by architects Phillip Hudson and James Wardrop who were both World War I veterans, the Shrine is in a classical style, being based on the Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus and the Parthenon in Athens. Built from Tynong granite, the Shrine originally consisted only of the central sanctuary surrounded by the ambulatory.

The Shrine went through a prolonged process of development, which began in 1918 with the initial proposal to build a Victorian memorial. Two committees were formed, the second of which ran a competition for the memorial’s design. The winner was announced in 1922. However, opposition to the proposal (led by Keith Murdoch and The Herald) forced the governments of the day to rethink the design, and a number of alternatives were proposed, the most significant of which was the ANZAC Square and cenotaph proposal of 1926.

In response, General Sir John Monash used the 1927 ANZAC Day march to garner support for the Shrine, and finally won the support of the Victorian government later that year. The foundation stone was laid on 11 November 1927, and the Shrine was officially dedicated on 11 November 1934.

Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations” and “the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.” Originally 25 April every year was to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, and Tonga.

Lest we forget...

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TRAVEL TUESDAY #112 - MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

“I’ve always been in love with Melbourne. When I was 12, I was taken into the city by my grandmother to go to the ballet for the first time.” - Kerry Greenwood 

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

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Melbourne is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in Australia and Oceania. The name “Melbourne” covers an urban agglomeration spanning 9,992.5 km2, which comprises the broader metropolitan area, as well as being the common name for its city centre. The metropolis is located on the large natural bay of Port Phillip and expands into the hinterlands towards the Dandenong and Macedon mountain ranges, Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley.

Melbourne consists of 31 municipalities. It has a population of 4,725,316 as of 2016, and its inhabitants are called Melburnians. Founded by free settlers from the British Crown colony of Van Diemen’s Land on 30 August 1835, in what was then the colony of New South Wales, it was incorporated as a Crown settlement in 1837. It was named “Melbourne” by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard Bourke, in honour of the British Prime Minister of the day, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.

It was officially declared a city by Queen Victoria, to whom Lord Melbourne was close, in 1847, after which it became the capital of the newly founded colony of Victoria in 1851. During the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s, it was transformed into one of the world’s largest and wealthiest cities. After the federation of Australia in 1901, it served as the nation’s interim seat of government until 1927. Additionally, it was the host city of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Melbourne rates highly in education, entertainment, health care, research and development, tourism and sport, making it the world’s most liveable city (for the seventh year in a row in 2017), according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. It is a leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific region, and ranks among the top 15 cities in the world in the Global Financial Centres Index.

Referred to as Australia’s “cultural capital”, it is the birthplace of Australian impressionism, Australian rules football, the Australian film and television industries, and Australian contemporary dance. It is recognised as a UNESCO City of Literature and a major centre for street art, music and theatre. It is home to many of Australia’s largest and oldest cultural institutions such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the National Gallery of Victoria, the State Library of Victoria and the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building.

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

FLINDERS ST INCIDENT

“Mental illness leaves a huge legacy, not just for the person suffering it but for those around them.” - Lysette Anthony 

Today, at 4.42 pm, a 4-wheel drive vehicle attack on a busy pedestrian crossing in Melbourne’s Flinders Street (at the T-intersection with Elizabeth St) left 19 people in hospital, six of them critically injured. A pre-school-aged child who was injured with severe head trauma is now stable.

Police have announced that they believe this attack was the work of a mentally ill drug addict and it is not being treated as terrorism. The driver is thought to be a mentally ill man with a history of addiction to the drug ice. It is understood he has no known links to extremism and is not known to counter-terrorism authorities.

A second man pictured arrested at the scene was unconnected to the attack. He was video-taping the incident and was arrested because police found three knives in a bag in his possession. No other weapons were found in the offender’s car, the vehicle itself of course being weapon enough in the driver’s control.

In these days right before Christmas there will be many households in our city that will be affected by this horrible act of violence. The families and friends of the victims first and foremost of course, but also the family of the offender who must grieving not only for their child but for all those he injured. Add to them every other rational human being who observes this and similar senseless acts of violence and cannot help but feel revulsion, abhorrence and outrage.

All we Melburnians feel rather numb seeing this is the second incident of this type that has occurred in our city this year. On January 20 earlier this year, a car running wild in the Bourke Street Mall caused the death of six people and injured 28 others. The driver, Jim Gargasoulas 27 years old was charged but has pleaded “not guilty”, his defence being “mental illness”.

Our city is changing, our world is changing, people are changing and I’m afraid that things are not changing for the better. Melbourne was a beautiful city, its people mostly friendly, courteous and law-abiding. In the last 30 years we have seen Melbourne, The Large Modern City – the Most Livable City in the World slowly becoming Melbourne the Post-Modern Megalopolis: Overcrowded, noisy, congested, riddled with crime, corruption, and home of violence related to drugs, mental illness, homelessness, racial tensions, and the ever-present threat of terrorism hanging above our heads.

We have created a monster by allowing our city to become this. Corporate and individual greed, political expediency, public insouciance and a misguided desire to be a “World City” has brought us here. Now we pay the price. Melbourne you have come of age, now you belong there with all the other megalopoleis of the world. Megalomania deserves its own special reward - the loss of soul. I hope against hope that this incident is the last that we shall see, but logic says otherwise - more such incidents are to follow, I think...

ART SUNDAY - PETER GERASIMON

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." - Rabindranath Tagore 

Peter Gerasimon was born in 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, one of eight children of Russian/German immigrants. Very early in his life he developed an interest in fine arts and attended art classes, despite advice from relatives and friends that this was not a secure career choice. Although he preferred to learn the hard way, by trial and error, he did develop his skills formally through art studies at the Escuela de Artes Quilmes, Argentina 1966-1967 and a course at the Famous Artists' School for Talented Young People 1969-1971.

Not convinced that the arts could support him in the future, Peter pursued a career in economics and business management, but painting remained his passion. Even on his business travels he always found some time to draw sketches and produce an occasional painting. In early 1996 he gave up his busy management career to go after his passion and become a full time artist. He set up his home studio and gallery, “Glenrowan Studios” in Gisborne, Victoria, near the Macedon Ranges and met with instant success.

Gerasimon has participated in some Art Shows in Australia and has obtained several Awards at the Berwick, Ivanhoe and Woodend Art Shows.

The art of Gerasimon is a mix of the realistic with the naïve, his canvases often depicting everyday scenes, streetscapes and landscapes in a rather dispassionate and detached manner, which nevertheless manages to evince emotion in the viewer. His paintings also include depictions of Australian flora and fauna, which border on the genre of scientific illustration, while his still life painting often evokes a deeper symbolic meaning. Still other types of paintings include commissioned work and illustrative material. More of the artist’s oeuvre can be found on his website (http://www.gerasimon.com.au/).

The Painting above is his “As Time Goes By” a view in St Kilda, Melbourne.

BOURKE ST AFTERMATH

“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero 

Zachary Bryant (above left with sister Zara), a baby boy has become the first victim of Bourke Street mall car rampage to be laid to rest, as two others continue to fight for life in hospital. Zachary was buried on Tuesday at a private funeral. He was three months and 14 days when he died after being hit by a car aimed through the mall on Friday. A private funeral for Thalia Hakin, 10, will be held on Wednesday. Matthew Si, 33, Sydneysider Jess Mudie, 22, and an unnamed Japanese national, 25, also died in the attack.

Nineteen people were still in hospital on Tuesday after a man drove into the lunchtime crowd, killing five people and injuring more than 30. Two victims are still critical, including new mother Nethra Krishnamurthy. Zara Bryant, Zachary’s older sister is in a stable condition.

Perpetrator Dimitrious Gargasoulas (above right) is excused from court by police, claiming that he is feeling ‘unwell’. He is charged for 5 counts of murder on the day. He has been remanded in custody and ordered to face court via video link in August.

ART SUNDAY - FREDERICK McCUBBIN

“I don’t believe in making pencil sketches and then painting landscape in your studio. You must be right under the sky.” - William Merritt Chase

Frederick McCubbin is one of Australia’s most famous and significant painters. He was born in Melbourne, 25 February 1855 and died in Melbourne, 20 December 1917. McCubbin was a baker’s son, who soon joined the family business and drove a baker’s cart before being apprenticed to a coach-painter. He started his training in art and design from 1869 at the local Artisans’ School of Design in Carlton, and by 1872 entered the School of Design, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.

It was not until the Munich-trained George Folingsby (1828–91) was appointed master of the Gallery Art School in 1882 that McCubbin received a thorough academic training in figure painting. Folingsby evoked McCubbin’s interest in large-scale history pieces with a pronounced national flavour. From the colonial artist and Swiss émigré Abram-Louis Buvelot, McCubbin absorbed a more intimate, Barbizon-style vision of the Australian landscape. Julian Ashton directed his attention to subjects from contemporary life and introduced him to plein-air painting.

In the mid-1880s McCubbin’s growing adherence to plein-air Realism was strengthened by the influence of Portuguese-born Arthur Loureiro (1853–1912) and, more dramatically, by the impact of Tom Roberts, recently returned from Europe in 1885. With Roberts and Arthur Streeton he founded the painting camp at Box Hill, in the suburbs of Melbourne, that became known as the Heidelberg School. The Realists’ concern with the integrity and significance of the subject shaped McCubbin’s fundamental attitudes to art. Unlike Roberts and Charles Conder (a fellow Heidelberg painter), McCubbin was only marginally influenced by the Aesthetic Movement, and he exhibited a token five works at the famous “9 by 5 Impression” Exhibition in Melbourne in 1889.

As one of the founders of the Heidelberg school, McCubbin was a significant figure in the development of the Australian school of landscape and subject painting that emerged at the close of the nineteenth century. His work was directly influenced by the earlier traditions of Australian colonial art, late-Victorian subject pictures of a high moral tone. In later years McCubbin turned increasingly to landscape painting, portraying the lyrical and intimate beauty of the bush. The early influence of Corot gave way to that of J. M. W. Turner, as he turned from the quiet poetry of the shaded bush to the brilliant impressionistic effects of light and colour of his final manner.

McCubbin was a warm and gregarious personality and a gentle and intuitive teacher, who contributed greatly to the art world in Melbourne by his activities in various societies, through the conviviality of the McCubbin house which was always a focus for artists and students, and as a teacher of several generations of artists. He was a member of the Melbourne Savage Club.

The painting above is “Down on His Luck”, painted in 1889. It depicts a seemingly disheartened swagman, sitting by a campfire sadly brooding over his misfortune. “Swagman” an old Australian and New Zealand term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers, who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying their traditional swag (bedroll).

According to an 1889 review, “The [man’s] face tells of hardships, keen and blighting in their influence, but there is a nonchalant and slightly cynical expression, which proclaims the absence of all self-pity… McCubbin’s picture is thoroughly Australian in spirit.” The surrounding bush is painted in subdued tones, reflecting his sombre and contemplative mood. Down on his luck the man may be, but this is only a temporary setback and the very next morning the swagman will move on, to better luck.

The artist’s model was Louis Abrahams, a friend and successful tobacconist in Melbourne who earlier supplied the cigar box lids for the famous 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition. The scene was staged near the Box Hill artists’ camp outside Melbourne, but it is thought that McCubbin would have made additional studies of Abrahams under studio conditions. The painting was owned by William Fergusson until 1896, when it was purchased by the Art Gallery of Western Australia in Perth.