Melbourne in April

All photos are by Maria Ngo

I was chatting with a friend from overseas when it dawned on me how the everyday familiar things we take for granted in our local area can be of great fascination to those overseas. So, I’ve decided to do a series of posts from each month of the year that will feature some of these everyday sights in my city and state. 

Melbourne in April

Right now in Melbourne, it is autumn. At this time of year, I love those streets that have deciduous trees. Well, as long as I’m not the one having to sweep up all the leaves (LOL). I think the yellow-orange leaves are just sooo beautiful at this time of year. Some streets seem to come ablaze with colour. And when you park your car in those streets, you can guess what you will find when you return to them. 

Melbourne has all kinds of trees - not just deciduous trees - so there is still a lot of green in our parks and streets. Eucalypts are perennial and they don’t shed their leaves in autumn. Did you know that there are approximately 800 species of eucalypts in Australia? (I even saw some of them when I was in California.) 

The most common deciduous trees you might find on Melbourne's nature strips are oak trees and plane trees. Sometimes you can also see the decorative pear tree which is planted mostly for its foliage.

I was in the city one weekend with a photography group and saw a bride and groom having their photos being taken. In the evening we had the most perfect still and clear night for photography. On such nights, Melbourne is a magical place along the river in the city.

At this time of year, the sun sets around 5.30pm. This evening the sun set at 5.34pm and tomorrow night it will be 5.32pm. 

The weather is getting to the coolish side now. The other day when I was down at the beach in Brighton/Elwood, it was about 16C. It got down to about 14C by the time we headed home. The morning started off very very sunny but by noon it was heavy with thick clouds. But, on another day, the day started off cloudy and cleared up by early afternoon as we welcomed the beautiful warming sun. On such days, it can be very glary looking out over the waters with the sun in front of you. 

If you don’t see many people in my photos at the beach it’s because I went in the middle of the week when most people are at work. On the weekend it will be quite different. 

Yes, it does rain at this time of year as well. But, it doesn’t rain everyday and you get more dry days than wet ones. I am told that we had 7 wet days in April on average and that the maximum average temperature is 21C and the minimum average is 12C. 

Be sure to check back here next month for more about what you might see around Melbourne in May. 

#Melbourne #beach #Melbournecity #autumn #Australia #visitAustralia #visitMelbourne #April