Saturday, November 8, 2008

Out and About in Melbourne and Ballarat

Last Month I had 3 days off work to spend time with friends who came over From Adelaide

Day 1, 16th Oct - Plane arriving at 8.45am, left home at 7.30am drove to MelbourneAirport, from there we drove to Parkville where we were staying, caught a tram into Melbourne city and then another one to St.Kilda where we sat in the beautiful sunshine having lunch.


Day 2, 17th Oct - Drove to Ballarat which takes approx 1hour from Melbourne, we stayed the night at Doherty's Ballarat Lodge, we were completely in awe when we got into our room, you walk into a small entrance foyer, to the left was this magnificient room which had a king size bed, 2 king single beds, 2 large leather chairs, desk, coffee table, TV in an enclosed unit, the room was beautiful, to the right of the foyer was the bathroom, large double shower with seperate shower heads, a corner spa, heated towel rails, and off course the toilet. The hotel is set on 7 acres of land, below is a photo of the "secret Garden" which is part of the grounds.





Day 3 - 18th Oct - We got up, dressed and walked down to the hotel resturant for buffet breakfast, the food was amazing, fresh fruit platter, all different types of bread you could imagine which had just arrived from the bakery, eggs, bacon, sausages, muffins, pancakes...you name it , it was there...came back to our room organised our bags and left around 10.30am, we toured around Ballarat, went to the Botanical gardens, Lake Wendouree which sadly is dry due to the drought, I was stunned at the lack of water as it's a beautiful lake which had paddle steamers, rowing boats and families that would gather on the grass for picnics. Unfortunately non of these things happen these days which has taken a lot of people away from such a beautiful little city.





Day 4 - 19th Oct - We went to Melbourne Zoo, I cannot remember the last time I was there, there is so much to see and do and a lot of free activities for children. We spent quiet a few hours walking around looking at all the animals.














Day 4 - 20th Oct - After breakfast we got ourselves organised and caught a tram into the city, wandered around Myers, then caught a tram to Melbourne Museum, which is next to the Old Exhibition building in Carlton. For a small entrance fee you can spend all day wandering around the different exhibits and interactive areas.







After the museum it was time to take the tram back, collect our bags then on the freeway to Melbourne Airport, flight wasn't departing until 9pm so we had dinner, walked around the airport then sat for awhile until it was time to for Hugs and kisses and see you soon.

Back to work the next day, we had a great time as we always do when we are together, next it's my turn to visit in Adelaide.

1 comment:

Lindi said...

I love Melbourne. Always so much to see and do, and a great transport system, as well as beautiful parks and walks.