Ballarat

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I've just returned from a week in Ballarat. The town is about an hour and a half drive from Melbourne. I stayed in a "serviced apartment" which seems to be really popular here. I didn't have any internet access so that's why you haven't heard from me. They don't have many hotel chains. No one has heard of "Hampton Inn" and I think there are only 9 Hiltons in the whole country. Hostels and apartments seem to be the way to go if you are travelling around the country.

History Lesson from Wikipedia and local Australians
The city is famous for Sovereign Hill and the Eureka Stockade. Sovereign Hill was the site where gold was discovered back in the 1850s. There was a gold rush and several mines where constructed. At the time Australia was still colonized by England so England began to tax the miners. The miners finally rebelled stating "no taxation without representation" and a battle ensued which resulted in 22 deaths and claims to be the first fight for democracy for all of Australia. It is actually the only real battle the Australians waged on England and the country became a constitutional monarchy about 50 years later. While Australia has a parliament and Prime Minister all elected by the people, they share a Queen (with England and 14 other countries), who still has power to sack (fire) the Prime Minister if they disagree. Which she did in 1975 which forced a new election. (I'll stop there but let's just say I'm learning a lot)

Anyway for the most part Ballarat is kind of a sleepy little town now. Still a big tourist attraction with the operational mines, it sits up in the hills a bit and has a colder climate with higher elevation. It was 0 Celsius when I woke up in the mornings. It's a very "Victorian" town. I've heard people tell me the small towns of Australia are like America in the 1950s, but I'm not sure Ballarat made it that far.

I haven't seen any wildlife but we did see "Kola crossing" signs every morning on the way to work and this afternoon I saw "Kangaroo crossing" signs on the freeway. So I know they are out there. I think I'm going to the zoo tomorrow to see them first hand.

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Photos

El Camino
The car of choice for Australians. They call it a "Ute" but we all know it as the "El Camino"

The Gardens
This building sits in the center of the gardens located just north of the CBD.

Tran
Here's a tran which I use to get around the city. (I'm mostly on foot)

Apt
My home in Ballarat

Heater
Early 20th century amenities like this propane furnace and pull string lights come standard.