The Stately Old Mansions of Riversdale Road

August 3rd, 2013 | Hawthorn, Photos, Poems for adults, Sunnyside

Riversdale Road is one of Hawthorn’s major thoroughfares. Just as an aside, Garry and Roberta Roberts, who owned “Sunnyside”, and did so much for C. J. Dennis, lived in Hastings Road, which runs off Riversdale Road.

I was walking past these large houses (mansions?) recently and, although I have driven down the street many times, suddenly felt I was seeing them for the first time.

The Stately Old Mansions of Riversdale Road

This morning I ambled along in the sun;
No hassle, no hurry, no pressure to run.
I took in the scene, and my racing mind slowed –
The stately old mansions of Riversdale Road.

How bright, still, the colours – the red of the bricks,
The gloss of the paint in a myriad licks.
Something inside of me heated and glowed
As I gazed at the mansions of Riversdale Road.

The windows so pretty, the balconies high,
The angles the roofs made against the blue sky.
Through my thin veins a rich energy flowed,
From the stately old mansions of Riversdale Road.

I know what you’re thinking. They hark to a time
When divisions of class and religion were prime.
Above the rough surge a minority rode
In the stately old mansions of Riversdale Road.

Yet the buildings bring vigour. The architects’ view
Stands through the ages, and paints the world new
Each time the sun rises. They never corrode,
The stately old mansions of Riversdale Road.

At last I moved on, but I carried the thread
Of the lives that my ancestors once might have led
In my heart and my soul, and I think that it showed…
I’d been touched by the mansions of Riversdale Road.

© Stephen Whiteside 01.03.2013

Yarra River

July 29th, 2013 | Hawthorn, Photos, Yarra River

I know it’s popular to bag the Yarra – “the river that flows upside down” – but I think it is absolutely beautiful. There is a particularly lovely stretch near where I am living. There is now a walking/bicycle track along much of its length, which makes it very accessible.

As is usually the case with rivers, it is at its best at dawn and dusk.

I have been especially surprised at the variety of bird life. There is even a family of darters (“snake birds”) nearby. I watched one for quite a while standing on a log, waving its wings back and forth – presumably to dry them.

Closer to the city, there are egrets. Then there are cormorants (heaps of them), ducks and swans. I saw a large group of cormorants paddling away. They look not unlike ducks, but they seem to sit quite a lot lower in the water.

There are also some truly massive trees at the water’s edge, and the various water craft and landing platforms are fascinating, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hawthorn

July 29th, 2013 | Hawthorn, Photos

Hello, and welcome to my first blog post!

Let me tell you first a little about where I am living these days. I live in Hawthorn, a lovely old suburb in Melbourne’s east, not far from the mighty Yarra River.

I’ve had some terrific times this year, wandering around the streets near home, and taking photos of the picturesque old houses. Here are a few of them.