Blue

Colvillea racemosa. In the City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane.

Feeling blue. Need some work and more contact with people to drive me to do things.

Checking out some photos on Flickr, I came across this quote "The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera" (Dorothea Lange). BrainyQuotes Which I think is spot on.

Shade

I have been spending my time making books through Blurb, and no time here at all, of late.

But at the moment I am trying to photograph the various shade structures, so common in brisbane



Albert & Margaret Streets, Brisbane

Along the river

Mangroves at the QUT ferry pontoon


Southbank. Bougainvillea, weeping figs & palm trees


State Library from the river


Gallery of Modern Art from the river


Poincianas on the building site. (Gallery of Modern Art behind.)


Cranes



Two days earlier. Same site. Pile-driver (yellow) and two cranes.

They tell me Joh was responsible for the Cultural Centre and Southbank. I must think more kindly of him. It is a beautiful place and all Brisbane seems to flock there to barbecue, to picnic, to eat, to swim, to do cultural things and to just enjoy themselves. The people pour off the ferry at the Southbank stop and on again and it doesn't matter what hour of the day or night it is.

The ferry has to slow to a crawl between Regatta and North Quay so as not to disturb the building works on the river. I heard the yellow pile-driver first and then saw it. Amazing that they have built this way since at least the Bronze Age.
See
www.tv.com/time-team/vauxhall-london/episode/450351/summa...

The bridge being built is the Tank Street Bridge
Wikipedia
For the design see
Department of Public Works
I hope it doesn't clutter up the river..

Heading off for WA

In the Qantas lounge at Brisbane Airport, heading off for WA, to present what we propose to solve their problem.

Not really properly organised, my slides need to be redone tomorrow. Today was spent at a PG orientation course, which was very much the Curate's egg. And I oscillate as usual between negativity and positivity.

I think I need to relax. This is a start, not a conclusion and as a start it is entirely dubious and certainly not the answer.


This looks to me like a lighthouse. West End, Brisbane

And, I would very much like to know the story about this.

The Brisbane Customs House

The Customs House, Brisbane.


The Customs House, Brisbane. Eagle Street and Queen Street corner.


From the river.

The Dome is above the left front only, and the curved circular section is also only on the left (looking from Queen Street).

Looking from the river, the wall hides the bottom floor (warehouse), but right at the river level there is a derelict section, with barred and broken windows, which served as the latrines (so said the girl at the desk). (The latrine was not captured in this photo.)

The coats of arms are pre-federation "Australian" coats of arms. They feature the kangaroo and the emu and the words beneath are "Advance Australia" "1899". One of the 5 pre-federation customs houses in Queensland.(Clearly illustrating the importance of trade/free trade/customs: one of the very few issues dealt with explicitly by our wonderful constitution.)

(Currently owned by the University of Queensland, who use it as a function centre and restaurant. And a very FAQ restaurant it is, sadly.)

This link gives some excellent detail about its history.

Naval Offices, 1900.

Naval Offices, 1900.

Naval Offices, Brisbane. Pre-Federation, in a time when Queensland was the equal of any other Australian colony, a sovereign state. (The date under the anchor clearly indicates 1900.) Despite the link below, the building was started prior to 1901 and was built because of Queenslands needs which were also seen as national needs. (The commonwealth in taking it over and in having to justify it on the commonwealth register, has, I suspect, slightly subverted its history - Queensland would go it alone, if necessary, but of course all the states were persuaded of the need for defence, a major reason for federating. This seems to me to be yet another example of the confidence and belief in the future of those 19th century colonials. Think, for example, of the beautiful Rockhampton Customs building, and the Townsville Customs building. Both wonderful, confident, 19th century buildings.)

Yet another wonderful Brisbane building.

See the link to the commonwealth heritage register.

On reflection this building is not in the same class as the Rockhampton Customs House. The link below is quite good, particularly when it talks about the building, but again, while built at a time close to Federation, the building looks more like it was staking a claim for the city's importance post federation, than creating something for the commonwealth to take over!!
Check out the building and the associated details.

Nor as good as the Townsville Customs House which is on the register of the National Estate, but was ruled ineligible for the Commonwealth Heritage List.

(And now I clearly need to see the other three customs houses which Queensland so generously donated to the new commonwealth!)

Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens

Clumping Fish-Tail Palm

Trying to explore Brisbane. Took the 8 mile plains bus (169), from UQ lakes yesterday and found Garden City (shopping mall). Bought some pillowcases and a mug. Both needed here. Today, I found my way to Mt Coot-tha. The Botanic Gardens are lovely and I need to go again to explore some more.

There were many amazing plants, but this one took my fancy to summarise my visit.