Last week, my boyfriend and I planned for a day trip over the weekend and because I have to work on Sunday and he is still working til Friday, so we decided only day trip so that I can work the next day..Where???? He he he he *evil laugh*
We were browsing the other day, and I had been wanting to visit a place since I first came to Australia. Not quite an amazingly amazing place, not extraordinarily special either..however, I still want to go there....
BALLARAT!!!!!! Maybe because I applied for UB (University of Ballarat) before, so probably I was curious to know how it looks like to live there...and since it plays a very important part in constructing Australia history.
'Gold Rush' was found in Ballarat mining point and to make it short. After "Black Thursday", a sudden gold rush was found concentrated on some regions in Victoria and Ballarat was one of it.
What else is famous in Ballarat??? Sovereign Hill of course!!!!
Sovereign Hill is a small re-made town where first generation of Europeans used to live and gold-digging area. The gold found was also processed in a factory in Sovereign Hill (but now it only operates for purpose of tourism interest). Everything in Sovereign Hill is like back in time..Hundred of years ago and looked like frozen in time...
Anyway, so I went to buy two return tickets to Ballarat first and I was informed there will be free bus to Sovereign Hill..Two adult tickets without concession $41.60
Next day, I woke my boyfriend up at 07:00 a.m !!! LOL I was so excited with the trip that I couldn't really sleep myself. It has been long since the time I woke up early with the purpose of NOT going to work or study but to enjoy myself with a trip!!!!
I also planned to go early because I wanted to explore Ballarat. Since I will visit only once (I suppose???) So, we should definitely hang around a bit.. :))
We were almost late to catch the 08:08 a.m V/Line train...2 minutes left from elevator and run to the train....because of waiting for coffee... :))
Though I was so sleepy but I wanted to enjoy my journey in the train... So I force myself to be alert, kept talking to my boyfriend...Looking at the goats, horses, and sheeps in many farms ... =.= I am happy to see a wild life view though ..rather than always being trapped in busy Melbourne CBD..
Me in the train...
You can see that I am deadly sleepy..and don't be fooled by my big eyes...The weather was nice...so I was meant to make the trip today... :))))
Other than that, Australia is pretty much flat..everywhere is farms..and sometimes you will see small hills... Much like my hometown..but my hometown still has tall trees...LOLAfter one and a half hour train journey, finally we reached!!! Ballarat town is quite big compared to other small towns that we passed by during train journey, such as Melton, etc...
The train station located in the heart of Ballarat CBD and we can take free shuttle bus with our ticket to Sovereign Hill and back to train station...
My first impression with Ballarat city is that....the atmosphere is very oldies..The buildings are mostly hundred years old and preserved really well..Not that it is old and ruined..instead, it is old but refreshing. Standing in the city, my mind went back to the time where Australia was just 'discovered'. It was an amazing feeling :))
The post booth is very cute indeed...
We went straight to Sovereign Hill first...Hailed the bus, got on, let's go BABEH!!!!!
We almost missed the stop to Sovereign Hill because the end route of the bus doesn't just stop in Sovereign Hill...STOP PLEASE.....The bus driver is very kind though, he let us know..besides..
We saw this GIGANTIC sign ....
There is ice sculpture exhibition at the same time..but believe me...it is NOT very much mesmerizing... (I mean the exhibition)...
Entrance fee is $31.60 with student card per person..quite costly huh!?? The ticket was accompanied by a piece of Sovereign Hill-guide-yourself-map....
Upon entering, there are so many old shops..and I realized it was the re-made town. Very small indeed...but quite impressive...everything is old fashion style..
First shop I visited was this iron shop which also sold old shoes for $2 ??? Maybe hundred years ago??
Another shop impressed me is this 'convenient' shop, where it sells candies, lollies, poppy seeds, dolls, and kitchen utensils!!!
The dolls are really cute, but frankly said, I don't like this kind of dolls, maybe watch horror movie too much but since I was young, I don't like it already.. LOL
Nonetheless, it still looks delicate :)))
Where am I going??
Upon visiting a kiosk to rest and eat, we found the place where the ice sculpture held place. It was quite....................Small.....Not quite met my expectation...Inside???
Beware!!!! It is -10 degree..
Yes, it is only that short....Hmmmmmm~~~
We went out and warm ourselves up with a "manual heater" in the kiosk and had some food ...The food is CRAZILY EXPENSIVE!!! 1 potato cake is $1.10??? 1 Dim Sum is $1.10??? Only 1 small piece!!!!!!
The old bank of Australia..Never knew Australia was known as Australasia...???
The Colonial Bank of Australasia....
The bar......
Clothing shop??? There is one..that sells old British-Victorian style...Titanic style...LOL
This lady is the shopkeeper for a candle shop...well, not only candle..they sell anything made of cooper...very much traditional type..I like the way they made the candle stand completed with a match that can be easily slid in and changed...
The candle stand..Gingerbread!!!!
It even provides a recipe on how to make one.. :))Afterwards, I headed to the gold panning where people like me can try to dig some gold (if you are lucky), since there is no more gold left to dig I suppose...???
People gathered with shovel provided and started digging...with the hope to find gold nuggets??? LOL
Many years ago, the gold found used to be brought to the boiling room where the gold is melted and processed into a bar..
This is the boiling room...Well of course it is not really operated anymore I guess..They are still well maintained though....
and you know what surprised me???
People discovered bowling looooooooooong ago..wanna know how they play????
The bowling lane is very loooooooooooong and made up of wood....and surprisingly, the land used for the ball is kind of shallow U-shaped so that the ball doesn't fall to the aisle!!! How smart????
Afterwards, went to visit the museum of first white settlers in Australia, the location of gold mines all across Australia, etc...The atmosphere in the museum is perfected with several wax mannequines including part of the ships/boats where first generation of Europeans rode to reach Australia...
Resembling life in boats on journey....
Don't know who he is.....??????Walking downwards, you could see Chinese camps..where all the first generation of Chinese migrants stayed...very few and a projector was used inside the camp to show visitors how Chinese used to live in the camps and their difficulties in this foreign country...
Traditional Chinese medicine shop...(pharmacy)
and how they cook or I should say where.....
End of the tour inside Sovereign Hill...There are lots other things you can do in Sovereign Hill..If you are thinking to stay overnight, you can usually stay (book first) in their lodges..Stay overnight to watch Eureka hotel fire and light show bringing you back to the ancient time of "Southern Cross history". I would like to stay overnight but I had to work...*sob sob*
Upon getting out, you can use the same entrance ticket to Sovereign Hill to enter the Gold Museum, which is just located accross the entrance of Sovereign Hill though you have to walk a bit..There are lots of gold exhibition, such as gold nuggets, coloring stones, souvenir stand that sells real 24 carat gold souvenirs...
Can you imagine this thing worth half a million??? Believe me, it is.....
Smaller nuggets but still worth a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!Are you willing to go to jail to get your hands on these????? LOL
We hang around briefly inside the museum and bought a souvenir from the gold shop..hihihi..
I didn't want to go home too early because it is not that I can come to Ballarat anytime I want..Since the train ticket itself is quite pricey...Therefore, we decided to head back to the train station and got ourselves a map and help ourselves around the city!!!
We visited an art gallery of Ballarat city with loads of famous painting and really huge!!! Any types of paintings, abstract, natural, portraits, etc...
Ajax and Cassandra by Solomon 1886I am not very art person ..especially when it comes to abstract paintings..I prefer this type of painting..like the one shown above where I can interpret and there is a story, myth, or whatsoever...
Later on, we went on visited some shopping centers, University of Ballarat and a lake!!!
But you know what??? Walking almost one hour to find the lake, we reached with the hope that it is worthed it..but what I saw was a half-drained lake!!!!! WHAT?????
It is supposed to be beautiful if it is full!!!! Forgot to take the picture..Maybe I was too disappointed at that moment..So we walked back and since it was almost 5 p.m. We thought it might be time to go back to Melbourne..We took the free shuttle to go back to train station and caught 5 p.m train..What a long journey after all..however, I didn't regret any single bit and enjoyed my trip very very much :)))
Ballarat is a very calm and peaceful city with very warm weather and yet cold wind...I like it a lot there but I still feel more homey in Melbourne...
Nevertheless, travelling to Ballarat is easy, direct transport access and not too much far away.
I would recommend it for those who seek weekend getaway to somewhere simple yet beautiful and most importantly...not costly :)))
End of my longest post with most pictures...lolz
FIN
