Ballarat

---

It is bright and sunny here in Ballarat. At home, Hurricane Sandy is pummeling the East Coast. What a difference being on the other side of the world makes! My thoughts are with all my friends there as the power begins to go out and updates on Facebook are made more and more from cell phones.

Ballarat is an old gold mining town. It's a regional center with a population of about 100,000. Cute and quirky, park English village, part old West. At times I was reminded of Victorian India, at times of Austin - but at all times, constantly being reminded it was none of this: the sun is in the north (IN THE NORTH, people!), swans are black, and everybody has an Australian accent.

Ballarat was our introduction to Australia. We arrived in Melbourne, then immediately left for Ballarat, where we stowed our bags, washed our faces, and hit the town! First stop was Lake Wendouree, which, as recently as 2009, was completely empty. Then came the rain and the floods, and now, the lake is once more a lake. In 1956, the summer Olympics rowing evens were held on this lake - something that just 5 years ago was hard to believe, since because of the drought you could walk all the way across the lake.

Across the street from the lake are the Botanical Gardens, filled with plants the likes of which I'd never seen before. After a walk through the gardens (and a crash course in Australian history via a walk down the Lane of Prime Ministers) we drove to the historic part of the city and walked around, visiting the Art Gallery (where we saw the original Eureka flag), stopping for tea, and marveling.

These old gold mining towns definitely have a particular style. Beautiful wrought iron grill work is seen on even the small houses. Roofs are either red clay tiles (and rather substantial) or corrugated metal, with unique lines and curves that I haven't seen elsewhere. Large brick chimneys will stick out of small, metal sided houses. Front gardens are well tended and neat, and most houses have front porches.

The light here is also interesting. Before leaving, a friend who had spent time here told me to notice it, and indeed, there's a clarity of color that I haven't noticed in DC - reds are really red, the blue of the sky is clear and deep.

Maybe that's the hole in the ozone?

---

Photos

Lake Wendouree
This is the lake in the middle of Ballarat that just a few years ago was completely dried up. Australia has been hit by years of drought followed by years of flooding,

Black Swan
Black mother swan with her cygnets.

Black Swan
Water fowl were all over the lake - but the black swans stood out.

Water fowl
This guy was friendly but shy - walking up to us and skittering backwards. The colors however - bright and showy, like so many birds in Australia.

In the Botanical Gardens
This is a close up - this is actually a tall tree, with these spirally frond things going all the way up.

Church
It's a little hard to describe the uniqueness of Australia - but this picture captures a bit of it. A beautiful old church that would be at home in an English village, next to a bungalow with a palm tree that reminds me of my time in Bangalore.

Historic Section of Ballarat
This is looking down the main historic street in downtown Ballarat. Give it a tweek or two and you have the Old West.

The Mining Exchange
A detail from one of the old buildings.

The Old Colonist Hall
You can see the wrought iron grill work here that shows up on so many of the houses in town.

Ballart School of the Arts
Pods hanging in an alley that leads to the art school. I'm pretty sure zombies hatched out of these.

Historic Section
A view down the other side of the street.

Trades Hall
This building was behind the art school, looking all imperial and stuff.

Downtown
Another big building, looking oddly Venetian except for the strange tower in the middle.

Typical house in Ballarat
While there is no iron work on this house, the prominent heavy brick chimneys and the corrugated metal roof that curves down into the gutter were very typical.

Old Brick House
Love the details on this older house.

Wrought Iron detail
Even the small houses in Ballarat have this beautiful, lacy iron work around the verandah.

Older house
Note the curve of the roof just above the iron work.

Iron Work
More detail of a couple of older houses in the neighborhood where we are staying.