Kangaroobie....travelling & off's photostream  

Picture taken on the eve of Australia's 224th Birthday of white settlement.
The white settlement began here in Sydney Cove on 26th January 1788 with the arrival of 8 sailing boats laden with 696 convicts from over crowded British gaols.

The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 consisting of 10 Civil officers, 212 marines, including officers, 28 wives and 17 children of the marines, 81 free persons, 504 male convicts and 192 female convicts. Total free persons, 348 ; prisoners, 696. total 1044 to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. Orders-in-Council for establishing the colony were Issued in London on 6 December, 1785. The fleet was led by Captain (later Admiral) Arthur Phillip. The ships arrived at Botany Bay between 18 and 20 January 1788. HMS Supply arrived on 18 January; Alexander, Scarborough and Friendship arrived on 19 January, and the remaining ships on 20 January. On 7 February 1788, after his commission as Governor was read, Phillip addressed some words to the first settlers.
" What Frobisher, Raleigh, Delaware, and Gates did for America, that, we are this day met to do for Australia, but under happier auspices. Our enterprise was wisely conceived, deliberately devised, and efficiently organised, the Sovereign, the Parliament, and the people united to give it their authority, sanction, and encouragement. We are here to take possession of this fifth division of the globe on behalf of the British people, and to found a State which, we hope, will not only occupy and rule this great country, but will also be the beneficent patroness of the entire southern hemisphere. How grand is the prospect which lies before this youthful nation !"

Wikipedia

Fukuyama Castle, was the castle of the Bingo-Fukuyama Han during the Edo period (1603-1868) of Japanese history.
The castle was built on a hill in Fukuyama plain when it was the capital of Bingo Fukuyama Han. The construction was started in 1619 during the Genna era. There were double moats around the castle and an inlet lead into Seto Inland Sea. Most buildings of the castle were destroyed during World War II. The main building was rebuilt in 1966.

The Strand Arcade is a Victorian-style shopping arcade in Sydney, New South Wales. The Strand Arcade is located in the heart of the Sydney central business district, between Pitt Street Mall and George Street.

Deigned by English architect John Spencer, 'The Strand' was built in 1891 and was opened in 1892, as the fifth and last of the arcades built in Sydney in the Victorian era. It is the only one remaining in its original form today.

The Arcade was originally known as the 'City Arcade' and sometimes as 'Arcade Street'. In 1981 it was named after the famous London Street that links the city of London and the city of Westminster. The Strand was London's smartest theatre, hotel and shopping street in the early 1900s.

The arcade became run down. During restoration work, a fire broke out on the morning of 25 May 1976. The arcade was partly destroyed. Restoration began again and the arcade, back to its original grandeur, re-opened in 1977.