Murals – Page 3 – Travels with Ali

On the trail of Historic Towns, Western Australia – Toodyay and Northam

We decided to do a three day trip just recently to visit some country towns in Western Australia. These towns were once thriving communities, established at the beginning of the twentieth century by early white settlers. Nowadays these towns rely on the historical landmarks to attract visitors.

Our first stop was to see the silo art which is located just outside of Northam. These incredible paintings were done by artists Phlegm and Hence. Try as I might I cannot find much about Phlegm, only that their paintings are all over the world. Hense is Alex Brewer, an American artist, originating in Atlanta, Georgia.

It is wonderful to see these grey drab buildings being brought to life and there are now many dotted around Australia.

After this we had a quick stop in Toodyay, with a population of approximately 1,500. Before European settlers came to these towns they were populated by the Noongar people.

Toodyay

Population – 1,500. Established in 1836.

Built in 1864 and last renovated in 2018

Katrine

Next on out trail was a stop at Katrine, a tiny village just outside of Northam where I spotted a church.

Northam

We finally got to Northam around 4.30 pm and checked into the Farmers Home Hotel. This is a 150 year old newly renovated building which has 16 rooms. It is a magnificent building, the only downside being no decent restaurant. The Dome coffee house is situated in the building and offers guests a dinner menu. I can’t say we were impressed with the menu.
However we did have a fabulous room and in the distance you could see the Avon River. We managed a quick walk along the banks of the river before heading back to the bar.

Sculptures made of old agricultural machinery parts

The next day we checked out and began the long drive to Kalgoorlie, this would take around 6 hours including stops. My dear hubby loves a good long drive so this was perfect for him.

I will be featuring more historical towns in my next post. I hope you can make the journey with me!

Restaurants and Murals of Melbourne

It was over a year since our last visit to Melbourne, longer for hubby, and it was the second planned trip this year! Anyway we finally took the risk of no lockdowns during our six day trip (although that has come back to bite us on the backside!) This visit was to catch up with Laurence and Maddy, a weekend on Philip Island and a short trip to Sydney.

We decided to stay near them so as to maximise our time together and chose The Hamptons on Chapel Street.

Arriving late on a Tuesday afternoon, we checked into a very nice one bedroom apartment and met with Laurence and Maddy for dinner just around the corner.

Tulum Turkish Restaurant, Balaclava

This is one of my favourite restaurants in Melbourne, it has some very tasty tapas on the menu.

A delicious start to our stay in Melbourne

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Over the next couple of days we spent time walking the streets and soaking up the sights.

The street art around Melbourne is always so different and vibrant. I took photos of some fabulous murals on our walk around the city.

The above two murals are by Mike Maka from Melbourne (Australia) a painter who works in a variety of media, mainly on walls, canvas and illustration on paper. He has travelled and created work around the world, painting the Berlin Wall to the River Ganges. Source: Street-Artwork

The mural on the right was actually blocked off and I had to step on a small wall and balance on hubby’s back while lowering the net to snap it!

Painted by Heesco – a Mongolian Artist based in Melbourne

This brightly coloured mural was just outside our apartment block, such beautiful colours.

Heesco – a Mongolian born artist based in Melbourne. Have a look at his website, he is by far the best artist I have seen. His silo murals are extraordinary.

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Chez Bob, Armadale

One night we had dinner in a cute French restaurant out in one of the suburbs east of Melbourne. A fabulous evening with great food and service. We ate snails, scallops, pate, beef tartare, rabbit pie, duck and beef. A gourmet feast.

G2 Korean BBQ, CBD

Maddy chose G2, one of her favourite restaurants in Melbourne for our last night here. This is a very authentic restaurant with a burner of coals on the table. The staff that night were truly run off their feet as they like to cook for you. Although we did pretty well on our own.

I ordered a delicious rice wine mango cocktail, although did not mean for a jug only a glass!

As always it was a lovely few days catching up with Laurence and Maddy. But we still had the weekend ahead on Philip Island.

Flora and Fauna

On Saturday while out for a walk around Lake Claremont I came across a beautiful new mural from Friends of Lake Claremont. I thought it was absolutely stunning with so much detail. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I love the way the tree keeps growing onto the roof. It blends in so well with the natural scenery.

Posted for Monday Mural hosted by Sami at ColourfulWorld.

Monday Mural – Sheffield, Tasmania

Some wonderful murals from the Town of Sheffield, Tasmania. The mural capital of Australia.

In 1919 a severe electrical storm struck while men were working on the Cradle Mountain road. A bolt of lightning hit a nearby tree causing the horses to take fright and throw their riders, breaking the back of Ross Connell who died six weeks later in hospital.

The mural shows the mountains in the park, as well as the often extreme weather conditions. Source: Sheffield Visitor Information.

Posted as part of ColourfulWorld – Monday Murals

More Murals from Sheffield …

Touring Tasmania – Sheffield, Town of Murals

I was very excited to see this town, a whole place dedicated to murals. I find murals very intriguing as there is so much to see…

by Alison March 26, 2021

Touring Tasmania – Sheffield, Town of Murals

I was very excited to see this town, a whole place dedicated to murals. I find murals very intriguing as there is so much to see in them. Like an outside art gallery. It is the mural capital of Australia and it is modelled on a similar place in Canada.

As we were still driving towards our last destination of the day, Stanley, and it was getting late, we only had time for a very brief stop. I did managed to take quite a few though.

I tried to find out more about these murals, some have descriptions but some only have the artist’s name.

The titles mentioned are ones I have made up myself!

The featured image is of Cradle Mountain by John Landis

Friends and Strangers

Artist: Kerry Nicholson

Sports around the world

Artist: Kerry Nicholson

A day away from the city

Kerry and Malcolm Nicholson

The above murals were at the beginning of the road before entering the town itself, they didn’t seem to have much information on them.

There is so much colour and details in these murals, I think the above is my favourite, an afternoon quilting by the river.

There is a message in this one, I can only guess by the image of the old man on the left and what was inflicted on the indigenous people with the arrival of the explorers and convicts from England.

The end of the road

I did take more but am saving them for Monday Mural

Murals around Perth

Perth is certainly keeping up with Melbourne regarding street art, I snapped a few the other day while in town. I looked up some quotes to go with these images.