Day 81 - Sunday 19 March - On to Ballarat

Day 81

Sunday

19 March 2017

Ararat – Ballarat

We woke again to a beautiful morning and quite a bit warmer. There was no fog this morning, maybe because we were up a little later. We took ourselves off for a walk before returning to the van and having breakfast. Paul started putting things away in readiness for our travels and then we said our last goodbyes to Robbo and Tracey before we jumped in the car to check out the last few attractions.

 We drove out to Aradale, this was the original asylum and is a massive complex. While we couldn’t get in we were able to walk the perimeter and check out the old building. Tours and ghost tours are held here also. Apparently 3000 people died within the walls of the complex and it is said to be the most haunted in Australia. It sees like a lovely old building but it is in need of repair.

We returned to the car and drove back to Alexandra Oval for the Jail House Rock festival. We checked out the dancing before checking out the Hot Rods again. There were a few more on show and some were just gorgeous. We could easily drive one away.

Once we’d finished our wander around, we returned to the van. Robbo and Tracey had packed up and gone. We loaded the car up did our usual checks and then it was back onto the Western Highway to Ballarat about an hour away.

We found the Windmills Big 4 caravan park easily, checked in and then made ourselves at home. With Internet at long last, I was busy uploading as much as I could while making lunch, doing washing and having a shower.

Once we had both relaxed enough we grabbed our things and made our way in to town. We were in awe of the architecture that comes with gold money. We found a park and went for a walk, checking out one of the blocks and the grandiose buildings. The info centre was in the old town hall. We gathered all the required info and then continued our walk and snapping pictures.

We came across a funky little bar, Hop Temple, down an arty alley that had enough craft beer to keep Paul entertained for far longer than the afternoon we had to spare. He happily began perusing the beers, had a small taste of a few on tap and then settled in with few brews while I enjoyed a champas. He talked to the boys behind the bar, picking up further ideas for places to visit. I think he could have stayed for quite a bit longer, but I would have had to pour him into the car.

We stopped at the bottle-o to pick up some local Athletic club brews and then returned to the van for dinner. Paul rang some friends while I took full advantage of the wifi uploading all my photos from the past ten days. It’s going to take a while!