The Protective

The Exterior

On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I caught myself going to a gallery or two.

Monash Art Gallery is a bit of a mission to get to - train to Glen Waverley, then bus to the outskirts of Monash somewhere - but it's well worth the visit.

As they state on their website - "MGA is unique among Australian cultural organisations. Indeed, it is the only cultural institution in the country – regional, state or national – whose collection is focussed solely on Australian photographs." That's why we went.

It was a shame the Brummels exhibition didn't have a catalogue with it, but you can't have everything.

It also had some of the best coffee and food we found in Melbourne.

These photos were taken outside the gallery. Because I could.

The Random

The Self-referential

Go on, take a closer look.

The Chairs

The Gourmand

On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I caught myself going to a cafe or two.

Or three. Or four.

A day.

I found Australian beer remarkably bland. This one was okay though from memory.

The Train

On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I caught myself catching a train or two.

Trying to pretend like I was a street photographer or something, I took some photos on my journeys.

The Train

On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I caught myself catching a train or two.

Trying to pretend like I was a street photographer or something, I took some photos on my journeys.

The Wordy

On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I caught myself reading a word or two.

These two, well three really, in particular caught my fancy ... apparently.

The Beach

On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I caught myself going to a beach or two.

Well okay just the one.

This one ... St Kilda.

The Garden

On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I caught myself going to a garden or two.

The Winery

On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I caught myself going to a winery or two.

The first one we went to made mediocre wine and was run by a grumpy old man who quite clearly liked his wine, but equally clearly didn't seem to like people quite as much.

The second winery we went to was Helen’s Hill Estate. It was a lovely spot, great wine (well great Australian wine anyway), and run by a smart arse younger man who quite clearly liked his wine, but equally clearly seemed to like people too (well money carrying customers anyway).

I bought some wine.

It's in the cellar.

The Christo

On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I caught myself going to a park or two.

At one of those parks, well actually it was the riverside behind Federation Square, was this little Christo.

Admittedly, not up to their usual standards, but hey, we take art where we find it.

The Cows

On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I caught myself going to a gallery or two.

The Heide Museum of Modern Art is a bit of a mission to get to but I have family nearby and they were happy to take us along.

It's well worth the visit. Not least cos there are cows there.

And other sculpture stuff.

In the sculpture park.

And a fine collection of Australian art in the inside gallery spaces.

The one thing I knew I wanted to buy in Melbourne (and part of the reason for going to Heide) was to get a copy of the catalogue to their recently closed show "Up Close" but, strangely enough, they didn't have any copies though pretty much every other book shop had numerous copies so I didn't go without.

The Hotel

On my recent trip to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, I caught myself going to a hotel or two.

Well okay just the one.

Various views and an interior follow.