A visit to historic gold mining town Ballarat, Australia

Continuing on our wonderful trip in Australia we leave Eastern Victoria and head towards the Western District to the country town of Ballarat, just over an hour's drive north of Melbourne. This large country town is well worth a visit as it has much to offer with attractions from Sovereign Hill (a museum of the early gold mining days of Ballarat) to the Ballarat Art Gallery. Ballarat is well-known historically for the Eureka Stockade ~ the rebellion of gold miners against British colonial soldiers over fees and to the finding of one of the largest gold nuggets in Australia - the "Welcome" nugget.

“To see the world your simple trick,
Is but to take a walking stick,
Assume an air of pleasure,
And tell the people near and far,
You stroll about because you are,
A Gentleman of Leisure.”

from : The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay

Self Contained Caravan Parks

Our first choice of travel in country Australia is to rent a car and stay at caravan parks which are widespread throughout the country. Our preference is to stay in park model self-contained cabins available with kitchen facilities and hopefully the park has a pool if travelling in the heat of summer. We find this type of accommodation more relaxing, a great way to meet the “locals” and the parks are usually centrally located for ease of travel and further exploration.

Gold Exchange & Shop, Ballarat — Gold Exchange & Shop, Lydiard Street, Ballarat

Ballarat Heritage Buildings

Our first tour of the day was to stroll down one of the main streets from the railway station via the Gold Mining Exchange and shop and spend time in the Ballarat Art Gallery which had a special art display Eamon O'Toole "Big Boy Toys" of full-size motor sport plastic sculptures and a permanent display on the second floor. Definitely worth a visit.

Art by an Australian favourite artist, Sir Hans Heysen, Ballarat Art Gallery, Victoria

Further down we passed many other historic heritage buildings and the (current) University of Ballarat. It's wonderful to see many of these historic buildings built in the 1800's have been well maintained and are in current use, including one of the oldest, The George Hotel (circa 1854).

George Hotel - one of Ballarat's first buildings

Being a larger “country” town there is a wide choice of shopping from Bridge to Central Square Mall as well as many other attractions you may wish to visit. Most are centrally located in the “downtown” area and easy walking distance.

Other Attractions Nearby

The Botanical Gardens which houses Adam Lindsay Gordon's cottage and the magnificent annual Begonia festival in March each year. The gardens also house the historic trams and tramway museum. Across the street is Lake Wendouree which several years ago was bone dry (during the recent drought) but is now brimming with water and bird life including black swans. All great ways to spent time with family and friends perhaps while having an ice cream.

Ballarat Botanical Gardens pool — Ballarat Botanical Gardens and pool

Take Time for a Road Trip to

Pyrenees Wine Growing area
Grampians and Halls Gap - National Park
Daylesford - Hepburn Springs and area
Bendigo - another old gold mining town

Ballarat Tram (near Botanical Garden entrance) — Tram (near Botanical Garden entrance)

Notes

Emergency services in Australia is 0 0 0 (and not 9 1 1 as in North America)
There is easy access to Ballarat from:

Tullamarine International Airport direct shuttle bus
V Rail train from Southern Cross Train station (downtown Melbourne) to Lydiard Street, Ballarat
Rental cars from Tullamarine airport, Melbourne

ballarat train station — Victoria Railways - Ballarat train station building

There are many food options from fine dining to cafes but we had a little difficulty buying a simple regular coffee (not latte, espresso or cappuccino) and here is our solution ~ order the following and check if it suits your taste :