Ballarat and About

After our big day out on Thursday, we decided to spend Friday in a more relaxed way.  Again the morning was taken up with school work and then it was off for another look around BALLARAT.  We had been thinking about getting a satnav, gps, whatever you want to call it for some time, especially after our little incident getting to the ferry, so decided now would be as good a time as any.  Not only that but Joe, Christel’s father, had recently bought one and couldn’t stop bragging about it.  He has even gone as far as calling the lady that speaks on it Dora, from Dora the Explora.  Fancy giving your satnav a name.

A trip to Dick Smith and the lovely girl shop assistant soon had us convinced we couldn’t possible live without one.  “You’ll never get lost with one of these”, she cooed.  Smart little bitch, how did she know about our trip to the ferry.  Maybe I’m getting paranoid.  Anyhow we came away with the latest Navman and $200 lighter.  We call ours ‘Know all Nancy’, because no matter where you are, she knows how to get you to where you want to go.  Sounds a lot better than Dora as well.

With Nancy safely installed on our windscreen, she didn’t like sitting on the dashboard, we headed for a Fruit Canning Factory outlet shop we had been told about, where you could get fantastic bargains on tinned fruit and other products, provided you buy in bulk.  Half an hour later we staggered out with a shopping trolley full of bargains like 12 cans of 400 gm Fruit Salad for $12.  12 cans of 400gm Baked Beans and Spaghetti for $11. Needless to say the van is going to be a bit heavy to drag around for a while.

One of the first brochures we had picked up at the Visitors centre advertised a trout farm where they virtually guaranteed you would catch a fish.  We decided we should visit it if we could, so headed off there on Saturday afternoon. It was about 30km north of BALLARAT, near the town of DAYLESFORD.  It was a lovely drive through typical Australian countryside to the farm, which is actually part of a sheep and cattle station.

The trout were kept in large ponds, and after paying for the hire of a couple of rods, dropped our lines in the water.  The hook with its bits of corn on it for bait, had no sooner hit the water and bang, a fish was hooked.  Cameron was in his element, and within quarter of an hour we had landed 5 fish, and released several others.  The owners of the farm filleted the fish for us, so dinner for the next few nights won’t be a problem.

On our way home we decided it would be nice to have a bit more of a look around the country side so we asked Know all Nancy to plot us the best route to nearby DAYLESFORD.  She took us down some lovely little country roads, places we would never have dreamed of going, and eventually popped us out on the main road right at DAYLESFORD.  

We then asked her to take us back to our campground.  This time she took us down a narrow windy country road.  We soon became concerned because it was obvious there was a fire of some sort very close by.  We came around a corner and here were flames right at the roads edge.   Know All Nancy wasn’t concerned at all, and kept telling us, “In 3.5 km turn left into Emu Road”.  Obviously Nancy couldn’t see the flames. We were just debating whether or not to turn back, when around the next corner were several trucks and workmen lighting the roadside undergrowth.  It was a controlled burn off. Nancy must have known all along.

She did make one embarrassing mistake, and at one stage took us down a ‘No Through Road’. Boy did she get upset when we did a U turn.

This morning, Sunday, was a short school lesson and then back into BALLARAT for more sightseeing.  We also wanted to see a Formula One Racing Car Display that was being held in the main street.  The street had been blocked off to allow the cars to do a few laps for the crowd.  We got there early and got ring side seats. Lots of high revving engines, wheel spins and smoke.  Great stuff for an 8 year old boy. 

We also visited the Australian Ex-Prisoner of War Memorial Wall in the Botanical Gardens.  A moving experience.

Well that’s it.  It’s Sunday night, and for once we are right up to date.  Tomorrow we head south to GEELONG where we hope to go to the WIRRIBEE Drive Through Zoo, visit the Avalon Airfield, and also a Children’s Water Adventure Park among other things.  So, watch this space.