Much About Melbourne

and that means the snakes are beginning to emerge. My husband and I were out walking at a local park just recently and saw this snake lazily sunning itself beside the path we were walking on. In fact, we were focused on watching the kangaroos a bit further away and almost didn’t notice the snake only a few feet from where we were walking. Not sure what type it is, possibly a red belly. Didn’t get too close and thankful for a telephoto lens.

If you haven’t been yet, you better get in quick. It closes Tuesday 4th October. Doesn’t seem to go as long as I remember as I thought it was on till the school holidays finished.

I didn’t go this year but have been in the past and use it mainly as a photo opportunity these days. Although once my grandson has grown a little more I daresay we’ll go with him and his parents to the show – that will be fun.

You can find out full details about the Royal Melbourne Show here.

Pictures from the 2009 Show.

I really do wonder where people’s brains are these days.  I mean, to bring a dog to a state park where there are wild animals and a conservation area.  Why would they do that? Don’t they know they’re not allowed to do that? After all there are signs on entering the park that says but surely common sense would dictate that you just don’t take dogs into areas where there are wild animals.  They will smell the dog’s presence as will the dog smell theirs.  And to top it off there is bait laid around the park for foxes – what if the dog found one of those?

So, what makes this lady think she can walk her dog at Lysterfield Lake Park this afternoon?  We saw her walk through the conservation area with her friends as well.

She gets the big thumbs down award!

If you know her, please tell her. And if she still doesn’t believe it, how about pointing her to these regulations.  It’s the second major point on the list.

By the way, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen people at the park or the beach at the park with dogs. Granted most of the time they are on leashes, but that still doesn’t make it alright. If a Park Ranger sees you with a dog, you may get a hefty fine for the privilege.

Markets are a popular thing in Melbourne. You can find the Melbourne & South Melbourne Markets running a few days a week. St Kilda has one running on the esplanade on weekends. And in the hills and country regions you will find regular weekly, monthly and annual markets as well.

I’ve recently been working on a series of Christmas cards that reflect the region in which I live. They’ll soon be available for order and will also be on show for sale at this coming week’s Kallista Market which is in the Dandenong Ranges.

I mentioned recently that the Tulip Festival was soon to open. In fact the dates are 15 September to 12 October.  So if you’re in Melbourne and able to make the trip to Silvan, it would be worth your while to do so.  They have a variety of things happening there and if you check their website you can see what events are taking place and when.  I chose to go when they first opened at 10am today so I could be there before the crowds turned up – which they did an hour later via several buses.

Apart from the Tulips on display, they have other gardens with Ranunculus, Daffodils, Pansies, Azaeleas and a mass of other flowers to look at. Very colourful. There are food stalls with all sorts of foods, some with Dutch leanings. There was a couple singing when I was there, playing the grand piano and a cello but other times I’ve been they’ve had dutch music, bands and all sorts of other people performing.  The staff are in Dutch outfits – not sure how they walk in those clogs all day.

This gives you a slight idea of what I saw today. School holidays are coming up and it will be a great place to take children to play and wander around.