Toilet Tours / Healesville Victoria / 2013

Toilet Tours:

Healesville 2013

Maroondah Reservoir: a large and civilised picnic area with two public toilets.

The first toilet is near the entry to the park. Near the foot of the dam wall. That's right, there's a large dam nearby... Just a distraction from the main attraction of two -- yes, two ! -- brick and tile toilet blocks.

The first toilet is hidden. Behind dense hedges of shrubs. Almost as though the park managers wish to hide the main feature of the parkland area. Ah well...

The toilet itself is aging but clean.

Further away from the dam is more picnic area. Large areas of grass, plenty of shady trees. A simple area, offering a better-presented convenience for public use.

Pleasantly placed amongst the trees, this second toilet block may be appreciated from many angles. The lawns offer a sweeping view, the trees offer a softly contrasting frame to the traditional rectangular building.

Due to the time-pressure of fellow travellers (and the absence of a nearby tea shop) these toilets were not internally evaluated.

In the nearby town of Healesville there is a railway station. Is it abandoned ? Possibly... The railway station is simply a building; unnoticed. Of far more interest -- especially in the architectural sense -- are the associated public toilets.

Two cheap transportable buildings, crowded into an inconvenient space. Not very attractive -- from the outside, at least. The interior facilities are untested. The outside shows signs of care and cleaning.

The ladies toilet block is a steel transportable. With an entry ramp, rather narrow but accessible.

And in a separate -- also transportable -- building, of different material (let's call it "steel") and in a mismatched colour scheme: the gents.

Two similar yet different structures. Is one an afterthought ? Or is this the result of supply and demand: the public demands public toilets, the local council supplies whatever it can find.

A discordant pair, apparently mismatched yet unified in the common permanency of temporary convenience. Neither attractive nor unattractive. So easily overlooked -- yet so strangely thought-provoking.

..o0o..

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