We left West Wyalong at 7:50am local time (or 6:50am AEST) which is a feat for the Marendy family girls who usually rise out of bed in double figures! Our stay was very comfortable, and we all slept well.
After getting a fuel top up, we headed south along the Newell Highway. The road was well maintained (unlike Queensland's bush tracks that are called highways) and generally scenic.
The countryside on our trip south improved steadily as we approached Victoria. Once we crossed the great Murray River the landscape became almost lush in places, especially once we headed west to Ballarat from Bendigo. We arrived in Ballarat after passing through almost Tasmanian quality alpine landscape around 3:45pm local time. The houses and buildings of the land reflect the area's rich colonial history. The field's are well tended with lines of trees forming wind breaks and shade for the numerous flocks of sheep. Very pretty.
Ballarat (like Bendigo) has many grand structures, surpassing our Toowoomba. Broad leafy streets enjoy Victorian Era public statues and nature strips. Certainly many grand period homes and humble miners cottages are on display. The city also enjoys are a large lake and many beautiful parks and gardens.
We had an hour to explore Sovereign Hill gold themed park. We met a ex-feral cat called Gus who had facial features similar to our beloved and late Gizmo. The girls ensured Gus got patted. Apparently today is the first time Gus has allowed the visiting tourist to pat him and up to three weeks ago even the park employees couldn't get near him. Prior to 3 weeks ago he was a stray, who had food left out for him, lucky cat.
Sovereign Hill is impressive, including many period buildings (most mock-ups) and a mine shaft to explore. Tomorrow we hope to go underground on a mine tour, which should be interesting.
For tea we toured Ballarat's CBD district and found a Italian restaurant that served world beating pizzas. We highly recommend them as pizza restaurant. Finally we drove around Ballarat until it got dark enjoying the town's scenic parks, Victory arches and tree lined avenues, and rich gold funded historic homes.
No comments:
Post a Comment