During our week in Melbourne we saw many new murals. I managed to find a few without too much graffiti drawn on them. It seems to be a thing now that all murals are being defaced with graffiti.
It’s great to walk around the different neighbourhoods in Melbourne and find street art. You can often miss various artworks if you’re walking on the wrong side or not looking up. These murals really brighten up the drab walls and sides of the buildings.
PrahranPrahranPrahranPrahanChapel StreetDuke Street, WindsorChapel Street
“The Phlegm Robot” By Phlegm a British street artist. A five story tall robot depicting a small village inside his head. The light on the building has been incorporated to show the beating heart.
My favourite is the one with the dogs. Although the most interesting is the last one, so intricate. Also the only one with any information about it.
I see from most of the posts people are enjoying the Autumn months and getting reading for winter. Here in the South Hemisphere we are coming up to our hottest months. We are still having a few cold nights here and there. So, I haven’t put away my winter clothes yet. Although I have been here too long to really appreciate what cold actually means!
It’s been a fairly quiet month, no travelling, having just returned from Bali at the end of September. The school holidays still had a week left at the beginning of September. So, I spent a day with the munchkins. In our local town they had arranged a dinosaur hunt. This entailed looking for posters of dinosaurs in and around the shopping centre, with prizes and games along the way.
We sure had a big long walk around town, which made for a quiet afternoon.
I thought my garden could do with some new flowers, so one week I took Rosie to the local garden centre. We had a lovely wander through the plants and flowers and Rosie chose a Kangaroo Paw.
I love Alstroemerias, also known as Lily of the Incas. They are always in flower and are a great ground cover adding plenty of colour to the garden.
We enjoyed a visit to one of our favourite wineries, Stringy Bark. It’s an hour’s drive, so Anthony’s car had a good run.
Iron sculptures at Stringy Bark
There are some new murals in a nearby suburb, I managed to see two on our way to dinner.
The mural below is by Wild Drawing. A Balinese artist. His work can be found around the world. WD is based in Athens.
Artist – Finton McGee
As we move into November it’s high time we sorted out the garden and patio areas. This means weeding and cleaning in preparation for a houseful of guests, arriving in late December.
The apartment I had booked for our stay in Melbourne was in St. Kilda, even though it was from Booking.Com, it was just an Air B n B. As we drove into the carpark I realised it was a stacker park and Anthony was concerned that his long car wouldn’t fit! Luckily a lady who had just finished parking her car said she would help guide the car in. It was a very tight and tricky fit and I would definitely never book a place with stacker parking again. She even tested the elevation to check the fit. All the while with Anthony in the driver seat. The apartment itself was fine with a fantastic view from the large balcony. This would be wonderful in summer.
Meeting Archie
We spent the next two days wandering around Melbourne, eating, drinking and shopping.
I wanted to have a look at the Three Fates displayed at The Hellenic Museum in Melbourne. They were painted by Ox King (Steven Nuttall). They are called Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos.
Clotho (left) chose when and whether a person was to be born, spinning the thread of human life. Lachesis (centre) chose the length of a person’s life and measures the thread. Atropos (right) chose when and how a person would die and cuts the thread.
The mural on my left caught my eye as we walked down the street and I had to backtrack to take the photo. A comic book mural featuring Gordan Ramsay, I noticed at the bottom. The sculpture on the right is titled “Creative Brilliance” by Ngardang Girri Kalat Mimini. It is located outside the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre.
A few from our evenings out wining and dining
Hall’s Gap and The Grampians
I had planned a two day visit, overnight in Ballarat and then onto The Grampians. Anthony said he wanted to experience really cold weather. It looked like his wish would come true as the temperatures were hovering around 0 to 3.
We had to make the most of our time away as it was so short, so on arriving at The Grampians Motel, we checked in and made our way into the picturesque town of Halls Gap. The motel was situated outside of the town and in a beautifully landscaped area. Complete with its own troupes of kangaroos.
I made my way over to a very large one and froze on the spot when he got up and I started walking slowly backwards.
Views from our room
Infinitely more friendly!
We did just a couple of small walks around The Grampians, there are some wonderful trails for the more serious hikers, sadly I’m not one of those.
A zoomed in shot of some climbers up in the rocks on the right.
The Grampians are a range of quartzose sandstone mountains that were a million years in the making. There are five spectacular sandstone ridges running north to south with steep and craggy slopes on the eastern side and gentler slopes to the west. They are the result of earth movements lifting and tilting the hard sandstones to create an impressive landscape of peaks and valleys. Source: The Grampians
I thought at first the markings on the trees above were some kind of symbolic carvings! The patterns are so intricate and look like ancient configurations. It’s just where the bark has fallen off though or maybe some beetle borings.
On our drive back to Melbourne we stopped at a winery in Ararat called Montara. We shared a delicious charcuterie platter and sampled the wines.
As you’ve noticed I do take quite a few selfies, I enjoy posing everyone, so when a stranger offers to take our photo I never object. It’s the awkward moment after, do you check it straightaway, look later or just take your own anyway. I’ve yet to decide how to deal with this. They do generally come out okay but if not you’ve lost that opportunity. Also they take so many! It’s the control freak in me.
All too soon our mini trip away was over. The next day we would be heading over to Sydney. with another overnight stop on the way.
Our journey through Albania is now coming to an end and our final destination is the capital of Albania, Tirana. I had read and been told that you only need one night here but I didn’t heed this advice much to my annoyance! One of the reasons was that we thought we would go Djati Express cable car. Sadly we didn’t get to do this for various reasons.
We were staying at Hotel Opera and after leaving the car in the carpark at the back of the hotel for the driver to pick up, we checked in to our 12th floor room. We had a fantastic room with a large verandah with no furniture though.
Also when we arrived in Tirana it was 37 degrees. At this point I was already thinking what were we going to do for three days. The first thing we did was find a restaurant for a very late lunch.
Restaurant Piano Bar Piazza
After a delicious lunch we set off exploring. Our hotel was within walking distance of Skanderberg Square. Named after the national hero Gjergj Kastrioti, also known as Skanderberg. He led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire, starting in 1444 and lasting for 25 years. There are some famous buildings around the Square and some seating areas, but we thought it was a bit underwhelming. We found the white tiles making up the Square to be almost blinding in the brilliant sunlight. We much preferred the tree lined boulevards providing welcome shade.
There was some amazing murals and sculptures dotted around and over the next two days we went walking to find them. Tirana is a wonderful walking city and there were so many other murals I never got to see.
Murals of Tirana
Mother’s Care Artist – Case Macleam BIBLIOTEKA – Franko DineDog – MOTSOn the remaining walls of Tirana Castle
Sculptures and Statues
The angle of the camera makes this sculpture look bigger than it is!Friendship Monument
A monument donated to Albania by Kuwait to remember the friendship between the two nations. It has the flag colours of Kuwait on the canopy.
Buildings and Churches
There are some spectacular buildings in Tirana that are easily comparable to other major cities around the world, and there are many structures in the process of being built.
The Plaza Hotel and CasinoEyes of Tirana4 Ever Green SkyscraperNational Historic MuseumMinistery of AgricultureResurrection of Christ Orthodox Cathedral
One morning we visited Bunk’art 2 and walked smack bang into the middle of a protest. At first I thought it was a queue to get in! There were dozens of police officers and a whole crew of media. It was a protest about the Israeli war.
Anyway we managed to dodge all the crowds and made our way down into the bunker. We both had completely the wrong idea about this place thinking it was an art museum, we were soon disabused of this notion. Quite a harrowing and depressing place to visit and we were relieved to make our way back up into the sunshine.
As you can see, dozens of police waiting for trouble
The Media and Anthony!Victims of the communist terror regime
BUNK’ART 2 reconstructs the history of the Albanian Ministry of Internal Affairs from 1912 to 1991 and reveals the secrets of “Sigurimi”, the political police that was the harsh persecution weapon used by the regime of Enver Hoxha. Source – Bunkart
I reminded Anthony it was a museum and not a department store and this jacket was not for sale.
The exhibits and information were quite horrific, menacing dogs and lists of torture, so I didn’t feel inclined to take many photos.
We did manage to find a department store after and Anthony wandered around for a while and I found a stool to sit and scroll!
During the day and night we wandered up and down the streets of the Blloku District, a small leafy suburb of Tirana with hip and happening bars and trendy shops. During the era of Communist rule, it was a closed-off precinct for the party elite, and the villa of long-ruling dictator Enver Hoxha still stands.
The apartments were handed back to the owners when Hoxha was ousted as the deeds were never destroyed. It looks like they haven’t been maintained at all.
There are so many good restaurants in Tirana, especially traditional ones, which we enjoyed.
All in all we filled our time well in Tirana, although on hindsight we could have condensed it down to two nights. This city did grow on me and for a weekend break from European countries it’s ideal. Tirana is great for day trips to Durres or Berat also.
Information for travelling in Albania
There are plenty of ATMs available in the area, so accessing cash is convenient and hassle-free although cash is readily accepted everywhere.
Hiring a car is not difficult as I previously read, and it was relatively easy to arrange a one way booking – of course with a fee.
Driving is on the right hand side, so can be tricky if you’re from a country that’s opposite. Albanian drivers are fearless and impatient, pull over to let them pass for a stress free trip.
The currency is Lek, although Euros are taken. If you’re using cash Lek takes up more room in your wallet!
Travel off season – before or after summer.
I hope you’ve enjoyed travelling through Albania with us on this fantastic road trip. Albania is one of the most diverse and interesting countries we’ve ever been to.
Over the past couple of days we have been traipsing around the streets, reacquainting ourselves with our favourite areas of Hong Kong. Central is one area that we have always enjoyed walking around, from here you can join the Central-Mid-levels escalator to access the streets of Soho, namely Elgin Street and Staunton Street. The escalator was built in 1993 and at that time was the longest in the world. Old and new buildings exist along side each other creating unique scenes.
The Old Hong Kong Police Station, Hollywood Road and Jardine House, Central Stone Slab Street and Shelley Street
The two guys above are both wearing safety harnesses that aren’t attached to anything! No helmets but to be on the safe side they have their masks on.
We stopped for lunch at a tiny Italian restaurant just off one of the levels of the escalator, one which we had been to many times before. We were happy to see that it wasn’t a Covid victim.
Spaghetti Marinara
Just outside Anthony noticed a girl painting a mural, so I asked her if I could take her photo.
The damp grey walls could all do with a bit of paint. She was doing an excellent job. Take a look at the murals in the slideshow below.
The smell of fresh pine leaves outside this shop brought back so many memories of our Christmases in Hong Kong. We would always have a real tree, since moving to Australia we just have a fake one now.
Anthony’s favourite food, animal intestines. Sadly I don’t share his taste in food and I’m not a fan of Chinese or Japanese food.
I mentioned before that there are many wonderful sculptures in Hong Kong, I love the ones below.
Sitting Couple by Jill Chadwick
Silver Fighting figures
Two ladies taking their babies out
Sweet Potatoes and Hot Chestnuts
Thanks for coming along for the walk around Central. There’s always something to see that’s odd or quirky and you can always find so much artwork around. It’s great how Hong Kong are renovating all the old buildings and holding onto the history. There is a place for everything here.
As the challenge from Sofia at the Lens Artists Team is urban, I thought I would take you on a tour of my home town. It’s not a large town by any means but is filled with cafes, restaurants and shops. I tend to go two or three times a week for food, a bit of retail shopping, lunch and dinner. It has a large shopping mall where two grocery stores are located but it also has small laneways off the high street filled with quirky shops.
Claremont Quarter
Looking through Maude Jackson Walk
A street off the main high road
I took these photos today as I was doing a shop and I was amazed to find some wonderful murals, sculptures and new coffee shops. I tend normally to drive straight to Claremont Quarter and back again. I did have to dodge a few rain showers though as we are having some storms at the moment.
On the side of the bottle shopThe above two murals are painted by Fintan Magee and titled Road to Nowhere, depicting displaced people during the Brisbane Floods of 2015
I had to take two shots of this brilliant mural above by Dipesh ‘Peche’ Prasad to capture it all. It was only after I looked at the photos I realised there was a man painted there. I could not see it from the street. It features Walt D. Drabble, the lane is named after him too. He was a painter, signwriter and ironmonger and established his business in 1865.
Highs and Lows by Kyle Hughes-OdgersColourful sculpture in the High StreetMetal elephant sculpture outside jewellers
Claremont Post Office, built in 1896 and is now a heritage listed building
Claremont Railway Station established in 1881. This is still a working railway station and trains go to Perth City
Bellissimo’s Restaurant has been here longer than we have and still has the same owner/manager. We visit here at least once a month. The menu doesn’t change that much but you can always be guaranteed a fantastic dinner and service. There is no booking, you just have to wait in line, but in all the times we have visited we’ve never been turned away.
Corvo is a relatively new restaurant and we have been once. Great vibe and service but the menu wasn’t to our taste. There have been many restaurants in the 18 years we have been here.
This sushi place is extremely popular and has only been open a short while, but there are always queues outsideA new coffee shop I found! Will have to try this soon.
Claremont is home to many high end boutiques, very expensive and also a bit too fancy for my taste and probably don’t do my size anyway!
This lane leads to another coffee shop and a cute little book shop. Around the corner there is a huge gardening and hardware store where we go and buy all our garden paraphernalia.
I fell in love with Claremont when we first came for a visit 20 years ago and I still enjoy going there. I hope you’ve enjoyed visiting my home town with me.
On a visit to Subiaco recently I saw there were some great new murals, so I went back the other day and did a walkabout and spotted a few more. I also took snapshots of sculptures which I’ve always admired.
The featured image is called “Sky’s Chorus” by Clare MacFarlane and shows a migrating flock of Carnaby Black Cockatoos.
Karrak by James Giddy
From the same wall, quite difficult to get a shot of the whole wall down the alley.
Subiaco was built on a Sunday – Artist: Melski McVee
Artist – Hayley Welsh
The Boy on the Red Bike – Artist Evoca1God’s Chair aka Arrive to Paradise – Ayad AlqaragholliTwo children flying a kite
The artist’s statement for God’s Chair : God’s Seat…with an angel on each shoulder, decisions being made about who gets into paradise ..
Artist – Robert Jenkins “Works for Walls Programme”
I enjoyed my afternoon walk in Subiaco, reacquainting myself with this suburb. It was like a ghost town during covid plus the landlords decided to get greedy! Many places shut down, but on this Friday afternoon it was buzzing with weekend drinks starting early. I noticed too that the “Sip and Paint” bars are becoming very popular. Also called Canvas and Cabernet, where you paint a masterpiece with a brush in one hand and a drink in the other, sounds like such a fun experience.
My favourite mural here is “Boy on a Red Bike” – how about your’s?
One for Monday Mural. This is a recent photo I took while In London a few weeks ago. It is very near Whitechapel High Street and painted by Insa, whose works can be seen all over the world.
Something to brighten up an old wall!
Posted as part of Monday Mural hosted by Sami at ColourfulWorld
This is the second post showing murals from the town of Basildon. There is a market area with many different stalls and small cafes and dotted around are miniature murals of the various stallholders. They are very cute and I managed to get a couple of photos of the actual people.
All Those Who Wander are not Lost Mr Bigg
Marta and Kay from Marta’s Chimney Cafe. Such a gorgeous little cafe where I enjoyed a delicious home made Chicken and Veg Soup. In the summer they dress up in these cute red dresses.
I was very surprised recently when I went into my local town that there were some fantastic murals around. Basildon Town teamed up with some world famous street artists to create some large scale murals across the town of Basildon. There are other towns along the Thames Estuary across South Essex and North Kent to transform these towns with themes aligned with Climate and Community.
Community Mural – Marina Capdevila
This mural was created with the residents of a local day centre for Dementia patients. It depicts the residents engaging in the activities they love the most, fishing, playing guitar and socialising with each other.
Artist – INSA
This is just one of a few paintings on the building of the old Marks and Spencers.
Artist – Erin Holly
This mural was created in a series of workshops with the LGBTQIA community. It plays off a dinner table scene, reimagining the “nuclear-family-around-a-dinner table” scene. Source: Erin Holly
Artist – Gabriel Pitcher
In partnership with the Billericay Round Table and FC Laindon Republic, a social club for young men between 18 and 45. The mural explores an alternative approach to masculinity.
Apparently there are a few more murals around, so I will look forward to finding these on my trips to the town centre.
