This substantial facility will house 400 research scientists from La Trobe University and the Department of Primary Industries (DPI), including myself! I am rather looking forward to working in such an impressive building.

AgriBio was designed by Lyons Architects and has a 5-star environmental rating. It features state-of-the-art laboratory and office spaces as well as glasshouse facilities.

Today’s opening ceremony was attended by a large number of dignitaries including the Secretary of the Department of Primary Industries Mr. Jeff Rosewarne, the Vice Chancellor of La Trobe University Professor John Dewar, Minister for Agriculture Mr. Peter Walsh and the Premier.

After a number of speeches, the Premier and the Vice Chancellor jointly unveiled the plaque.

This new building is a real asset to the state as we work to improve Victoria’s agricultural production through science.

_____________

These views are my own, and do not represent the views of my employer.

Here’s the result…

Deakin University is one of Melbourne’s newer universities. The institution was formed in Geelong in 1974 but the Melbourne campus was acquired after the university took over Victoria College, a teacher-training institution located in the Melbourne suburb of Burwood.

The Burwood site had actually evolved from an earlier education ‘precinct’ that was established in the 1950′s and consisted of Bennettswood State School (1954-1993), Burwood High School (1955-1987) and Burwood Teachers College (which later became the State College of Victoria and then Victoria College). The Burwood High School buildings and site were incorporated into the teachers college after the school closed and the primary school followed suit in 1993.

None of the high school buildings remain (they were finally demolished in 2009) but about two-thirds of a wing of the Light Timber Construction-style primary school are still in use today. (Since these photos were taken, the cement-tile rendering has been replaced with corrugated iron and the buildings repainted).

Along with the remnants of the primary school remains one of the residential halls from the former teachers college, which now serves as a childcare centre. Like the primary school buildings, these are rendered in cement tile and collectively remain the oldest buildings on the Burwood campus. You will notice that these former residential college buildings at Deakin have a striking similarity to those at the former teachers college in Bendigo.

I somehow sense that Deakin places no value in these buildings and they will likely be demolished in coming years.

Whilst Deakin’s oldest buildings may be modest in nature, there are newer constructions that have relatively greater architectural merit. The tallest by far is the School of Law (Building C or ‘Icon Building’) which can be seen kilometres away. This building was designed by Pels Innes Neilson & Kosloff and Wood Marsh Architects.

To the north is Building G which is fronted by a lovely in-ground fountain.

To the south, the Icon is attached to Buildings D, E and F which radiate from Building C like three fingers. They are connected by an elevated walkway which is accessed via a spiral staircase.

One of the fingers – Building F – is fronted by a verandah which provides access to the Deakin University Student Union Bookshop.

This building marks one end of the ‘central spine’ pathway that cuts through the campus.  The path is decorated with a coloured zig-zag pattern that leads right up to the library. According to some sources, this thoroughfare is known as ‘Mutant Way‘ although no official Deakin University map (including the version in the Melway) uses this name. I do wonder if the name inspired a certain television show on MGV Channel 31?

On the (mutant) way, one passes the brand new Building I, which was designed by Woods Bagot and opened in 2011.

The northernmost part of the campus isn’t very interesting in itself as it is dominated by a large multi-storey car park that features large structural elements.

Moving west, things get way more interesting. One of the more eye-catching spaces sits outside the sports complex on a platform called the ‘Central Precinct’. This is an elevated communal area which I imagine would be abuzz during semester. I like the variously-shaped sky lights in this vast space.

Below this area is a large loading bay area that leads across to the art gallery.

Near to the sports and arts precinct is a courtyard with a sculpture that looks like the work of Adrian Mauriks.

As one leaves the sculpture garden, they are confronted by the massive textured walls of Building J. This building was designed by Wood Marsh architects and constructed in 1996.

On the western edge of the campus, adjacent to Gardiner’s Creek, are some of the newest buildings on campus such as Building HC which is covered in glass louvres, tessellated brickwork and natural timbers.

One can walk through a bush track and cross the river to what is now a continuation of the Deakin University campus on Elgar Road.

This site was once home to the Princess Elizabeth Kindergarten for Deaf Children (1950-2009) and the Allambie Special School & Reception Centre (1961-1990). Don’t be confused about the term ‘reception centre’; this place was for receiving children into State care, not for celebrating weddings. Both sites were acquired by the university and built-over. Today, one can hardly tell what stood there except for a small section of the Allambie buildings that remain.

The most striking structures on the old Princess Elizabeth and Allambie sites are Buildings LA and LB, which provide protection for a terraced courtyard.

To the north of these buildings, sadly, the preschool has made way for a multi-storey car park. To its credit, the university commissioned architects to try and make it look as little like a stack of concrete slabs as could be got away with. Coloured metal fins adorn the façade. The design blends seamlessly into Building MA, the entrance to which is marked with a ramp.

It was at this point that I heard a whirr and realised that I was out of film. It was also time to take my wife home again.

I hope you enjoyed my black-and-white analogue photo tour of Deakin University’s Burwood campus.

In the end, it was a farce.

The Prime Minister ordered a spill of all leadership positions only to find that she was running unopposed. Whilst remaining uncharacteristically quiet for most of the day, Kevin Rudd finally declared that he would honour his previous commitment not to challenge again and no-one else dared challenge the Prime Minister.

Veteran MP and Minister for Rural Affairs Simon Crean was left looking silly and was immediately sacked from his portfolio.

Since this debacle, there have been more resignations from various leaders within the government. Some have called for Julia Gillard to clear out her front bench but it seems to be clearing for her.

Here’s the full list of sackings and resignations to date:

• Chris Bowen – Minister for Tertiary Education (Prospect, NSW.)
• Kim Carr – Human Services (Senator for Victoria)
• Simon Crean – Minister for Rural Affairs (Hotham, Vic.)
• Martin Ferguson – Minister for Resources, Energy, Tourism (Batman, Vic.)
• Joel Fitzgibbon – Chief Whip (Hunter, NSW)
• Ed Husic – Whip (Chifley, NSW)
• Richard Marles – Parl. Sec. for Pacific Island Affairs (Corio, Vic.)
• Janelle Saffin – Whip (Page, NSW)

With three leadership challenges during the life of this government, it is no wonder that the electorate is fed up with the Australian Labor Party, which has governed since 2007.

The BBC has even described recent events as part of a broader Australian coup culture.

Without a miracle, annihilation of the Labor Party seems almost certain at the next election on 14 September.

Melbourne’s admirable bike hire scheme has struggled because laws require cyclists to wear helmets whenever they ride a bicycle in the State of Victoria. No helmets are provided with the hire bikes, which potentially renders patrons liable to prosecution if they hire a bike.

Last December, I went to Adelaide in South Australia and trialled that city’s bicycle hire scheme which is operated by Bicycle South Australia and sponsored by the City of Adelaide council.

In Adelaide, bicycles and helmets are provided free. A hirer simply surrenders a driver’s licence and can then use the bicycle for the entire day. The bicycles are issued from a large network of community centres and City of Adelaide buildings that are dotted around the ‘city of churches’.

The scheme is simple and very effective.

According to the BikeSA website, the scheme has been operating since 2005. During my ride around Adelaide, I saw a number of other riders with their distinctive ‘City Bike’ bicycles also making use of this facility.

Minister for Transport in Victoria, Terry Mulder, has apparently taken inspiration for his latest decision from the experience in Brisbane, Queensland. Mulder told the Australian that “the bikes that have free helmets attached to them in Brisbane had an uptake of three times greater than those that didn’t”.

Correcting this glaring oversight in the Melbourne scheme is a good move, but Moulder told Jon Faine on 3LO 774 this morning that the helmets won’t be attached to the bikes, nor will they be issued from a dispensing machine or manned facility. This surely leaves them prone to theft?

Much discussion was made of the Brisbane scheme on the radio this morning, but no-one mentioned the Adelaide scheme which seems much more sensible and far easier to implement. Theft of helmets is unlikely to be a concern when they are handed-out by people. Patronage would also rise if bikes could be hired for free.

The Melbourne scheme has cost the State Government $5 million so far. Costs would rise more (and patronage fall) if the helmets are stolen. Additionally, I am unsure what happens when it rains, as the helmets would become wet when the bicycles are housed in their unprotected frames on the footpath.

I wish this scheme every success, but it seems to me that we need to look west to see a good scheme in operation, not north.

After looking at all of the different plans on offer, I decided to stay with Telstra, the former government-owned monopoly. I do a lot of rural driving and so I require good coverage across the state and it’s well-known that in a country with substandard mobile coverage, Telstra’s network easily outshines the others.

With my mobile phone in hand, there were two things that I wanted Telstra to do:

• Change my Telstra mobile account from a legacy post-paid plan to Telstra’s Pre-Paid Cap Encore.
• Replace my old 2G SIM card with a 4G microSIM.

Sounds easy, right? Far from it!

This is a blow-by-blow account of how Telstra have turned a simple process into a major ordeal.

Wednesday 30 January: 12:30pm

With my HTC One XL 4G smart phone in hand as well as my wife’s new Samsung Galaxy SIII 4G, I enter the Telstra Shop at a major Melbourne shopping centre to get both phones connected to the Telstra network. My wife is switching from Three, and so requires a new microSIM and phone number. The woman behind the counter is able to sell me a $30 SIM card and explains that my wife would need to activate it online, which is easy enough.

She then explains that I will need to have my legacy plan switched over to pre-paid and then have my new microSIM activated. After issuing me with a blank microSIM, she asks whether I would like to do the conversion. Somewhat surprised, I question this and am told by the woman “I can do it for you, but I am just going to call the same phone line that you would so you can just as easily do it”.

I tell her that I’d prefer that she does it. (After all, it is her job).

1:00pm

The Telstra sales assistant is still on the phone to Telstra. We’ve both been listening to muzak for 20 minutes on the speakerphone at the shop counter. There’s an ever-growing queue of annoyed-looking customers waiting to be served. The Telstra sales assistant has been explaining what she’s trying to do to various call centre staff who have shifted her from one department to another.

I ask why she can’t log into the Telstra computer system and do the work herself. I am told that it’s “very complicated” and that “these people are the experts”.

1:20pm

Finally the phone call is done and I can leave the Telstra Shop. I am told by the sales girl that the work will be completed overnight. I am also told that a Telstra employee will call me to check that it’s all done. We make an appointment for me to receive my call at 9:30am tomorrow.

My HTC One XL says “no service”.

Thursday 31 January: 8:30am

I check my smart phone, which still says “No Service”. My wife’s phone is now connected to Telstra and has full network access.

9:30am

No phone call from Telstra.

9:45am

I decide to investigate my phone account online. I notice that Telstra have a Live Chat help service, so I log on. I have to make four attempts as the chat session frustratingly terminates after a couple of minutes on each occasion.

11:35am

I decide to call Telstra and see what’s happening. After 12 minutes, my call is routed through to a friendly woman in Manila. I provide my account details and she advises me that it was done at 9:15am but an “error has occurred” and that a remedy will take “up to 24 hours”. I ask whether the matter can be manually fixed and am told that it can’t, but am given a random 12-digit ‘activity code’. I am unsure what to do with this but write it down anyway.

The woman on the phone makes an appointment for a person to call me at 12pm tomorrow to confirm that the work is completed.

My phone says “no service”.

Friday 1 February: 7:30am

My phone still says “no service”.

9:40am

I have another attempt at Live Chat and speak to ‘Mary Ann’. I am told that there has been another error, but that my call is being ‘provisioned’ and that it could take take “another 24 hours” but is scheduled to be done at 12pm midday and has been escalated. Given that I was previously promised a call at 12pm to confirm that the work is done, this puzzles me.

She said to me “I promise that we’ll give you a phone call when it’s done”. Given that they cannot use my mobile phone number, I asked whether they have my alternative phone numbers and I am told that they don’t. Looks like I’ve saved myself from another broken promise.

11:20am

I have signed-up for My Telstra, so that I can check my Telstra accounts. The account shows my landline and old mobile plans as being active.

12:00pm

No call from Telstra, despite the ‘action code’.

12:38pm

Again I turn to Live Chat and speak to ‘Christine’. She tells me that my old plan was changed at 10am yesterday but was still ‘provisioning’. She will escalate the matter as I had exceeded “the expected time of 48 hours”. Despite assurances to the contrary, it appears that the matter hasn’t been escalated until now.

I ask whether I can use My Telstra to check when the work is done, and am told that there is a lag between when the accounts are updated and when it will show on My Telstra. So that appears rather useless.

3.16pm

I get a call from Telstra. I have been assigned a ‘client manager’ who tells me that “I need to reset my expectations” (lower them?) and be a “bit more patient”. She then tells me that my mobile won’t likely be connected for “a few more days” and that I should get an update “some time next week”.

When I suggest that it is rather pathetic for Telstra to take 5 days to reassign an existing customer’s account, I am told that’s “quite normal”. After I point out that the Telstra Pre-Paid website (below) says it will take 4 hours (not 5 days), there’s no response from the client manager.

We discuss this ‘provisioning’ and I ask why someone can’t intervene, and she tells me that she’s “just a client manager, I can’t do it” but when I ask why an appropriate technician can’t do it, I am told “it’s not possible”.

Realising that I can’t get any further, I thank her for her getting back to me and we end the call.

4.07pm

I receive an email from Telstraemailbill_noreply1@online.telstra.com thanking me for agreeing to receive my Telstra bills via email.

I never agreed to have electronic billing and the account number is unfamiliar to me. Ah, one more stuff-up.

Saturday 2 February: 1:39pm

I log-in to My Telstra and I can see that my mobile phone has been removed from the post-paid plan.

Despite previous advice of needing to wait until next week, I persevere and log onto Live Chat to follow-up my case. I am told that I can add credit and start using my phone immediately, despite it saying “no service”. I add $30 credit. The phone still doesn’t work.

2.10pm

I log onto Live Chat again to find out why I have no connection. I am told that I will have to be connected to a technical expert. Elated that I am finally getting proper help, a friendly computer technician starts guiding me through the settings to get my phone connected to the Telstra network.

In the process, he discovers that my microSIM has not been registered.

3:10pm

After more than 45 minutes of direct technical assistance, I am finally able to get my HTC One XL 4G phone to connect to the Telstra network. After a few tests to confirm that I can receive calls and have internet access, I am ready to go.

Conclusion

Question: How long does it take Telstra to:

• Change a Telstra mobile account from a legacy post-paid plan to Telstra’s Pre-Paid Cap Encore.
• Replace an old 2G SIM card with a 4G microSIM.

Answer: Three days and only with a lot of perseverance on my part.

Now that I finally have a connection, the phone seems to be working well.

Telstra’s service has been very disappointing.

I don’t expect instant service or special treatment, but I don’t think an existing customer of 15 years standing should have to fight for three days to change a telephone account and get it switched over. I also expect that when I walk into a Telstra Shop that the staff have the knowledge and capability to perform basic tasks, like access customer records. Finally, if their website says 4 hours, that’s the timeline they should work to.

Telstra, you leave much room for improvement.

According to ABC election analyst Antony Green, this is probably the longest notice that an Australian Prime Minister has given for an election since 1945, if not ever. The previous record was set in both 1958 and 1961 when Sir Robert Menzies gave three months’ notice.

Conventional wisdom in Australia has said that a sitting Prime Minister should employ one of the advantages of incumbency and keep the date of the election a secret until a few weeks before polling day. Such practice, which was considered intrenched in a country that does not have fixed-term elections, has now been abrubtly turned on its head.

Ms. Gillard has always been a controversial leader.

After knifing sitting PM Kevin Rudd in a midnight coup, she called an election in 2010 only to be presented with a Hung Parliament, before forming a minority government with independent and Greens support. Despite this, her government has successfully passed a number of key reforms including the National Broadband Network and Carbon Tax 2.0. However, Gillard’s political judgement has been called into question (including by myself) following her ousting of Rudd, her promise that “There will be no carbon tax under the government I lead” and her appalling polling.

Whether the decision to announce the election so soon is clever or foolish is yet to be seen. Like her nighttime coup against Kevin Rudd, political wisdom would suggest that it is a risky move. Opposition leader Tony Abbott has proven himself to be surprisingly effective against a PM that many Australians still treat with a degree of suspicion.

I love election campaigns but this one will definitely have a distinctive flavour. It shall be interesting to watch the mechanations and manoeuvring from the ALP and Liberals as well as the Greens and three independents.

In 2010, Tony Abbot almost brought the Liberal Party back from the abyss after one term in opposition. It was a remarkable feat, but if he fails a second time to bring the Liberal Party to government, there is bound to be a leadership challenge. His credibility is therefore on the line.

Julia Gillard ousted Kevin Rudd in his first term and subsequently failed to win majority government for herself. This combination has meant that many Australians believe she lacks a degree of legitimacy. Gillard will want to win a third term for the ALP to secure some of her government’s long-term achivements as well as win a first election in her own right.

Both leaders will be fighting hard and it shall be a close contest.

Sit back and make yourself comfortable… this is going to be a long one.

The purpose of the 12,000m², 8-storey Design Hub is to provide accommodation within one building for a diverse range of design research and post graduate education at the RMIT. The Hub is designed to provide a collegial research base where post graduates in fields such as fabric and fashion design can work alongside those involved in architecture, aeronautical engineering, industrial design, landscape architecture and urban design.

I love this building, which adds beautifully to Melbourne’s contemporary architectural landscape.

My journey started on Swanston Street beside the derelict Carlton Brewery building, where I stepped down into a lane and ended-up in a barren courtyard between the Design Hub proper and a smaller building on the west side. Gentle steps led down from Victoria Street to a sculpture of poles arranged in a neolithic-inspired circle.

I soon found myself in some sort of long outdoor passageway, with steel beams above and left and glass on the right that reflected the Hub’s disk façade. Impressive as this spectacle was, it was the interior of the building that got me excited.

I wasn’t quite sure how much exploring I was allowed to do, so I simply went as far as I could without opening any doors or passing any ‘no entry’ signs. As it turned out, that permitted me entry to the deep bowels of the building.

This is a strange complex.

The plain appearance of the long entrance passage is punctured only by a digital clock positioned above the lift. The walls on one side are constructed of what could only be described as drain grates. This appearance is surprisingly effective. On the other side are the front windows which are obscured by the glazed disk façade.

Following the long passage way to the end is an entrance to a lecture theatre which is separated from the rest of the building by a glass curtain. At this point the corridor turns back on itself and narrows. As one proceeds along it, the atmosphere becomes darker and suddenly one is presented with a very long series of steps that lead deep down into the ground. The high ceiling gives this space a dramatic feel.

Proceeding down the long steps, I found a gallery space.

As I continued my descent, I found myself at a T-intersection. I proceeded to the right where I found some sort of gallery/plaza space with a servery.

The room was empty so I turned back and found an even more peculiar corridor with a series of angled shelves spanning the entire length of the corridor. I have no idea whether the shelves were designed to be functional or decorative. I proceeded the length of this corridor until I found another large room that was locked, and what appeared to be a loading dock. I decided not to proceed any further.

I love this building’s starkness.

The RMIT Design Hub is designed to be explored, with a new experience provided at every turn. It is a cold building – make no mistake about this – but it’s intriguing and captivating. Exploring it was a lot of fun.

I wandered up to the first floor where the offices are and the corridors are somewhat similar to downstairs.

When I first saw the design plan for the RMIT Design Hub, I was unimpressed. Now having seen the building under construction and having toured the interior, I love it.

Last week, the Design Hub was officially opened with much fanfare. Whilst the building may have been criticised for failing to live up to its environmental credentials, the RMIT would surely be pleased with its investment on aesthetic grounds alone.

This new eatery was discovered by accident during the week and it was the old-fashioned undergarments hanging in the window that caught the eye of my colleagues and I.

This curious little eatery on Orr Street in Melbourne’s Heidelberg Heights intrigued us.

Aside from the undergarments in the front window, we also spotted a large pink 1960′s caravan parked down the sideway with various bits of outdoor furniture. We weren’t sure if that was an additional eating area or a display but it was certainly eye-catching.

The shop itself was rather full of customers (a good sign) and given the name, I guessed that they may sell scones. Well, I hoped that they would, but a part of me was concerned that the name may have been ironic somehow (I am used to that sort of thing, having lived in an inner-city suburb for years).

Fortunately the name wasn’t ironic as some work colleagues and I discovered on Friday when we decided to satisfy our curiosity and sample the fare at Jam and Cream for ourselves.

Jam and Cream is decorated with a lot of mid-twentieth century paraphernalia and the proprietors have clearly tried to use nostalgia as a selling point. Being far too young for that, I was unaffected but I could appreciate the sheer effort that the owners have gone to in order to decorate their shop. Nothing has been done by halves and whilst there is so much scope for such a themed coffee shop to be clichéd or even tacky, a skilled eye for design has prevented both outcomes.

Retro eateries aren’t a novel idea. In visiting Jam and Cream I am somewhat reminded of Sugardough in Brunswick although Jam and Cream have taken the decorations considerably further. What makes this attractive tribute to post-war life more exciting is that it isn’t in a trendy inner-city location but rather the most unlikely of outer suburbs.

Jam and Cream sell a range of scones as well as small cakes, tea and coffee. Considerable attention to detail has been paid and the beautiful cakes are presented amongst the other knick-knacks on the main counter near so-called “Nanna’s Jams” and “Grandpa’s Honey”.  Much effort has been put into giving the shop a homely feel and it’s worked although it does feel like a hybrid between grandma’s house and a 1950′s corner store.

I ordered some traditional scones and a coffee and was rather impressed.  Two scones with raspberry jam, freshly-whipped cream and a caffè latte cost $14.00.

The scones were cooked to order and I can attest that the 10-minute wait was well worth it. The scones were hot, fluffy and complimented with fresh cream and quality raspberry jam. The coffee was also particularly good and clearly prepared with skill. Because of the range of decorations in the shop, there was plenty to occupy the eyes and the friendly table service added to the pleasant atmosphere. My colleagues ordered various different items from the menu and the general consensus was extremely positive.

One of the drawbacks is the “cash only” policy. I never understand why some proprietors seek to make it more difficult for customers to pay. Hopefully the good folks at Jam and Cream will see the error of their ways and reform accordingly.

Jam and Cream is well worth a try and I am sure that I will make a return visit soon (as long as I have cash in my wallet). The venue is located in the unlikely-looking Shop 3 at 1 Orr Street in Heidelberg Heights (near Waiora Road). Orr Street is partially concealed behind Kingsbury Drive but as long as you look for the undies in the window, you won’t miss it!

In summary:

• Atmosphere: 4.5/5
• Food quality and taste: 5/5
• Value: 4/5
• Service: 4/5 (a point lost because of the absence of an EFTPOS terminal)

Update (5 September 2012):The owner of ‘Jam and Cream’ has contacted me and informed me that an ongoing telecommunications connectivity problem has prevented the implementation of an electronic payment system.

For plant lovers, there is still some joy to be had during this bitter season. Last year, I wrote about some of the beautiful bedding annuals that flower mid-winter and a few weeks ago I documented the flowering of wattles (Acacia) blooming near my workplace. Now that many of the wattles have finished, it’s time for the very first of the blossom trees to commence and some of them are putting out a beautiful display despite the wind and rain.

The plants that we tend to call blossom trees generally belong to the genera Malus (apples), Prunus (plums and cherries) and Chaenomeles (quinces) and are noted for their soft and delicate flowers in various shades of white, pink or red. Other genera such as Pyrus (pears) have beautiful blossom too, but they tend to flower in spring.

As I have taken my lunch time walks, I have spotted some lovely prunus trees (Prunus cerasifera cvs.) coming into flower, as well as an ornamental quince (Chaenomeles japonica), a rare sight in Melbourne these days. Whilst none of the local displays can compete with the sakura of Japan, they still bring their own joy to passers-by.

I find blossom trees particularly challenging to photograph well. The slightest movement of air will cause the delicate petals or branches to move and a blurred photo will result. A narrow depth-of-focus looks good but getting the correct balance is tricky because if it is too narrow almost nothing will be sharp and if it is too wide, some of the depth of the photograph will be lost.

Here are some shots that I have taken of the curiously-named Prunus cersifera ‘Pissardii’ that I have found growing on a vacant block of land in Macleod. What a beauty!

Many Melburnians would be familiar with its pink-flowered cousin Prunus cersifera ‘Nigra’ which was often planted as a street tree in the 1960′s and has beautiful dark-purple foliage in the warmer months.

Finally, here’s a shot of the beautiful flowers of Chaenomeles japonica which produces far fewer blossoms but in a much richer colour than the prunus trees.

These aren’t the only blossoms coming into bloom. Many of the flowering cherries will burst into flower very soon too.

Stay tuned to my Flickr stream for more photos. I am sure more are bound to follow…

If so, you’d have been in for a real treat as the splendid wattles (Acacia) have come into flower.

I have said it before and I shall say it again: I love wattles. It is truly a highlight of the Australian winter to see these splendid shrubs and trees come into bloom at a time when little else is flowering.

This past week  I have made a special point of taking a walk at lunch time (with my camera in hand) to photograph the lovely specimens on show. All photos were shot using a Canon EFS 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens.

Looking at these photos, you will hopefully come to appreciate the diversity of floral and foliar forms that are exhibited by this genus of 1200 species. Species may have pinnate leaves or bipinnate leave or in the case of plants with phyllodes, no leaves at all! Flowers may be circular or ‘rod’-shaped and range from vivid yellow to almost white. (A red species is also available commercially). Wattles also range in form from ground covers to massive trees.

I have not photographed every species on campus (some are yet to flower), but these are the highlights so far:

Acacia decurrens

This is one of the most common species on campus. This particular one was seen on the Ring Road, near the AgriBio centre.

Acacia pycnantha (Golden Wattle)

This is Australia’s floral emblem, but there are relatively few growing at La Trobe University. This specimen was seen on the edge of the campus near the sports fields and lake.

Acacia sophorae

Growing adjacent to the front entrance of the university on Kingsbury Drive, this species has the richest yellow flowers of all.

Acacia prominens

This specimen is growing near some reserved land on Ring Road near the Agribio centre, but others have been planted on campus. The colour of these flowers is paler and the sprays more delicate than some of the other species.

Acacia pravissima

I like the reddish stems on this species, as well as the tiny triangle-shaped leaves. This species can be seen flowering on the road verge of Kingsbury Drive, just beside the Waterdale Apartments.

Acacia longifolia subsp. longifolia

The pale colour of these dense flowers is what makes this species stand out. Like A. pravissima above, I also spotted this plant growing on the road verge of Kingsbury Drive.

Acacia floribunda

Seen growing beside the Kingsbury Drive entrance to the the Waterdale Apartments, the soft and delicate sprays of pale flowers are complimented by this species’ narrow deep-green leaves.

Acacia acinacea

The Gold Dust wattle is a superb shrub that barely exceeds 1.2 metres when mature. This specimen is part of a hedgerow planted in front of the Hexima glasshouses at the very end of Park Drive in the Research and Development Park. The flowers of this species are so tiny!

Acacia mearnsii

There are just a few of these on campus, but this specimen was spotted growing beside the Darebin Creek in the park lands immediately west of La Trobe University.

Those are the highlights. As more species come into flower, stay focussed on my Flickr stream for the latest photos.