Headed to Ballarat, and I discovered that this city is a hidden gem! It's a short drive/train ride from Melbourne, about 1.5hrs. It's most commonly know as the mining town, with Sovereign Hill and Gold Museum as popular tourist attractions. If you are looking for a kids friendly place, Sovereign Hill is the place to visit.
Lydiard Street is main street of Ballarat central. The buildings are mostly low rise buildings with Victorian style architecture. In fact, the tallest building there is 5 stories high I believe! The Art Gallery of Ballarat is the oldest and largest regional art gallery in Australia. It has a very extensive collection of artworks, enough to keep you interested and in awe. My favourite part of the city is Lake Wendouree, it's gorgeous. The perfect place for a run, a picnic, a stroll, and the best thing is people live right next to it! Apart from the city, if you are looking for some country adventures, here's 5 other places to check out!
1. Ballarat Botanical Gardens
I have a thing for botanical gardens, especially after spending a whole afternoon roaming around Melbourne's Royal Botanical Gardens. This one is relatively small, but beautiful nonetheless. I love the glasshouse, mainly because of all the flowers inside and the smell, heavenly! There's also this path with statues of very Australian prime minister, pretty cool!
Address: Gillies Street North, N Ballarat VIC 3355, Australia
2. Ballarat Wildlife Park
One of the places I was most excited about because of KANGAROOS & KOALAS! It's not a huge area but it's enough to keep you entertained for several hours. Other than kangaroos, most of the animals are kept in their respective areas. The kangaroos are super friendly (and hungry), and also very chill. All they do is eat, sleep and hop around. That's the life man!
Admission: 29.50AUD
Address: Cnr of York & Fussell Streets, Ballarat East VIC 3350, Australia
3. Mt. Buninyong
For the view, it is worth going up. I mean after seeing skylines after skylines, I really like seeing acres of land for a change.
4. Yuulong Lavender Estate
Unlike the fancy pants (or should I say overly decorated) lavender farms in BeiJing, this one is very raw with minimal decorations. Most of the lavenders are harvested because they bloom in the summer (which is in December for Australia) but there were still some left! I love lavenders, they are possibly my favourite flowers after hydrangea. Well if you are heading here, make sure to come in late November or December! #seaofpurple
Address: 58 Sharrocks Road, Mount Egerton VIC 3352, Australia
5. Buninyong Blueberry Farm
Blueberry picking, this is my favourite part of the entire trip! When city girl me meets country life, I'm all in. First time eating a berry straight off the tree, sounds silly but #cheapthrill! I would come back just to do this all over again. You can pick and buy the berries at $7/kg!
Address: 7189 Midland Highway, Buninyong VIC 3357, Australia
xx
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