DESKTOP 2618 - FRASER ISLAND

Fraser Island (K'Gari, Gari) is a heritage-listed island located along the southeastern coast of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is approximately 250 kilometres north of the state capital, Brisbane. Known as Fraser Island, it is a locality within the Fraser Coast local government in the Wide Bay–Burnett region. Together with some satellite islands off the southern west coast and thus in the Great Sandy Strait, Fraser Island forms the County of Fraser, which is subdivided into six parishes. Among the islands are Slain Island, Tooth Island, Roundbush Island, Moonboom Island, Gardner Island, Dream Island, Stewart Island, and the Reef Islands, all part of the southermost parish of Talboor.

Its length is about 120 kilometres and its width is approximately 24 kilometres. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1992. The island is considered to be the largest sand island in the world at 1,840 km2. It is also Queensland's largest island, Australia's sixth largest island and the largest island on the East Coast of Australia. It was formerly the homeland of the Butchulla tribe. 

The island has rainforests, eucalyptus woodland, mangrove forests, wallum and peat swamps, sand dunes and coastal heaths. It is made up of sand that has been accumulating for approximately 750,000 years on volcanic bedrock that provides a natural catchment for the sediment which is carried on a strong offshore current northwards along the coast. Unlike on many sand dunes, plant life is abundant due to the naturally occurring mycorrhizal fungi present in the sand, which release nutrients in a form that can be absorbed by the plants.

Fraser Island is home to a small number of mammal species, as well as a diverse range of birds, reptiles and amphibians, including the occasional saltwater crocodile. The island is protected in the Great Sandy National Park. Fraser Island has been inhabited by humans for as much as 5,000 years. Explorer James Cook sailed by the island in May 1770. Matthew Flinders landed near the most northern point of the island in 1802. For a short period the island was known as Great Sandy Island. The island became known as Fraser due to the stories of a shipwreck survivor named Eliza Fraser. Today the island is a popular tourism destination. Its resident human population was 194 at the 2011 Australian Census.

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

DESKTOP 2617 - AGIASOS, GREECE

Agiasos (Greek: Αγιάσος/Ayasos) is a small town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it became a municipality unit that is part of Lesbos. It is located at the slopes of mount Olympos, at a height of 475 meters, 26 kilometers from Mytilene. It is known for its special bright green landscape, its narrow cobbled streets lined by ranks of tiled-roof houses, the traditional architecture and its restless and religious inhabitants.

Agiasos, the artistic and religious centre of the island, is a preserved settlement that has many to offer to visitors. The reading society of Anaptixi, a famous cultural institution, was established in 1894, when the village was still under Turkish rule. Today it has a great library, a theatre hall, a folklore museum and an active organisation which tries to continue the traditions that were passed by the old inhabitants.

There are many sights in the village, including several richly decorated historic churches, including that of the church of Panagia, a three-aisle basilica, surrounded by high walls since it was once a monastery. Inside, in front of the iconostasis, on an inclined support stands the miracle-working icon of Our Lady dating from the 4th century AD. It was brought to Agiasos from Jerusalem by the monk Aghathon the Ephesian.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 2616 - TEMPUS

Tempus edax rerum, mors vincit omnia...
Time, devourer of all things, death conquers all...

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

DESKTOP 2615 - DARK

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

DESKTOP 2614 - GALAH

 This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

DESKTOP 2613 - CAPTIVE SKY

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DESKTOP 2612 - PAPER DAISIES

Xerochrysum viscosum is a common daisy native to Australia. It is also known as Sticky Everlasting, Yellow Paper Daisy, Shiny Everlasting or Golden Everlasting. In 1991, the name Helichrysum viscosum was changed to Bracteantha viscosa. However it was not realised that one year earlier Xerochrysum viscosum had already been published and priority came to this genus when this was discovered in 2001.

Xerochrysum now consists of seven widespread species within the family of Asteraceae. X. viscosum naturally grows in south eastern Australia occurring in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Australian National Territory and Tasmania. It is widespread in open eucalypt woodland or sclerophyll forest, and is an opportunist in disturbed areas such as roadsides and goldfields in Victoria.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 2611 - ON THE HILL

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

DESKTOP 2610 - FLORENCE, ITALY

Florence (Italian: Firenze) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 382,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1,520,000 in the metropolitan area. Florence is famous for its history: a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, it is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages".

A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy. The Historic Centre of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year, and Euromonitor International ranked the city as the world's 89th most visited in 2012, with 1.8 million visitors. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982.

The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 2609 - AUTUMN HUES

 For Northern Hemisphere friends,  here's one for you!

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

DESKTOP 2608 - BUTTERCUPS

 Buttercups are blooming and announcing the coming of Spring.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

DESKTOP 2607 - SWAMPHEN

The Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) is a "swamp hen" in the rail family Rallidae. Also known locally as the Pūkeko, African Purple Swamphen, Purple Moorhen, Purple Gallinule or Purple Coot. This chicken-sized bird, with its large feet, bright plumage and red bill and frontal shield is easily-recognisable in its native range.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

DESKTOP 2605 - SPRING SKY

At the Darebin Parklands in Melbourne, one fine Spring day. As the landscape becomes greener and the light brighter, as the days lengthen even nore,, hope reawakens and we carry on as per normal, even though the lockdown continues and the restrictions are not waived or even reduced...

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme

DESKTOP 2604 - STORK'S BILL

Erodium malacoides is a species of Spring-flowering plant in the geranium family known by the common names Mediterranean stork's bill, soft stork's-bill and oval heron's bill. This is a weedy annual or biennial herb which is native to much of Eurasia and North Africa but can be found on most continents where it is an introduced species.

The young plant grows a number of ruffled green leaves radially outward flat against the ground from a knobby central stem. The stem may eventually reach half a metre in height with more leaves on long, hairy petioles. It bears small flowers with fuzzy, soft spine-tipped sepals and five lavender to magenta petals. The fruit is green with a glandular body about half a centimetre long and a long, pointed style two to three centimetres in length.

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 2603 - TREES

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

DESKTOP 2602 - BERNKASTEL, GERMANY

Bernkastel-Kues is a well-known wine-growing centre on the Middle Moselle in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is a state-recognized health resort (Erholungsort), seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Bernkastel-Kues and birthplace of one of the most famous German polymaths, the mediaeval churchman and philosopher Nikolaus von Kues (Cusanus).

Bernkastel-Kues lies in the Moselle valley, roughly 50 km from Trier. The greatest elevation is the Olymp (415 m above sea level), and the lowest point (107 m above sea level) lies on the Moselle’s banks. The municipal area totals 23 657 101 m², of which 7 815 899 m² is used for agriculture, thereby making Bernkastel-Kues one of the Middle Moselle’s biggest towns by land area.

Worth seeing in Bernkastel is the mediaeval marketplace with its gabled timber-frame houses from the 17th century, foremost among which is the narrow Spitzhäuschen (“Pointed House”) from 1416. Around the St. Michaelsbrunnen (“Saint Michael’s Fountain”) from 1606 gathers a row of well-preserved buildings and also the Renaissance Town Hall from 1608. The Graach Gate is an often visited tourist attraction. Then of course, nothing like a glass of Moselle, or maybe a Gewürztraminer?

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 2601 - IMPOSSIBLE PLACE

Three different locations, thousands of kilometres apart, fused into one unlikely seascape through the magic of Photoshop. In common, there are: Summer weather, sea, sand surf and memories of good times!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,

and also part of the Blue Monday meme,

and also part of the Seasons meme.

DESKTOP 2600 - TREE

 Spring has arrived in the Southern latitudes and today was a beautiful day for a walk by the Creek.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

DESKTOP 2599 - BEE

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme.

DESKTOP 2598 - SPRING SKY

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DESKTOP 2597 - BLOSSOM

Spring is here...

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 2596 - CREEK

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,

and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

DESKTOP 2595 - COIMBRA, PORTUGAL

Coimbra is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of 319.40 square kilometres. The fourth-largest urban centre in Portugal (after Lisbon, Porto and Braga), it is the largest city of the district of Coimbra, the Centro region and the Baixo Mondego subregion. About 460,000 people live in the Região de Coimbra, comprising 19 municipalities and extending into an area 4,336 square kilometres. 

Among the many archaeological structures dating back to the Roman era, when Coimbra was the settlement of Aeminium, are its well-preserved aqueduct and cryptoporticus. Similarly, buildings from the period when Coimbra was the capital of Portugal (from 1131 to 1255) still remain. During the Late Middle Ages, with its decline as the political centre of the Kingdom of Portugal, Coimbra began to evolve into a major cultural centre. This was in large part helped by the establishment the University of Coimbra in 1290, the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world.

Apart from attracting many European and international students, the university is visited by many tourists for its monuments and history. Its historical buildings were classified as a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 2013: "Coimbra offers an outstanding example of an integrated university city with a specific urban typology as well as its own ceremonial and cultural traditions that have been kept alive through the ages."

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

DESKTOP 2594 - AQUARIUM

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

 

DESKTOP 2593 - FATHER'S DAY

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Australians observe Father’s Day on the first Sunday of September. It is a day for people to show their appreciation for fathers and father figures. Father figures may include stepfathers, fathers-in-law, guardians (eg. foster parents), and family friends.

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme.

DESKTOP 2592 - GOOD DOG!

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

DESKTOP 2591 - EUREKA TOWER

Eureka Tower is a 297.3-metre skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior completed on 1 June 2006. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on 11 October 2006. The project was designed by Melbourne architectural firm Fender Katsalidis Architects and was built by Grocon (Grollo Australia).

The developer of the tower was Eureka Tower Pty Ltd, a joint venture consisting of Daniel Grollo (Grocon), investor Tab Fried and one of the Tower's architects Nonda Katsalidis. It was the world's tallest residential tower when measured to its highest floor, until surpassed by Ocean Heights and the HHHR Tower in Dubai.

From 2006 to 2019, it was the tallest building in Melbourne, until the topping out of Australia 108. It is currently the third tallest building in Australia, behind the Q1 in Queensland and Australia 108, as well as the second tallest to roof (excluding spire) behind the latter skyscraper. As of 2016 it was the 15th tallest residential building in the world.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme.

DESKTOP 2590 - SINGAPORE ORCHIDS

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DESKTOP 2589 - LICHEN

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,
and also part of the My Corner of the World meme,
and also part of the Nature Notes meme.

DESKTOP 2588 - KIAMA, AUSTRALIA

Kiama is a township 120 kilometres south of Sydney in the Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia in the Municipality of Kiama. At the 2011 census, Kiama had a population of 12,817 people. One of the main tourist attractions is the Kiama Blowhole. The seaside town features several popular surfing beaches, caravan parks and numerous alfresco cafes and restaurants. Its proximity to the south of Sydney makes it an attractive destination for a large number of day trippers.

The Kiama area includes many attractions, being situated on the coast south of the Minnamurra River, and to the west lie the foothills of Saddleback Mountain and the smaller less discernible peak of Mount Brandon. Also to the west is the town of Jamberoo with pasture-land in between, which contains many historic buildings and dry stone walls. Also of note is Seven Mile Beach to the south, a protected reserve. Kiama has several well-known surfing beaches, including Surf Beach, 'Mystics' and Boyds' Beach, as well as other more protected swimming beaches situated in coves between headlands such as Black Beach, Easts Beach and Kendalls Beach. Kiama Harbour forms one of several coves between headlands.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.