Club Photo-Shoot ~ Williamstown
The first European to arrive at the place now known as Williamstown was Acting-Lieutenant Robbins, who explored Point Gellibrand with his survey party in 1803. The mouth of the Yarra River was later inspected in May and June 1835 by a party led by John Batman who recognised the potential of the Melbourne town-site for settlement. The site of what became Williamstown they named Port Harwood, after the captain of one of their ships.
____________________
VIEWING OPTIONS: To enlarge images, click on either the featured image below or one of the thumbnail images . For full-screen images, view in slideshow mode.
Historic colonial buildings line the west side of the street, "The Strand"
HMAS Castlemaine is one of the sixty Australian-built Bathurst Class corvettes to serve throughout World War II, and is the last such vessel still afloat.
Container Loading in Melbourne
The Port of Melbourne is Australia's busiest port for containerised and general cargo. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at the head of Port Phillip, as well as several piers on the bay itself.
The Sea Shepherd vessel M/Y Robert Hunter was officially re-named the Steve Irwin in honour of the late Australian conservationist.
3 Ton Anchor from the HMVS Nelson
On display in Commonwealth Reserve and Burgoyne Reserve Williamstown, a suburb of Melbourne located on historic Hobsons Bay at the mouths of the Maribyrnong and Yarra Rivers. This anchor and swivel is in the Commonwealth Reserve. The swivel weighs .5 ton and the anchor, which was forged in 1846 weighs 3 tons.
This breakwater is about 1.5K long and would be an awkward hike to this favoured point. Fishermen know no discomfort.
Royal Australian Navy - Amphibious Assault Ship (LHD)
The Canberra Class Amphibious Assault Ship (LHD), also known as a Landing Helicopter Dock, project will provide the Australian Defence Force with one of the most capable and sophisticated air-land-sea amphibious deployment systems in the world. These 27,000 tonne ships will be able to land a force of over 1,000 personnel by helicopter and water craft, along with all their weapons, ammunition, vehicles and stores.
Lined with boutique shops offering unique fashions, souvenirs and great coffee shops, this precinct is one of Melbourne's favourite Sunday PM destinations.
For 150 years, C Blunt Boat Builders, of Williamstown and Geelong, has been launching wooden boats into the waters of Port Phillip, from sea-faring vessels carrying missionaries to the New Hebrides to race-winning yachts. Now a listed heritage site run by a fifth generation of the Blunt family, it provides a unique link to Victoria’s maritime past.
Carrying up to 200,000 vehicles per day, the Westgate Bridge is a steel box girder cable-stayed bridge linking the Melbourne CBD to the western suburbs. Two years into construction of the bridge, at 11.50 am on 15 October 1970, the 112 m (367.5 ft) span between piers 10 and 11 collapsed and fell 50 m (164 ft) to the ground and water below. Thirty-five construction workers were killed. Many of those who perished were on lunch break beneath the structure in workers' huts, which were crushed by the falling span. Others were working on and inside the girder when it fell.
In a relatively small area, one can walk to take in the many Williamstown attractions.
Many of the historic buildings in Williamstown are constructed of bluestone granite.
Holy Trinity Williamstown Anglican Church
Holy Trinity Church is one of the architectural gems of Melbourne. It is lovingly maintained as part of the culture and heritage of this city.
Looking east with the Bolte Bridge against the Melbourne skyline.
Wikinson Memorial Drinking Fountain - 1875
This fountain is architecturally significant as the earliest known memorial drinking fountain in Melbourne and one of the earliest in Victoria. It is also significant as one of the most ornate drinking fountains in Victoria and as a rare surviving example of an imported cast-iron drinking fountain. It was manufactured by Walter Macfarlane & Co of Glasgow and was imported into Australia in the nineteenth century, The drinking fountain has historical significance for its associations with the Reverend George Wilkinson, Anglican minister at Holy Trinity, Williamstown who was also a temperance advocate and homeopath. The fountain also has strong historical associations with the temperance movement, a powerful religious, political and social force in Victorian society.
A peek inside the boatbuilding shop
Interior - Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Williamstown
The current bluestone Church, designed by Melbourne architect Leonard Terry, was finally built at the cost of £600. The foundation stone was laid on 11th February 1871 by Bishop Charles Perry, and the beautiful new bluestone Church building, built on the northside of the old iron construction, was finally opened on 7th October 1874. The construction process was a very significant time in the life of Williamstown, and many local families have stories of where their forebears worshipped, and how they helped create the Church building as it stands today. The building stands structurally unchanged to this day, despite needing some tender loving care.
The Bolte Bridge is a large twin Cantilever bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It spans the Yarra River and Victoria Harbour in the Docklands precinct to the west of the Melbourne CBD
This once treasured wooden yacht has been salvaged from the sea floor where it sank at moorage. In the hands of a good shipwright, she will be restored to her former beauty.