In bloom

Mum's frangipani flowers. Happy new year!

Silence in my court!

That's what I said, but I failed at the looking stern bit.

Fooling around at the old court in Port Macquarie. 

Fishing

One of a group of pelicans on the look out for fish off cuts at the marina

 A fisherman on the breakwater where the Hastings River flows into the Pacific Ocean

Up in the hills

Cattle yards near Beechwood

Alpacas near...somewhere near Beechwood

Old Beechwood cemetery

How green was my valley...

A trio of country mail boxes - cream can, 35-gallon drum and what looks like a drench drum

Rain, rain, rain

It rained most of the time I was up north, which was a novelty for a someone from the drought-stricken south. The novelty did wear off after a week.

The swollen Hastings River at Bain Bridge near Wauchope

Buds

Mum's potted frangipani on the verge of flowering

A pony called Jesus...

OK, I have no idea what its name is. I was just trying to inject a bit of Christmas into a non-Christmassy photo. This is the view from my mum's back yard at Wauchope. Merry Christmas!  

Window seat

Just about to leave Melbourne's grey skies behind for sunny northern New South Wales

Geraniums

One of the window boxes of Soft Belly on Little Bourke Street

Girl in Melbourne will be coming to you from Wauchope/Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast from December 24 until January 1. Posting might be sporadic.
Actually, I won't be posting daily from January 1. I started this blog on January 1 this year with the intention of posting a photo every day for 12 months and although it's been fun, I'm quite looking forward to being less disciplined.

Longest day

Flinders Street. Federation Square and Flinders Street Station on the left, Forum Theatre on the right

Faded

I love seeing the remnants of signs painted onto old bricks. This Dunlop Rubber Co sign is in the alley that runs between Duckboard Place and ACDC Lane in the city.

From prickly to...

...soft n fuzzy.

Cactus

In the arid garden at the Botanic Gardens

Twilight

The view from my loungeroom window last night

Stream

Union Lane in the city

Melbourne quartet

Coffee + bikes + laneways + art

Rankins Lane

Ball

Yup, that's me! Christmas bauble at Southgate

Bricked in

This old brick wall in Little Collins Street encloses the large garden of the exclusive, men only Melbourne Club, but in the late 1800s the wall formed part of housing occupied by some of Melbourne's poorer residents. You can see where the windows have been bricked in.

Before the drought

...this was a water wall fountainy thing. 'Copenhagen?' appeared on the mural in the past couple of weeks.

Tree of stars

City Square

Glow

Sunset. City. Swan Street Bridge.

Rain clouds meet sunset

About 30 seconds later it started to pelt with rain

Click here to see skies from around the world. 

Metal monster

Swanston Street construction site

Umbrellas

Corner Flinders and Swanston Streets this morning

O, Christmas tree

I love the Christmas tree at Collins Place in the city.

Pod II

Another seed pod in the Botanic Gardens. I think this might be a Candy Tuft.

I thought it was gonna rain

But it didn't. Heading into the city this morning.

Glint

Riverside, early evening.

Pod

Seed pod spotted in the Botanic Gardens

Into the light

River boat passing under Prince's Bridge

Doing the Block

Block Arcade gets its Christmas make-over

Eating on the go

The Tramcar Restaurant in Bourke Street Mall

Covered

Shoppers passing through the third floor walkway between Myer and Melbourne Central

Bonus photo Saturday

Hosier Lane in the city, one of Melbourne's graffiti hotspots (PS the bridesmaids' dresses were about the same colour as the wheelie bin lids on the right!)

City bound, Windsor Station

Waiting

Flinders Street tram stop in the evening sun

After the storm

From Prince's Bridge 

Royal Arcade

Christmas decorations in the Royal Arcade

Buoys

Not sure what the story is with these traffic-light-coloured buoys in the Yarra Turning Basin area (the site of Melbourne's first port), near the Aquarium

Lake

I haven't seen the water level in the Botanic Gardens Ornamental Lake this high in ages thanks to the weekend rain. Not that it's that high still. Damn drought. Apparently plans are afoot to replenish the lake with reclaimed water.

Debris

Was it windy somewhere upstream last night? Waterways workers busy removing half a tree from the river this afternoon.

Coat of arms

The base of one of the lamps on Prince's Bridge. They all bear the City of Melbourne coat of arms with the motto which translates as 'We gather strength as we go'.