Is that blue sky?

Yes, Bill actually had one (partial) day of blue sky while in Melbourne. This is taken from the Melbourne Museum looking toward downtown.

Bunjilaka

This is an exhibit representing stories of the aboriginal people who originally inhabited (e.g. owned) the area that is now Melbourne. The state of the aboriginal members of Australian society is so appalling it defies words.

Mutitjulu is one aborininal setllement that has been in the news this week.

Aussie Critters

Pretty much all Australian flora and fauna is unusual in some way. The dark animal on the left is a Tasmanian Devil. It is the world's largest carnivorous marsupial.

Kangaroos & Wallabies

The tall animal on the left is a kangaroo and the small cuter animal on the right is a wallabee. Both have very large tales used for balance. Beyond size the other main difference is that I have never seen wallabee on a menu. Kangaroo consumption in Australia is up by a factor of 50 in the last decade.

Australian Pregnancy Testing

There was a big exhibit in the museum on The Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne. This photo and caption won the 'did I read that right' award for the day. The caption says ""Male Queensland cane toads were used for the first time in Australia for pregnancy testing, 1950". This cried out for Google, where one learns that "Cane toads used to be used for pregnancy testing in humans. A woman's urine is injected subcutaneously into the lymph glands of a male toad, resulting in spermatazoa becoming present in the toad's urine if the woman is pregnant. "

Pregnancy testing seems to be one of the only positive aspects of cane toads. They were introduced into Australia in the 1930s to eat sugarcane beetles. It took the toads no time at all to loose interest in the beetles and start eating everything else they could find. The toads are now a big menace, literally and figuratively. They can weigh over four pounds, and pretty much nothing can eat them because they are poisonous (probably why they felt at home in Australia).

Deadly Australia

As fans of Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country know, Australia is a country where every branch of the animal family tree has at least a few deadly members - from crocodiles to jelly fish to spiders. Interestingly, according to this exhibit in the Melbourne Museum, since the 1980s when the last anti venom was developed, there have been no deaths due to venomous insect bites.

Big Hairy

Yes, like all the insects here, this guy is alive (photographed through its glass case). Double click the photo for best effect.

Spiny Leaf Insects

I am not sure after seeing this that I would want to climb trees in Australia. Spiny leaf insects and stick insects are phasmids. Phasmids are generally insects that eat leaves and resemble leaves or sticks. This exhibit was filled with different types of Phasmids that would be almost impossible to see in a tree if you were not looking for them. Double click to see the detail of the spiny leaf - there is actually a walking stick type insect clinging to the bigger thing that mimics a dead leaf. Australia is truly a country of weird critters.

Beer vs Females

As Heather M said, this just might be the funniest exhibit ever to grace a museum exhibit on insects. I can't see this making it into the stuffy environment of a US museum.

Beetle Lure

Ok. I don't care how you cut it, the stubby just does not look at all like a female beetle.

Human Development

I just can't see this flying at a US museum. There is an exhibit of the human body at the Melbourne Museum that focuses on human development. These sculptures show (in lifelike detail) men, woman and children of all ages in all their anatomical glory. There was also a section with life sized (frontal) photos of boys and girls and men and woman as children, entering puberty, as young adults and fully mature to show the changes in their body as they mature. Very educational, but sadly I cannot see any of our museums doing anything similar.

Winter in Melbourne

June is not the time to come to Melbourne. It is chilly, wet and the wind keeps the drizzle going sideways. Australia is in the midst of an historic drought (reservoirs at 30% of capacity), but of course it rains while I am here.

Centre Place

Downtown Melbourne is dense with shops, restaurants and cafes. It seems like no alley is too small to be filled with retail of some kind. This is a small alley, Centre Place, off a small street, Flinders Lane. Another feature of central Melbourne is that the city designers were very challenged for original street names. Almost every street name is used at least twice. There is Flinders Street and Flinders Lane, and almost every Bourke St, Lonsdale St or Collins St has (in the next block) a Little Bourke, Little Lonsdale or Little Collins.

Workshops on Witchcraft

There are many alternative spiritual and healing oriented shops in Melbourne. A massage or herbal remedy is an easy lunch hour errand. Spellbox especially caught my eye. I wonder if Danae lists her profession as 'Witch' on her tax return? Double click on the photo to read the detail.

Saturday Dinner

Heather M and I had dinner Saturday in St Kilda at Elbow Room. Dinner was pretty good - like a lot of restaurants here the menu was extremely eclectic - Thai, Malaysian, steak etc. And of course a waiter who looked like he aspired to be in a Greenwich Village jazz club.

Melbourne Street Sculpture

All over the central business district (CBD) in Melbourne there are random sculptures on or near the sidewalk. The ones I saw did not have names or even who made them listed. This one is on the corner of Collins St and Swanston St with my hotel in the background. I think it is a dog, except I have never seen a dog with a flat nose (more like a pig). I made photos of this sculpture on a couple of different days. Every time someone else was also taking its picture, and in one case a woman had brought her toddler to sit on it. Judging by the patina on the ears the sculpture is well loved.

Ralph

I could not find any information on any of these street sculptures. This one is my faavorite and I nicknamed it Ralph.

Three Oddballs

These three figures are at the corner of Swanston St and Bourke St. They look like an odd bunch, sort of like they were dropped from outerspace and are trying to make sense of downtown Melbourne.

Another view

These three folks are very strange looking and seem to be waiting for a bus. I had to wait to make this picture because people seemed to want to stand and practically lean against the sculptures.

Granite Change Purse

This sculpture is at the corner of Elizabeth St and Bourke St and is about six feet across and looks like it is carved from pink granite. Like the other statues it does not have a plaque or caption. Just am eight foot wide granite change purse in the middle of the sidewalk.

Waterfront Festival

Every summer there is a waterfront festival in Alexandria as a fundraiser for the local Red Cross. I think this was Lyra's first carousel ride. Later when we asked her if she wanted to ride again she practically tore our arms off dragging us bag to the rides.

Whooose!

Lyra loves loves loves the slide. She will keep climbing the ladder and going down as long as we let her. Of course, climbing the ladder up to the top of the slide is not the safest thing in the world, but that does not stop Lyra and we have to chase after her constantly to keep spotting her as she climbs. I think she will be another gymnast and rock climber like her sister.

Third Grade Festival

 
Will's class held an art exhibit at school followed by a musical production and ceremony where each child received their certificate for completing school at Beauvoir. It was a beautiful evening and the kids were cute as can be! Here is Will with some of his art.

 
Will is third from the right in the back row. As you can see, we were among the few families that didn't know he was supposed to wear a coat and tie.

 
The Three Oteeks - Will, Jake and Ross! The "Oteeks" are a creation of Will and some of his friends at school. It is hard to describe exactly what it is....it is a little society of woodland creatures. These boys have made up history, legends, a religion, language, and a playground economy for the Oteeks. It started in Kindergarten and continues to this day, much to the annoyance of some of the teachers.