Melbourne explorations Pt 5

 The intention of today was investigation of areas of Docklands.  Our original plan had been to just explore localities rather than check specific buildings: that is mostly what we did on Day 2.  However I have been exchanging emails with an agent and she had suggested some buildings of interest so we decided to look at them to give us some focus.  We did one in CBD Docklands on Wednesday evening and had 2 lined up for Saturday morning.  

The day began with some fog visible to ground dwellers.

It was a different perspective for those on upper storeys, a little later.
Taking a tram down Collins St I liked the stonework on this Uniting Church.
We got off the tram on the edge of Docklands and set off for the Forge building on the far side of the Yarra.  Here is the total route we followed, starting at the white dot. 
There are some strange shapes on some of the buildings in the CBD and Docklands.  I wonder why the cube on top of this one is offset?  
The interest in this image is the reflection of buildings South of the Yarra in the glassy facade of the central one on the far side.
Bolte Bridge
This is the target building - "The Forge".
The arrow indicates the apartment we were inspecting.  It is the second highest floor, on level 20.  As will be seen in the following it has excellent views from NE covering the CBD, the Bay and Port Melbourne round to about the West.  
This is the view over the CBD.  It's still cloudy!
The view South is a bit industrial (it is Fisherman's Bend after all) but includes a good chunk of Port Phillip Bay as well.  IMO gets a credit at least.  There was a faint hum from the West Gate Freeway but surprisingly not too bad: far less than Parkes Way in Canberra from our daughter's previous apartment.
Overall we really liked this place and if we had our funds sorted would be doing serious thinking about putting in an offer.  

We then set off to another property in the Northern section of Docklands,  This took us back over the Yarra and past Marvel Stadium.  
An excitement was coming across 2 Long-billed Corellas.
As with Princes Pier a feature has been made of an old wharf.
And the famous "Cowinnatree".
The place we were going to inspect was adjacent to the Marriot Hotel.  I assume this was a guest of The Marriot, since Polar Bears, conditioned for hibernation, don't smoke and asphyxiate other entities.  The poodle coming down the street was far more attractive!
The alleged view from the apartment.  Yecch: and the lot across the street is going to get a high-rise built on it anytime from now.  
Add to this the overall feel of the building (pokey entrance; drab very narrow corridor reminded me of Slade Prison without Ronnie Barker.

A dragon boat was active on the Yarra.  I was intrigued that when they re-emerged only half the crew had their paddles in the water but they all swayed as though paddling.  Then they swapped roles, but the resters still moved in time!
In the afternoon we went to Carlton Gardens: Francs sat ad read and I prowled.  Birds on the big fountain got some attention from me.  Rainbow Lorikeets.
A Noisy Miner.
Crested Pigeon
An intriguing bed of flowers: possibly Lavender.
The fountain up an avenue ...
...  and closer to show the sprays of water.
Another wedding snap venue,

A Roller for one other brides.  Interestingly most of them used stretch limos: an interesting contrast with NYC, where most of the stretch cars were used as brothels!
Explains itself.
Stone from a demolished building.
The building with the location of the stones marked by red circles.
For tea I went to Dumpling Max on Victoria Street and got a serve of excellent .... dumplings.



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