POND

One of the ponds in the Darebin Parklands, on an Autumn morning.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

WURLY

A "wurly" (also spelled wurlie or wurley) is a small, temporary shelter traditionally used by Indigenous Australians. Also known as a "humpy" or "gunyah", these dome-shaped or lean-to structures were constructed from branches, bark, and leaves. They were easily assembled to suit a nomadic, semi-permanent lifestyle.

Built using local, readily available natural resources like eucalyptus branches, Melaleuca (paperbark), and grass. Generally featured a curved, windbreak design that relied on a standing tree for support, keeping inhabitants protected from harsh weather. Positioned to take advantage of natural shade and warmth, often serving as temporary camps before groups moved to the next food and water source.

Here it is seen in the Darebin Parklands, in suburban Melbourne. Indigenous Australians often use these natural reserve areas in order to teach the younger generations bushcraft and indigenous culture.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

DUCK AND CREEK

A Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa), a common and adaptable dabbling duck found throughout Australia, New Zealand, and surrounding islands.They are identified by their mottled dark brown plumage and a characteristic head pattern featuring a dark brown line through the eye, bordered by cream stripes above and below.Their diet is largely vegetarian, consisting of seeds from aquatic plants, but they also consume aquatic insects, crustaceans, and mollusks.

These ducks are widespread in Melbourne's creek and river habitats, in this particular instance, at the Darebin Parklands, through which flows the Darebin Creek. A quite clean and unpolluted waterway, home to many native species of flora and fauna.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

TRANQUIL

A short train ride away from metropolitan Melbourne, towards the East are the green farmlands of Gippsland, forest reserves, rolling hills and natural bushland.

This post is part of the Nature Notes meme

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme

DAREBIN CREEK

Darebin Creek is a waterway that runs through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the main watercourse of the Darebin Valley and a major tributary of the Yarra River. For tens of thousands of years it was used as a food and tool source sustainably by the Wurundjeri people, Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation alliance, who spoke variations of the Woiwurrung language group.

The creek rises on the northern urban fringe of Melbourne north of the suburb of Epping, following a general southerly route and meeting the Yarra at Alphington. The creek forms much of the municipal boundary between the City of Darebin and City of Banyule. Formerly an intermittent stream, increased stormwater runoff with urbanisation of the Darebin Creek catchment has resulted in permanent water flow. 

The creek runs through Darebin Parklands, a large nature reserve one or two kilometres northwest of the junction at which the creek meets the Yarra. The Darebin Creek Trail runs along the banks in the lower reaches of the creek. This is the creek at the Darebin Parklands in Fairfield.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

EARTH DAY 2026

It is especially important in these troubled times we live in to raise children who respect and care for our Earth. Children should grow up with a responsibility to nurture and heal our planet... Planting a tree and caring for it is a good start.

This post is part of the Nature Notes meme

HONEYBROWN BEETLE

This insect is a Honeybrown Beetle (specifically Ecnolagria grandis), also commonly known as a Brown Darkling Beetle.  These beetles are native to south-eastern mainland Australia and Tasmania. They are identified by their golden-brown bodies covered in very short hairs and a thorax that is noticeably narrower than their wing cases (elytra).

They typically have a golden-brown or coppery color, though some individuals may appear slightly more violet or metallic. Adults are slow fliers and are often found resting motionlessly on leaves or hiding among dry fallen leaves and grasses. They primarily feed on dead plant matter and fungi. These beetles are commonly found in forests, woodlands, heaths, and urban gardens.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

REFLECTING AUTUMN

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

DAWN IN THE PARKLANDS

At the Darebin Parklands in suburban Melbourne, about 6 km from the CBD.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

INVERLOCH

Inverloch is a seaside town located in Victoria, Australia. It is located 143 kilometres south east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland Highway on the Bass Highway at the mouth of Anderson Inlet, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for the calm waters of Anderson Inlet, it is now also known for the discovery of Australia's first dinosaur bone. At the 2011 census it had a population of 4,960.

Inverloch is a popular tourist destination, particularly for swimming, kitesurfing and windsurfing at the calm waters of Anderson Inlet. Fishing and surfing are also popular. The town was first named Andersons Inlet after Samuel Anderson, the first European to settle here. It was later renamed Inverloch after Loch Inver (Lake Entrance) in Scotland. The town is also home to a tennis club which is home to the some of Australia's greatest players.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,

and also part of Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of Nature Notes meme.

SUNSHINE

Late summer with sunshine still plentiful, but tempered somewhat by the shortening of the days...

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme
and also part of the Seasons meme.

GOULBURN RIVER

Goulburn River - 2001, Sony digital camera image.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

YARRA BEND

Yarra Bend Park has been one of Melbourne’s largest expanses of inner suburban parkland for nearly 150 years. Yarra Bend Park and neighbouring Studley Park were reserved in 1877. Both park areas and several reserves were combined in 1929 to create one large park. The combined area became known as Yarra Bend National Park despite never being raised to formal national park status.

During the 1930’s additions included picnic and sporting grounds, toilet facilities and a public golf course. The Yarra Bend Golf Club House, officially opened in May 1936, is an original example of American ‘Country Club’ type architecture. The Park provides a great open space for walking, bike riding, riverside cafes, golf, boating, BBQs, picnicking and a host of other leisure activities.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme

MERRI CREEK

The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia which flows through the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It begins in Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70 km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Falls. The area where the creek meets the river was traditionally the location for large gatherings of the Wurundjeri people and is suspected to have been the location for one of the earliest land treaties in Australia between Indigenous Australians and European settlers.

The photo is Merri Creek at Clifton HIll, along the Merri Creek Trail. This trail is a 21 km shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians that follows the Merri Creek through the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It makes for a pleasant walk along the creek and one can pretend that one is walking in the wilderness, while still in the heart of the City!

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

CREEK IN SUMMER

The Darebin Creek in Preston, at the Darebin Forest Park. Another much needed natural bushland area in the middle of suburbia.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme
and also part of the Nature Notes meme

BEAUTY HIDES DANGER

Walking along the Darebin Creek in Thornbury, an inner suburb, one can enjoy the natural beauty of the bush in the midst of the City. However, in Summer especially, there may be some untoward encounters, such as meeting this Tiger Snake.

The Tiger Snake (Notechis scutatus) is a large and highly venomous snake of southern Australia, including its coastal islands and Tasmania. These snakes are often observed and locally well known by their banding, black and yellow like a tiger, although the species can be highly variable in colouration and patterning. All populations are classified within the genus Notechis (Elapidae). Their diverse characteristics have been classified either as distinct species or by subspecies and regional variation. While tiger snakes are usually ground-dwelling, they are able to swim as well as climb into trees and buildings.

This post is part of the Travel Tuesday meme

and also part of the Saturday Critters meme

DAREBIN CREEK

Fish ladder in the Darebin Creek, at Darebin Parklands, Alphington. A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon, is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as movements of potamodromous species.

Most fishways enable fish to pass around the barriers by swimming and leaping up a series of relatively low steps (hence the term ladder) into the waters on the other side. The velocity of water falling over the steps has to be great enough to attract the fish to the ladder, but it cannot be so great that it washes fish back downstream or exhausts them to the point of inability to continue their journey upriver. 

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

LADYBIRD

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme

12 APOSTLES

The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243-kilometre stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I.

It is an important tourist attraction in the region, which winds through varying terrain alongside the coast, and provides access to several prominent landmarks; including the nationally significant Twelve Apostles rock formations. The Twelve Apostles is a collection of miocene limestone rock stacks jutting from the water in Port Campbell National Park, between Princetown and Peterborough on the Great Ocean Road.

The Apostles were formed by erosion: The harsh weather conditions from the Southern Ocean gradually eroded the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs, which then became arches, which in turn collapsed; leaving rock stacks up to 45 metres high. The site was known as the Sow and Piglets until 1922 (Muttonbird Island, near Loch Ard Gorge, was the Sow, and the smaller rock stacks the Piglets); after which it was renamed to The Apostles for tourism purposes. The formation eventually became known as the Twelve Apostles, despite only ever having nine stacks.

This post is part of the Roentare’s Water Meme

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme

and also part of the Nature Notes meme

VANESSA

The Australian painted lady (Vanessa kershawi) is a species of butterfly mostly confined to Australia, although westerly winds have dispersed it to islands east of Australia, including New Zealand.

Debate surrounds the taxonomy of this species. Some believe that the Australian painted lady should be a subspecies of the painted lady (Vanessa cardui) due to the similarity in lifestyle and behaviour. Furthermore, the painted lady is found around the globe, but Australia is the only location in which it varies enough to be considered a separate species. However, due to the distinct genitalia of the males, and variation in colouration, many others consider the Australian painted lady to be a separate species.

During spring, adult butterflies migrate south in large numbers from northern states of Queensland and New South Wales. To find mates, male Australian painted ladies exhibit territorial behaviour, which involves a male perching on vegetation in a sunny spot on a hilltop, waiting for females to fly by. Despite urbanization and invasive plants altering its habitat, populations of Australian painted ladies have not been significantly impacted by these changes.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme