Trip to Ballarat

Over the Labour Day weekend, we took a short trip to Ballarat. We actually stopped by in Ballarat on the way home from the Grampians a few years ago for lunch but had forgotten all about it until we visited the local supermarket for some essentials (guess who forgot the toothpaste?) and found the surroundings extremely familiar. 

Well, Ballarat has not changed too much but this time we had more time to visit many more places, notably the restaurants! 

The Begonia Festival was on when we were there, and White Night the next weekend. Look at the begonias that were on display. Some of the begonias were larger than the size of my palm! Begonias on steroids. 

Besides the floral displays, there were food trucks, kids activity zones, fish hatchery tour, and stalls selling gardening stuff, crafts and begonia plants. Luckily for us, all the large flowering begonia plants had already been sold when we got there so we didn't buy one. We already have a collection of pot plants at home. 

The Begonia Festival is free to attend. There were lots of parking close to the Aquatic Centre even though a park and ride option is available from Victoria Park down the road.

Lake Wendouree is a large just opposite the Botanical Garden where the Begonia Festival was held. We crossed the road from the crowd and had a lovely time walking around the lake. The view reminded me a little of West Lake in Hangzhou.

There is a large population of black swan in the lake, sunning themselves.

We went to the Vintage Tram Museum nearby after our walk. Entry is free but there is a donation box for those who want to help the Museum in what they do. There are about 4 or 5 old trams, each one impeccably restored. One of the trams even had stained glass windows in the passenger carriage. Some of the notices were quite interesting, like this one - Spitting in the car is strictly prohibited. Wow...

If you are in Ballarat and not sure what else to do besides Sovereign Hill, check out the Ballarat Art Gallery. One of the artwork that made me stop in my tracks was this one below. Someone had actually commissioned a portrait for his cattle. Besides this group portrait, each of the cow/bull had their own individual portrait!

On the second day, we drove to nearby Bunninyong to visit a volcano crater where we spotted this alpaca on a farm. He was just so curious to see us that he continued to stare at us long after we were gone. I love alpacas, they look like little camels but are so cute and well behaved. I almost wanted to reach out and give it a hug.