The House(s) of Fran_mart

 The Melbourne Marathon came past this morning.  Here is the lead group incoming. These are the leaders, a little in front of the next group. Outbound. The first females are in this group, about 2 minutes (after 5km) behind the blokes. Some of the tail enders taken from our Winter Garden about 26 minutes after the leaders passed. The leader - I reckon the winner as he was well in front and going well - heading North to finish in 2:15 with a tailender in the Half going South.  Well done Jack Raynor ! Earlier Half runners. For the afternoon the Italian Consulate (next door) had warned our Concierge about a protest.  I couldn't work out why folk were protesting the Italians.  Turns out they were just collateral damage: the target was the US Consulate about 300m further down St Kilda Rd.  And it was the Palestinian supporters, who couldn't find a bike race to interrupt. I was fascinated how tightly bunched the Socialists were at the back of the march.  Pe...

 On 10 October we walked to Prahran Square for a performance by Swerve Drivers .  It is part of the Melbourne Fringe and seemed to be an outdoor dance and light show, but we weren't really sure what was going to happen.  When we arrived about 1950 hrs there were few people around so we wondered if it would be a fizzer.  However the lights in the Square looked nice. There wasn't a great announcement of it starting but we noticed this illumination so wandered in that general direction. A dancer (from the website, Emma Riches) appeared. Lights were projected on her. Captions appeared on a screen.  The words were read out (and echoed by one of the usual, more demented, denizens of the area lurking behind the screen, but not a biggie). Here is the audience, obfuscated to stuff up facial recognition by Elon and his mates. The dancer then appeared below the screen ... ... and then returned to her usual spot for more colour and movement. Towards the end of the performan...

 On our morning walk on 10 October I noticed that the metal fence around the Cordner Oval in Fawkner Park had been supplemented by white pickets. In one of Damon Runyan's tales he comments that a problem with asking questions is that you can get a reputation as the sort of person who wants to find things out.  This was a Bad Idea on Broadway during Prohibition, but possibly OK now.  So I asked these folk what was occurring and duly found out they were filming a commercial for Channel 7 about cricket.   Thinking about the cost of making, and installing, all the pickets I wondered why they hadn't gone somewhere pre-picketed (such as the G).  Certainly money seemed no object.  There were about 10 people hanging around outside the pickets; another 10 with very expensive cameras in this group .... .... and 17 in this bunch.

 When I first emigrated I was desperate to see a wild kangaroo.  I think it took about two years!  These days we get sights like this across the back fence. Note the claws! At this point the one on the left landed a couple of solid kicks to the wobbly bits of the one on the right, who admitted defeat (or least retreated).

 This is pretty much our morning on 8 August.  It begins looking out the windows towards the CBD, with some light clouds well below the tops of the high rises.  My guess would be the 60th floor. On our walk we saw some signs of Spring! And a very nice display of orchids in a front yard near South Yarra Primary. On the other side of the Park the Tonka trucks were still at play.  There is much scope for further photos as they knock down this building.  (I don't know how the punters work in the white building while this is going on,) I have activated Google Lens on my phone, and it identified Clivia miniata for me! We have watched the demolition as it has proceeded.  By 11 September (a month later) the high stuff has all gone and only cleaning up the ground is needed.  (Frances took this image from St Kilda Rd - the opposite end of the site to my earlier photos.)

 We sit out in the Winter Garden most evenings unless it is too hot.  On 5 August it was very pleasant and we got a strange view of a tug out in the Bay.   (Note the blue cast is due to the tinted windows not my camera failing.) I assume that they were testing their firefighting capabilities.  According to my Marine Traffic app there was a Police boat close by, but I couldn't see it: presumably to keep rubberneckers at a sensible distance. Proving that it is now a garden, here is a panorama.  The Bay is visible even when sitting down.  The woodland visible between the buildings and the Bay is Albert Park. Most of the plants were chosen for drought tolerance as they don't get watered for 2-3 weeks while we are in Mallacoota.  This zygocactus appears to be happy in its work. A new building is being erected opposite and giving much interest watching members of the CFMEU at their daily toil. I think they have got to full height now.

 I was unsure whether to compile this post here or in Melbourne adventures.  In the end I decided that it had a focus on the area close to 505, and I covered a few topics, so here is where it fits best. The story begins with me being alert as we left beautiful downtown Traralgon on 3 August and passed the Hazelwood Open Cut, getting a couple of photos.  The first shows some of the faces of the cut: The second image a little further along the M1 shows the water in the bottom of the pit. For a different perspective the next image is an April 2024 snip from Google Earth showing the mine and the M1, with my best guess at where the above snaps were taken. We now move to Fawkner Park on the morning of 4 August.  The first sighting was a fellow walker being bailed up by a family of Magpies.  He was equipped with food for them (and a rug rat) so I suspect they recognised him as a regular. Heading towards Toorak Rd the daffodil bed is beginning to get its act into gear. ...