Eureka Day 1 Gold Coast to Melbourne and Ballarat

Eureka Day 1 Gold Coast to Melbourne and Ballarat

I am calling this trip to Victoria Eureka as one of the locations I am heading to is Ballarat where I will be heading to first. There are places like the Museum of Australian Democracy and Sovereign Hill. Today is the day that I fly to Melbourne. The weather at home is cold and I have heard that Melbourne and regional Victoria is going to be even colder and wet as well. I do have warm clothes, but not sure if they will be warm enough. We will have to take the chances and see what happens. I was at the airport an hour before the flight. I was looking at what I thought was the pre dawn light on the horizon, but it was actually the reddy haze of an aircraft at its gate. Yes sure I was on the western side so it would have been sun down not sun rise.

The plane ride to Melbourne was bumpy and was really nice to be in the air again. I miss going to parts unknown. The plane even landed 10 mins early and had to wait for a gate. Several passengers were told off sternly by the hostess for opening the overhead lockers before the seatbelt sign had been turned off. I am not sure if they understood her, but everyone had been told before hand. Dont get on the bad side of those ladies. I did have the idea that I would miss the 10am train and would take the 11am to Ballarat. The bus arrived quicker than expected and Southern Cross had been revamped since I had been there last time. I could walk undercover to get my ticket instead of walking to the far end of the station. No idea if this was one of the many changes but I hadn’t been to this area since around 2006. I had been to Melbourne more recently as that, I only knew of the ticketer on the far end on the corner. I now have my very own myki card and have no idea how to use it other than scan it. I was able to get on the 1008am train to Ballarat with a minute to spare. I headed to train on platform 7B and found i should be on platform 7A. I tried running with a 14 kg bag and I may have made it, but I was very exhausted and out of breath from that. I didn’t have time to get a drink either so have to suck it up. Melbourne is cloudy and chilly, but I do like the briskness of the weather.

The train ride was very uneventful and I even got a visit from the ticket inspector though I did happen to be at the very front of the train and never moved until I arrived in Ballarat. I had been exhausted when I jumped on, but feeling energised once I got off. I was lucky to have the street directory I had bought the day before or else I would have gotten completely lost. Actually I did get lost and misread the map and went as usual in the opposite direction to where I needed to go. It dawned on me I had not passed several streets I was looking for. I checked at a roundabout and found if I turned left down the street I could have visited the old cemetery. Something I had on my list. I still don’t know why I had walked the wrong way at all when I had in fact looked at the map at the train station and again while wandering the wrong way.

For some the architecture could be considered to be porn as there are so many older buildings in the town. I got to get a better look on my walk back and then through the city centre. Some of the buildings look interesting like the old Colonial hotel and also the Town Hall. I did cross there as I thought it would be best to go over that way. The funny part was I walked down a street I thought I was following on my street directory. Nope it was a big hell no as I seen the Federation university and walked in the opposite direction. I was actually meant to walk the other way, luckily I was wondering why a street was changing its name. I did find there were similar named streets like west and East although I an pretty sure there was Armstrong and Anderson. After a bit of a walk and uphill to Sovereign Hill I was able to find exactly where I was staying. The lady at reception gave me a look when I told her I had walked all the way from the train station. The hostel room I found was unavailable, but I got an upgrade to a room with my own everything and a huge bed. I was very happy to have this and I did also get tickets to Sovereign Hill including the show afterwards. I later found that the show did not include the dinner, but that didn’t worry me too much. I ended up with a late lunch. The park was interesting and does show what life would have been like during the 1800s with some shows though I missed a few of those except for the Gold smelting, which I was surprised when it was cooled with water and you could handle something that was several minutes before burning hot.

I didn’t realise but some of the things in the shops you could buy that were actually made there. I did like some of the products as the metal ware was excellent and i did buy some. I wont buy a top hat for $200 though as I have no need for those or mens handkerchiefs in my top pocket.  Later on the Show Blood on the Southern Cross was the story about the Eureka Stockade. I thought it would involve more people, but really there were disembodied voices from tents which light up when someone was talking. I didn’t know the story of Eureka other than parts of the story and need to do some reading up on it. I can see why people in the government might be worried attending events where the flag is flown though, but people have other ideas about the meaning regardless. The night was full of school kids who were little and loud. Doesnt help when you use the loos and its a single toilet and they think crowding the walkway will get them in quicker, but at least they move when you tell them firmly. I cant remember being that loud and annoying, but they were kids and I enjoyed myself regardless of what was going on. I do remember not having enough money to buy something and one kid didn’t have enough, but the shop keeper was nice and let him have something. Not big though, but I thought that was nice. Tomorrow I will be heading into the city of Ballarat to explore what is in town.