Lower Kororoit Creek Trail

On Sunday I attended the launch of the  opening of the first major section of the Kororoit Creek Trail in Hobsons Bay.

The offroad shared trail between Barnes Road and Blackshaws Road is under construction and due to be complete by National Tree Day on 30th July 2017.

This section of trail was made possible by a massive donation by Toyota Australia to leave an ongoing legacy to the community and workers who were involved in the manufacturing plant in Altona North. The plant is closing in October.

Toyota Australia, the State Government through its Sport & Recreation budget, along with a Hobsons Bay Council Grant, have contributed more than 3.8 million dollars towards the development of this section of trail and artwork.

There was also a planting of 2,300 trees, plants and native grasses along the banks of the creek to celebrate National Tree Day and a tour of Geoffrey Ricardo’s public art commission ‘Spirits of Time and Place’. Kororoit Creek Sculpture Commission 2017

Altona North’s Geoff Mitchelmore is a former industrial chemist who has devoted his life to greening Kororoit Creek. The waterway had been a drain since colonial times, used to to dump abattoir blood, oil and other chemical nasties. He initially thought the Creek was a drain and was so shocked he started getting it cleaned up 
The before pictures in this Age video are amazing ! Changing the landscape

tents set up at the Reserve iff Blackshaw's Rd with free music food and coffee

historic bluestone bridge 

The Bluestone Bridge over Kororoit Creek, comprising the bridge constructed in 1889 and altered in 1912 and  the adjoining remnants of the old Geelong Road are off the Princes Highway (Geelong Rd) near Clelland Road, Brooklyn. Historically, the bridge is significant as the oldest surviving road bridge within the municipality and one of a small number of stone bridges from this era.

There is a talk by the artist on his works next week  This is one of ten along the trail 

Wallace and Gromit

Couldn't walk past this when I was in at  the NGV Australia 
Wallace and Gromit and Friends :The Art of Aardman
Loved Wallace and Gromit since seeing The Wrong Trousers  and of course lately Shaun the Sheep (and Timmy) 
Their stop-motion clay animation is amazing.
Peter Lord and David Spoxton Nick Park et al AKA Aardman,  exhibition at ACMI had lots of Wallace’s great contraptions along with  film sets, including Gromit’s famous vegetable garden, city streets from Shaun the Sheep the Movie, the flying machine from Chicken Run  
There are Hand crafted plasticine models, concept drawings, character studies, storyboards and production design are all revealed,  the first ever drawings of Wallace & Gromit and the rocket from A Grand Day Out.
Extracts of Aardman’s most famous films selected from more than 60 shorts and features, imaginative advertisements and music videos.
 A Grand Day Out!!

1st Oscar won for Creature Comforts 

The film shows various animals in a zoo being interviewed about their living conditions. These include a depressed gorilla, a Brazilian puma and a young hippopotamus who complain about the cold weather, the poor quality of their enclosures and the lack of space and freedom. By contrast, a tarsier and an armadillo praise their enclosures for the comfort and security they bring, and a family of polar bears talk about both the advantages and disadvantages of zoos for the welfare of animals. 

I love the excerpt of the Puma talking about need for Space and MEAT 

Bears of Creature comforts 

Creature Comforts

 Aardman films have made $973.2 million worldwide and average $163 million per film. When you se the work that goes into them they deserve every cent!

design for the Were Rabbit

Trogir

Trogir is a town on the central Adriatic coast of Croatia about 20 minutes from the Marina 

Its preserved old town, known for its mix of Renaissance, baroque and Romanesque buildings, lies on a small island connected to the mainland and the island of Čiovo by bridges. 

The 13th-century Cathedral of St. Lawrence houses the Renaissance Chapel of St. John and offers sweeping views from its bell tower. 

Parts of the medieval city walls remain intact. It was so small we could walk from one side to the other in 5 minutes Unless we got distracted by another tempting alley or courtyard!

View from balcony of great room we booked 

Settling in for a wine after a long walking day 

The rear gate

polished marble lanes 

One of the bridges in to The town 

the beach front 

Croatia : Sailing

All the Sunsail boats at the Marina (Tony R striding into pic)

Lots of fascinating building stop explore 

The Marian Agana where we started West of Trogir

Never hard to find somewhere for dinner

Morning coffee on deck

Our Boat Leona

My helming day 

The blue of the Adriatic

Mooring for lunch in a small bay 

Big commercial Marina on Hvar

Stone walls everywhere Built as they clear land
Often they were just in piles here and there