The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion

During the Christmas holidays we went to the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, being built near Bendigo Australia, is 50 metres square at its base and nearly 50 metres high. This makes it the largest stupa in the Western World.

A stupa (also known as a pagoda) is the most sacred building in Buddhism. A stupa symbolises the enlightened mind and the path to enlightenment. A stupa is also a reliquary to house holy relics of the Buddha and other highly realised beings. See- https://stupa.org.au/

Goodbye to the Crepe Myrtle

Goodbye to the Crepe Myrtle in our front yard, after living probably more than fifty years, the house we live in was built in the mid 1950's.
Crepe Myrtle trees live well past 50 years so we assume it was planted sometime after the house was built so could easily have been 60 years old.

Two thirds were dead and the rest struggled to produce any flowers or leaves this last summer. So this week we replaced it with a deciduous flowering Ash, a great shade tree that will give shade to the driveway and the front of the house in our hot summers but let sunshine and light in in our chilly winters.

The wood from the Crepe Myrtle will make fine firewood for the wood fired pizza oven this friday evening. Hmmm pizza - http://wfrblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/hmmm-pizza.html

 

 The new

 The old

In situ

Gold Digger

Walking through one of the National Parks that skirts my area that was, as is most of Bendigo, old gold diggings. We found flowers, mine shafts and historical areas.

Flowers

  Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f2.8, 1/3200 sec

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Holes

  Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 16mm f8, 1/30 sec

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Ha Ha I scoff at your sign.

 Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 @ ISO 200, 11mm f8, 1/60 sec

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About Town

 Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200  2.8 @ ISO 200, 70mm f2.8, 1/50 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200  2.8 @ ISO 200, 200mm f2.8, 1/20 sec

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Sign Of The Times

During the gold rush in Central Victoria three brothers from Denmark Moritz, Julius and Jacob Cohn, founded a small cordial factory in Bendigo. Cohn products were sold across the Australia and exported to the United Kingdom and Asia. The brothers went on to hold prominent positions on the local Council, and were part of the group that founded the Bendigo Land and Building Society, which became the Bendigo Bank. This sign was hand painted by Bendigo sign writer Frank Barr around 1954. It was hidden for decades by an adjacent building but when it was demolished the sign was revealed. It can be found near the corner of Bridge & Arnold Streets, Bendigo. Source: http://www.cv.vic.gov.au/stories/made-in-bendigo-cold-beer/

iPhone 4

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Gong Hey Fat Choy - Xin Nian Kuai Le - The Year of the Dragon 2012

Bendigo Region Redux

Quintessentially Bendigo             The Bush
   Click on text to jump to post                   Hills           Click on text to jump to post              Sunrise
                                 Walking Click on text to jump to post
       Wider Area              More Mining                   Lake
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Winter         More Lake               Catchments                Fishing
                            Bendigo Pottery       Click on text to jump to post
       Autumn                                         The Town               Mining     Click on text to jump to post
 Water                           Dam                   Regional History    Click on text to jump to post