Today is the 1st of August 2003.Cold morning but a beautiful day to follow.Port Phillip Bay was so calm and serene and it was hard to imagine that no more than 1/2 kilometre away there was a traffic snarl on Westgate Bridge which on a Friday is the norm.The bay had low dark grey fog hovering above the water line,no not cloud but pollution.there was no wind to take it out to sea.I often wonder when looking at the bay on a heavy pollution day that large sailing ship will somehow come through the haze as if frozen in time and sail into and along the channel to tie up at the pier or wharf.A ship from long ago that sailed in these waters some 150 years ago from parts unknown ..A ship that time forgot ,a ship that had vanished without trace and now had come home to its destination.
We no longer see very many mastered ships in the bay except those on special expiditions or for training young would be lads and lasses..
The ships of today could hardly be called romantic in design,they are functional square ordinary looking able to carry thousands of passengers and some carry motor vehicles.They are tall but not in the sense of the mastered vessels of old.We can only glance at the past in photos and prints enlarged for us to frame and hang on our walls to remind us of a bygone era,perhaps a less safe era but none the less those who sailed the seas were brave never knowing if they would arrive at their chosen destination.
We can look at the land and see history through the eyes of the pioneers but the history of the sea is easier to imagine if one can sit on the shore and look out to sea and wonder,dream and marvel at the journey of those on board..

It has been some time since I have posted writings on the Port Melbourne Muse site, but there has been little of good news to foward.

Development continues in Port Melbourne at a fast pace some of it unbridled in design and good taste. Our love of everything in large concrete blocks will I,m sure in years to come be viewed by the coming generation as an eyesore ,going from a beautiful bay to an ugly mix of high rise concrete towers which bear no resemblence to the good builders of years gone by. I leave you with something I wrote a few months ago.

Where I belong is my Lemuria
Where ancestors have placed their feet,
toiled and shaped that which is my heritage
On the soil they left for me is where my strength is gained
I do not travel far
I seek no distant visions
It is all at my doorstep
It is where the lemon tree stands,lusty,unbending in all its strength
My Muse and I see Lemuria as our North,our South,our East our West

Lois Daley Port Melbourne Muse 4/7/03

18th March 2003.
Well where have the days gone,not frittered away ,never a dull moment in Port Melbourne.
We have been in the news on a constant basis over the past month.
1.The ongoing controversy re development of Princes Pier by Mirvac.Plans submitted,re submitted,commitees of all types consulted objections lodged etc etc ..All suggest that some development on the pier (Perhaps not all of the pier)will take place without we hope destroying its history and its historic value to Port Melbourne and Victoria as well.
2.Constant development of large appartment blocks shade the streets ,with developers to and fro to council to extend the hight above the set limits.Slowing down of building has not been happening in the Borough.
3.Walks sponsored by Port Phillip Council have been in demand with repeats needed due to large numbers attending
Sandridge in early years and the Piers,Housing estates of Garden City The next walk is on April 12th when local identities and storytellers .will relate stories that are placed on markers in the area.
Going out today (18th March) is the American Ice Breaker that has been tied up at Station Pier for the past week.
When interviewed the Captian told of the ships crew's, excitement in tying up in Melbourne which is there most favourite port.
The crew rate Melbournes' hospitality as the best in the world.
Tasmania remains one of the most preferred destinations for travellers and a constant stream of cars qued to go across the Tasman keeps the Port busy,Tasmania we hear is having trouble accomodating them all..Lois Port Melbourne Muse

Wednesday 26th Feb 2003.
It is nearly a month since I have put pen to paper as the saying goes.(What do we say of the internet)
Now Port is/has been in the news these past weeks so I thought I would keep you up to date on what is happening in the BOROUGH..
We have been inundated with LUXURY LINERS berthing @ Station Pier over the past weeks.These ships are so large they need one side of the pier to themselves,no room to tie up behind the the Spirit of Tasmania .
The sad part of these arrivals is that the pier is off LIMITS to those wishing to view them closer up.They tell us it is to do with SECURITY ,so be it but in past years gone by we were able to stroll along at night and be in awe of the majesty of these vessels.
Our State Gov. tells us there will an upgrade of Station Pier to facilitate an influx of these luxury liners in the future.Port Melbourne or Victoria or Australia is seen as a SAFE destination.These ships do not stay long perhaps only 24 hrs or at most 2 days ,there is talk of extending the light rail to the end of the pier so visitors(Tourists) can board and go into the city instead of walking 1/2 Kilometre to the terminus..so be it.Anyway these most magnificent ships look so grand ,some of them 7 storys high that I sit on the beach to watch them arrive and depart.Much more romantic than watching a plane fly into the air dont you think.?.
Next Sunday 2nd March 2003 we will have a COMMUNITY DAY at Murphy.s Reserve in Williamstown Rd from 10am to 6pm.The Port Melb Festival started here many years ago so its a bit of a homecoming..There will be great entertainment for the children,inc Jerry Gee Rock and Roll with the Regular Boys Band and 18 piece Brass Band,
Boot scooters etc etc So if the weather is nice and people bring their chairs they can sit in the shade of the wonderful old trees.
Construction in Bay St and along Beach Rd goes ahead it seems day and night with cranes and roads barricaded off for most of the week.We hear on the grapevine that many new apartment blocks have been scaled down due to a downturn in the market with an oversupply of such apartments.So if they are not so high then thats good I say.
A short history of "WOMEN OF PORT MELBOURNE" has been completed by Robyn Clinch and was presented at the Historical metting on Mon 24th Feb 03.What a range of wonderful Borough women there were ,back in the 1800.s till the present time.
The stories are told partly from records and partly an oral history where possible from living descendants,so it makes for a warm way of storytelling.
Weather wise our parks are still strugglling in this serious drought.Many trees in streets around Port are dead with no way of saving them it seems.I take my washing up water from a large plastic bowl out onto my nature strip 3 times a day to help keep alive the tree that was planted there in 1928,So far it is looking ok but there are many that will not survive.
Thats about all for now ,will keep you informed when there is more news from the BOROUGH.
< Lois Daley Port Melbourne Muse>

29.1.2003.....Another scorching hot day in the BOROUGH.
This morning I received a reply via email from the Port Phillip Council rep for gardens,in reply to my concerns about the distress of the large trees on Murphy's Reserve .Murphy's is a sporting oval of large proportions including Cricket football soccer baseball ,all separate ovals taking up most of the Reserve .I always imagined that a reserve meant more than a large piece of land used for sport I thought it was a piece of earth reserved for the passive use of people.The dictionary defines it as "A special tract of land set aside for a special purpose..eg A nature Reserve" But I digress ..Now Murphys is watered daily to keep the playing ovals lush and green but some where along the line the watering system did not extend to the beautiful trees which where there well before the sporting ovals.
The Ash, the Poplars the Elms etc etc many of which have been there since 1928.are showing signs of distress and this was a worry and concern to me.So I asked that as well as the ovals being watered could not the trees also have a share,after all we can replace the grass of the ovals but not these trees...never....never or not in my lifetime.
These tress also provide a much needed and important function ..they gather up the pollutants from the traffic that uses Williamstown Rd (40,000) cars per day. on their way on and off Westgate Bridge....This road was never meant to be a major source of carrying such a volume of traffic.Homes belonging to Port Melbourne residents who have lived along this road since 1928 now shudder under the volume of traffic and also bear the brunt of the pollution and noise.
As I have said in my writings ..One cannot have a conversation with a neighbour standing at their front gate in Williamstown Rd or Graham St any longer because we cannot hear one another ..so much for Neighbourhood
So I have today sent my thanks to Port Phillip Council Parks and Gardens for their prompt action in helping give MY trees
much needed respite and I will in the next months of drought keep an eye on their progress as they recieve a daily/weekly watering..

Lois Daley Port Melbourne Muse
.

Today in Port it is an eerie feeling ,smoke covers most of the city and the sun rising early this morning was bright red surrounded by white cloud.No breeze from the sea to be felt and the water still as still.Unusual for early in the morning and when the Tasmanian Spirit docked it was like a ghost ship arriving through a cloud that had encompased it.
The constant hum of traffic as it comes off and on Westgate Bridge is all that keeps me from wondering if I am in another part of the world.Pollution will be a hazard as the volume of cars and large trucks go about their daily activities on the city side and the western side of Melbourne using a suburban road system never meant to cater for such an onslaught.
I do not feel at peace here in THE BOROUGH as I do most days ,I feel a sadness for my suburb as it becomes more dirty by the minute/hour/day and I am noticing it more and more as I walk through our once green and lush parks,that now stand dry with their trees in distress,trees that were planted before the turn of the century.
I contact my council on a weekly (sometimes more often) basis to remind them that the trees need water .I point out that the sports ovals which are lush and green from watering should not be placed before the trees well being.The grass will regenerate,but the trees could be lost forever.I remind them that some of these large elms,ash and poplars are the lungs of our cities health as they border the main thoroughfare on and off the Westgate Bridge and take up much of the pollutants from the traffic.
Am I battering my head against a brick wall I ask myself..A reply comes to tell me "Yes we will lose some trees in the City of Port Phillip,but that is to be expected in times of drought"No I say there must be priorities in these matters and that the watering of sporting ovals should rate below peoples health."
Other than that our city continues to move foward with 10 more apartment blocks planned in the year 2003.(in Port Melbourne alone)
How will we manage a city already choked with motor vehicles ...A problem I would not think anyone could solve..
Port Melbourne Muse..Lois Daley

January 13th 2003..
A New Year in the life of the Muse from Port Melbourne.As I start my meanderings I look from my front room window where my Computer is onto the Garden City Reserve which is dry dry dry the colour of hay after harvesting.The trees look stressed and I fear we will losemany of them esp the older wattles and the newly planted elms,gums poplars which have been in only for 2 seasons.We are told the grass will come back but it is hard to believe.when you walk across it the crackling is quite loud.
Yesterday on Station Pier the Greek population had a celebration of music and dancing .So colourful and the brightness of their costume was a sight to see.Music wafted across the parklands for most of the day and when the north winds blew smoke from the fires in the country drifted in as well making it quite an eerie scene.
I walked on Murphys Reserve with the dogs yesterday and noticed that the Community Gardens which are nestled behind the Soccer ground were looking a little wilted possibly due to the water restrictions and also perhaps because they cut the branches from very old trees that once covered the garden area,perhaps to let in the sunlight ,but one wonders if this was a wise idea
This is the first time I can remember loosing trees,bushes and some plants in my garden .I was wondering if it is perhaps because I have planted new varieties to give it a more cottage feel.I did look at salt tolerant varieties of blues and grey greens but I notice that the ground covers were the first to die The native bottle brush ,the roses,hop bushes hibiscus protea and even the hydrangea are all surviving and seem not to be affected by the dryness.
. I have a lemon tree in my back garden ,planted by my Father Albert in 1936 to celebrate my birth.It has over the years been the most beautiful citrus one could ever want.I have nursed as one might a child and as it bears fruit every year after my caring ,fertilising trimming pruning spraying with detergent it continues to bear masses of fruit.The lemons are a little mishapen but still sweet to the taste ,at present I am giving it 2 monthly feeds around the outside branches of blood and bone watered well in and it seems to be responding and is not showing any signs of distress.I cannot bear to think of it dying and refuse to even contemplate its demise.I cannot say the same for a very large Irish Strawberry Tree my Mother Jessie planted some 20 years ago which today is showing signs of stress due to lack of rain although I feed it and water it well twice weekly.Iwill have to wait and see.

All for now ,with a forecast of 37o all windows and blinds are closed and the house is very cool and pleasant.and the dogs lie stretched out under my feet quite contented..They are spoilt ..Lois.