The banks of the Yarra River are one of our exercise circuits. The River, the Birrarung, flows past Naarm (where Melbourne City now squats with a great sense of ownership!). Naarm is the traditional land of the Wurundjeri people; in the Woiwurrung language ‘wurun’ means the Manna Gum which is common along ‘Birrarung’ and ‘djeri‘, the grub which is found in or near the tree. Wurundjeri are the ‘Witchetty Grub People’. When I walk by The River I like to let my mind drift back to a time before European settlement.
Our morning walk takes us around seven of the 9 bridges that span the Yarra River from Punt Road Bridge (the site of a punt service in the mid 1800s) to Spencer Street Bridge.
David Greybeard the first chimpanzee to interact with Jane Goodall sixty years ago. Artist Lisa Roet created this intriguing inflatable 'sculpture' in association with Jane Goodall Institute Australia. The sculpture will tour to 6 countries and 4 continents to help raise awareness of habitat and species protection.
There are many quirky scuptures along the banks of The River
This one is one of Deborah Halpern's, the artist who created the 'Angel', my absolute favourite.
And here she is! My favourite, 'Angel'. I could spend hours looking at all the images the artist has worked into the ceramics.
Dervish in oxidised steel
Shearwater (I'd call it red-tailed cockatoo!)
'Sukkah' is a relatively new, temporary work of public art installed in Birrarung Marr (meaning beside the River of Mist, depending on who's telling the story).
Like all large cities on rivers this could be called a river of bridges. This is looking under the Prince's Bridge (the third iteration) towards what many of us call the Skipping Girl Bridge because at some point there was a animated neon sign of a skipping girl advertising Skipping Girl Vinegar - it's a long story. Beyond that bearly visible are the Sandridge and Queen's bridges.
Spencer Street - the first pile for this bridge driven in 1927, had to go very deep to reach bedrock. At 20 metres below sea level they struck a red gum stump that took three weeks to remove. It was dated at about 8,000 years old and appears to have lived for well over 400 years. But the important thing in this photo is the red helicopter! On my bucket list but where to go? hmmm ... somewhere exotic.
This is one of the 'Travellers' sculptures at the south end of Sandridge bridge.
The Sandridge Bridge built in 1850s was the first steel bridge over the Yarra and linked the growing metropolis to Port Phillip where thousands of immigrants landed. The bridge was redeveloped 14 years ago as a pedestrian and cycle path and features public art 'The Travellers' most of which move along the bridge (you have to be lucky to spot them moving though). The sculptures were intended to depict the diversity of people coming to Melbourne. Along the length of the bridge were glass panels each one dedicated to a country from which people had emmigrated to Melbourne. The bridge was vandalised when 'someones' used a sledgehammer to smash 46 of the 128 glass panels of the Travellers exhibit.
Enterprize Park beside what is know as the Turning Basin, commemorates the spot where the first settlers aboard the ship Enterprize went ashore on 30 August 1835. Today, it is the site of the Scar Project, a collaborative installation by Aboriginal artists who used original wharf poles from Queens Bridge to engage with the tradition of tree scarring. It's wonderful but I don't have a pic yet! What I love are a collection of five carved-wood figureheads represent a dragon, woman, bird, man and lion reflecting ethnic and cultural diversity of those who used the Turning Basin during the early years of settlement. This was Melbourne's first port.
I love these bees! a colony of giant golden shining bees hover on the side of the Eureka Tower, on the Southbank. The artist used these lovely creatures as a gleaming metaphor for the hive of frenetic activity and harmonious high-density city living. He could be right!
This is an appetiser for inner Melbourne’s 'public' artworks. I adore this bronze angel, such attitude! More later.
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