Ballarat & Onwards

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Hi Possums
I'm still trying to catch up with the blogging!!!
One night's camping at Ballarat and then a visit to Sovereign Hill, a recreated gold mining town and although expensive to enter, it is very well done. We spent over 4 hours wandering looking at the big machinery still working, the steam driven rock crusher crushing rocks and a blacksmith making souveniers, we saw boiled sweets being made, yum yum!! People were wandering around dressed in period costume playing their parts well, a blue uniformed policeman with a sense of humour. School mistresses and masters, the school children in costume, girls learning cross-stitch and the boys practicing their drawing. We also saw the "gold pour," gold heated and poured into a nugget with only 10 seconds to complete the task as the gold cools so quickly. We also saw the most recently found large gold nugget, the size of my two fist clenched together, worth a fortune!!! People in tents with fires lit to keep them warm and of course gold panning in the stream, a real favourite with everyone.
That's only a little but I have to move on so we left there and travelled south via Geelong back to the coast and the Great Ocean Road. first night we stopped at Aireys Inlet and apart from teh superb cliff walk the highlight was having a brightly coloured king parrrot sit on ours hands and eat seeds.
Now it's along the Great Ocean Road and it's a beautiful drive anyhow but with the Apostles and the Arches etc, this part of the coast line is stunning and we had a lovely day to travel it.
Lots of photos later we arrive in Port Fairey and have a drink at the oldest pub in Victoria, a low ceilinged room with a roaring fire at one end, loads of character. We think we'd like to stay another night but the camp is fully booked as tomorrow is Good Friday. so tomorrow we head into the Grampians for a complete change of scenery!

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Photos

Gold Panning
Arnie trying his hand at gold panning, not expecting to earn his fortune here!!!

Sovereign Hill
Goldmining camp including horse

King Parrot
Me and my mate, teh beautifully coloured King Parrot

Sunset on the Great Ocean Road
Sun set at the end of one of the best coastal drives in the world.

Comments

[Marmie]

Piccies
Hiya, don't know if it is just me, but the photos haven't come out! They sound really cool too!!