Day 82
Monday
20 March 2017
Ballarat
Rain is in. We woke and it was dark and cloudy. We organised
ourselves for the day ahead, planning how we would spend our day, packed the
car and then we were off exploring.
We found our way to Bunnings to swap a gas bottle before
driving through what appeared to be a quite posh suburb and on to Lake
Wendouree for a morning walk.
This Lake was used in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, holding
the rowing events. It is 6km around and the track is known as the Steve Moneghetti
Track. We were keen to get our and walk, as we haven’t had the opportunity for
a while. Unfortunately the rain had set in and though it was light, it still
put a dampner on our meander.
We checked out the rowing blocks and the bird life as we
wandered the perimeter. Half way round we crossed the road to take in the
botanical gardens. The grounds were lush and the flowers in bloom. The
glasshouse was holding a begonia exhibit that was an explosion of colour. I had
no idea that these flowers grew this large.
After exiting the glasshouse, we walked down the avenue of
Prime Ministers. Bronze busts of every Australian Prime Minister are on display
as you walk the path. Large American
Sequoias also line the path with their limbs off at all sorts of odd angles.
We returned to the Lake and completed our lap, passing the
Olympic Rings monument. The rain was just starting to come in harder, so we
were glad to return to the car and head back to the van.
We had our lunch, relaxed and then decided we would spend the
afternoon checking out a couple of micro-breweries, our first stop was Red
Duck, hidden in the industrial estate of Alfredton. Paul had had a couple of
their beers at the Avoca Hotel and was keen to try more. He now enters the
premises saying he is a beer reviewer for “We Love Craft Beer – Australia.” I
am on photographic and Facebook posting duties. We spoke to the female owner
while Paul tried four and bought some more to take with him. Paul liked this place, as it was mixing it up
and putting in unusual ingredients.
Now on skippers’ duties I navigated to the next Brewery –
The Athletics Club. This one was in town and had more of a pub feel. We spoke
to one of the brewers, who was keen to share the breweries ideals, giving Paul
a free tasting and a walk through the brewery back room. We even took video of
Chris talking about his brewery to put on the FB page.
Walking out with a few freebies, we began our journey out of
the town centre stopping twice so I could take photos of the churches and then
the Avenue of Honour, which is a lot like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
We made it back by 4.30pm, unpacked and then walked a short
distance to a largeish shopping centre to pick up some groceries. Once we had
returned, we organised dinner, both of us famished.
To relax after dinner, we went to the indoor pool complex.
They have 2 pool spas and a MASSIVE TV, along with the swimming pool. We were
the only ones making use of it, so we tuned in the TV and sunk ourselves into
the spa. Ahh.
Once we were well pruned we returned to the van. I continued
working on the computer while Paul watched a DVD. The rain had returned and
this time it brought the lightning and the thunder, that made the van shake.
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