Ballarat Rally
Report 15th to 18th February 2019 Ann & Bob Power "Come when you can, leave when you must." |
Our rally commenced on Friday with a leisurely walk around the Botanical Gardens of Ballarat with a temp of 24 degrees (bliss). Morning tea was enjoyed at Pipers on the lake but we felt that a 40 min wait for coffee was stretching it plus Dieter's coffee didn't even arrive!!!
The afternoon was spent exploring the Eureka Centre which was informative and depicted the story of the Eureka Stockade battle. After Happy Hour and a quick dinner, most of us attended "Aura", the new sound and light show at Sovereign Hill which was very enjoyable.
Saturday morning was mixed activities. Some went for walks, car rides or just relaxed. The men and a couple of ladies went to the Ballarat Aviation Museum and the Anson Museum (photos included). Allan, the manager of the museum gave a wonderful insight into WWII and how the Anson plane was utilised during that period. Dinner at the Red Lion Hotel was enjoyable, albeit noisy for us folk, but we managed to make as much noise in our conversations to override the other party.
Sunday was a free day to explore Ballarat or the surrounding areas. A few of us went to the Mill Market, Art Gallery, Ballarat Cemetery, Buninyong and the movies to name a few destinations. We managed to squeeze in a short Happy Hour and then we attended the Ballarat Observatory which was enlightening and wondrous. We were given a guided tour of the building and scopes, then a couple of DVDs of our amazing galaxy and the awesome universe we live in. We were then lucky to be able to view some stars, galaxies and the moon through the two scopes they had there as the clouds moved in and out as we needed (very kind of them).
All in all I felt it was a great weekend. For you travellers the Big4 Goldfields Camping Ground was to be commended, clean, staff were so helpful and friendly, grassed areas and camp kitchen area for socialising were all excellent. If you have grandies great fun areas for the kids, warm indoor spa, solar pool, so well appointed.
Thank you everyone who came, about 17 of us, for making it so enjoyable and looking after Trevor, a newcomer.
Ann and Bob.
The afternoon was spent exploring the Eureka Centre which was informative and depicted the story of the Eureka Stockade battle. After Happy Hour and a quick dinner, most of us attended "Aura", the new sound and light show at Sovereign Hill which was very enjoyable.
Saturday morning was mixed activities. Some went for walks, car rides or just relaxed. The men and a couple of ladies went to the Ballarat Aviation Museum and the Anson Museum (photos included). Allan, the manager of the museum gave a wonderful insight into WWII and how the Anson plane was utilised during that period. Dinner at the Red Lion Hotel was enjoyable, albeit noisy for us folk, but we managed to make as much noise in our conversations to override the other party.
Sunday was a free day to explore Ballarat or the surrounding areas. A few of us went to the Mill Market, Art Gallery, Ballarat Cemetery, Buninyong and the movies to name a few destinations. We managed to squeeze in a short Happy Hour and then we attended the Ballarat Observatory which was enlightening and wondrous. We were given a guided tour of the building and scopes, then a couple of DVDs of our amazing galaxy and the awesome universe we live in. We were then lucky to be able to view some stars, galaxies and the moon through the two scopes they had there as the clouds moved in and out as we needed (very kind of them).
All in all I felt it was a great weekend. For you travellers the Big4 Goldfields Camping Ground was to be commended, clean, staff were so helpful and friendly, grassed areas and camp kitchen area for socialising were all excellent. If you have grandies great fun areas for the kids, warm indoor spa, solar pool, so well appointed.
Thank you everyone who came, about 17 of us, for making it so enjoyable and looking after Trevor, a newcomer.
Ann and Bob.
"Come when you can, leave when you must"