Melbourne in February

Melbourne. The area of today's Melbourne was occupied by humans for the last 40 thousand years. Europeans arrived about 200 years ago. In 1835 John Batman and others from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) settled in what is now the centre of Melbourne. It was known first as Dootigala, then Batmania, and then in 1837 Melbourne after a British prime minister.

The Melbourne's CBD is a bit too loud (old trams and cars), and too car friendly for me, but the architecture and art are amazing.

Northern New South Wales - close to Gold Coast: green and humid.

Victoria near Melbourne/Avalon - grey and dry.

Twelve Apostles - about 2-3 hours by car from Melbourne.

It's not very safe to be near these cliffs - they can crumble at any moment.

Late afternoon near the stairs.

St Kilda - looking north. There are people walking, bicycling, and even parachute landing here.

St Kilda is on Port Phillip Bay - no waves to speak of.

I love these apartment blocks - this is street art to the extreme.

Pollution is a problem - Yarra river.

RMIT building.

Two matchsticks.

Another RMIT building, minesweeper and a filter. 

Bird houses.

Camouflage.

A view towards Federation Square.

Federation Square - SBS building.

Federation Square - Flinders station.

Centre Place lane.

The Block - shopping arcade 

Mosaic floor in the arcade.

Terrace houses.

The 888 monument - 8 hours of work, 8 hours of recreation, 8 hours of sleep.

World Expo building.

Victoria Parliament building.

Entrance to the Chinese quarter.

The Greek infinity monument.

Purple building.

A view of Melbourne from the Shrine of Remembrance. Eureka Tower in the centre-left.

Remembrance of WW1 and sport seem to be the two true religions of Australia.

The front of the shrine.

Gumtree

Botanic gardens.

AAMI Park - the rectangular stadium.

Blockchain Centre

Eureka Tower

Unused higher floors.

The RAAF Museum in Point Cook is located on the grounds of an active military base.

Mirage III like many other planes used by RAAF was assembled in Australia.

Heron drone.

WW2 - captured Kübelwagen

WW2 - you don't want to meet this kangaroo.

WW1 - say YES to draft - for loyalty.

WW1 - say NO to draft - for liberty.