When one looks up Earth colours, the results that pop up say that “Earth colours are a palette of muted tones such as green, beige and brown.”

But the more I contemplate about the concept of Earth colours, I realise that the Earth is so much more than just the beiges and browns and in fact, every colour on the colour wheel finds a place on Earth.

When I visited Melbourne, one of the things that captivated me was how nature flaunted its best colours, putting the city in a vibrant frame with each shade of the sky.

In this post, Imma show ye wee folks some of the architectural beauty of Melbourne, nestled in foliage and embraced by Mama Nature, so without further ado, let’s get those Earth-tinted glasses on!

hehe….

I was originally gonna title this post as ‘Melbourne through a green tinted glass’, but the metaphor spoke strongly of jealousy and I ain’ like all that.

Right, with that bit of contemplation overshared, leggo!

hehe.

First up, we have a shot of two different skylines, against a slowly darkening sky. The first skyline is the iconic Melbourne Skyline, with all its fun buildings and the second skyline is the dark green line of trees layering the scene, with a pop of fiery Autumn shades, right in the middle of the picture.

I took this picture at the Shrine of Remembrance, which is a war memorial in Melbourne and I didn’t know this view existed till I turned from the monument and saw the scene that the memorial faced. The Shrine of Remembrance offers one of the best glimpses of the Melbourne skyline, while engulfing one in a tranquil state of contemplation, with the sombre mood of a war memorial. I think it really brings home the fact that the sacrifices made for preserving peace are so valiant and those of us who take in this view and indulge in peace are so lucky.

Here’s a glimpse of the Shrine of Remembrance. I love how the sky looks in the second picture. It adds a sort of motility to the frame that really stands out well with the architecture.

Here we have the Macpherson Robertson Fountain, which is just a short way away from the Shrine of Remembrance. The area around the Shrine is a beautiful place, nestled in foliage as it leads to the Melbourne Botanical Gardens and there’s a lot of hidden sculpture which makes the whole walk like a treasure hunt.

I love how the fountain has such whimsy architecture, like there’s a boy holding a dolphin and its all set in stone which gives it a nice vintage look. There’s also tortoises spouting water and it’s all such a fun hodgepodge, straight out of a fantastical dream.

Hehe.

This is a sculpture called Cobbers, which is a memorial for Australian soldiers who fought in France during World War 1. Cobbers is an Aussie term for friend, and the sculpture depicts a soldier carrying his wounded compatriot off the field, showcasing camaraderie during war. It was such a unique aspect of war that the sculpture depicted. I love how the Shrine of Remembrance and the reserve around it commemorates all the aspects of war and is such a silent yet powerful monument.

The Shrine of Remembrance reserve leads to the Royal Botanical Gardens of Melbourne and when I walked into the Gardens, this was the view that greeted me.

The Autumn foliage makes the trees look as though they are fireworks and I was lucky to get a brief golden hour, even though it was rather early in the day. This picture shows Earth in all its vibrancy, and it exudes such a cosy feeling of homecoming and contentment. It also makes one slow down and just indulge in everything that’s beautiful, rather than chase a vision of detachment and I love how subtly extravagant the scene is.

Here we have a Kauri tree, scientifically known as Agathis australis, even though it is a native of New Zealand.

hehe.

When I was in Australia, the only song that played in my head on repeat was, “Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree….” and when I actually saw gum trees, the song amplified to deafening decibels, hehe. I didn’t glimpse a Kookaburra sitting on the branches but I did see a spider.

It was the only spider that I saw on my entire trip.

Now, when I was planning my trip to Australia, one thing that was shoved into my braincell by social media was that the place is teeming with spiders and no place is safe. Now, I respect spiders and I maintain a safe distance from them, which is why I was a little apprehensive about finding a spider resting in the bathtub but given that I saw only one spider in my entire trip, I did question the whole narrative of spiders encroaching upon one’s existence in Australia.

Of course, I’ve just been to Melbourne, but I did meet a number of people from different Aussie cities and spiders were not something they said I should look out for. I mean, spiders are a huge part of Australia’s fauna but I think they keep to themselves and go about their business without really interacting with humans, so Imma take those scary Instagram posts with a grain of salt.

There was literally one post saying, Aussie Spiders can eat you.

People need to touch some grass. Or encyclopaedias.

hehe.

This is exactly how I picture Aurora’s house to be in Sleeping Beauty and I half hoped for the chimney to spout pink and blue sparks, hehe.

I love the overgrown look of the foliage. It adds a rustic vibe to the house and the gives a vibe of mystical things that once happened here. It also kind of reminds me of the Haunting of Bly Manor. The house is actually called the Gatekeeper’s Cottage and one can chance upon it while strolling through the Royal Botanical Gardens.

Here’s pictures showing some of Australia’s birdies at the Botanical Gardens. The first picture shows a group of White Ibis and the second picture is that of a Swamp hen.

I was really lucky to glimpse these birds because when I visited this area the second time, there was not a bird in sight.

The botanical gardens have so many birds coming in. I saw wrens, cockatoos, robins and so many more birdies. They are all pretty hard to photograph because they flit away in a fraction of a second but it’s thrilling to see them, even for a moment:)

This was my favourite part of the Royal Botanical Gardens. It’s called Guilfoyle’s Volcano and it’s basically a pyramidal landscape made of succulents. The concept was so unique and it actually looked like a green volcano. I had never seen so many succulents together before, so it was like taking a trip to a whole different world. The succulents are the highlight of the botanical gardens. Here’s a few more, blessing the feed, hehe.

The succulents here felt as though they have personalities of their own, and I feel if one catches them on an empty day, they might actually talk and move, hehe.

Here’s a glimpse of the Children’s Garden at the botanical gardens. it consists of a maze and a lot of gardening based activities which I thought was adorable. The setup looked like a doll’s house, with little scarecrows and tiny rows of flowers and veggies, along with a tea-party set up. It made me want to play tea-time with my dolls and reminded me of Noddy.

hehe.

 

And that is a wrap,

Until Next Time,

Peace:)