Life began at sixty-five. After a long, tumultuous relationship, I finally married the love of my life on my parents seventy-first wedding anniversary in 2015. Knowing that we were unlikely to share many decades together, we decided to pack in as many adventures and experiences. We share a passion for diverse cultures, cuisines, architecture, history, art and the glories of nature. What better way to indulge all these pleasures than to dedicate ourselves to travel.
Ballarat has some wonderful architecture. Unlike many other gold boom towns, the Ballarat fields experienced sustained high gold yields for many decades, which can be evidenced to this day in the city’s well preserved mid 1850’s public buildings, churches, mansions and family homes. Many of these homes retain glorious gardens and the roses, in particular, are a sight to behold.
Recent infamy has drawn attention to the large concentration of pedophile priests, including the convicted Gerald Risdale, Paul Ryan and Cardinal George Pell. Ballarat founded the Loud Fence movement, where brightly coloured ribbons represent support for victims of child sexual abuse by institutions such as the Catholic Church. Three days after the royal commission findings into child sexual abuse were made public, the Ballarat Catholic Diocese made the decision to cut off the ribbons from St Patrick’s Cathedral. The ribbons went back up and remain to this day. The Loud Fence movement has now spread around the world.
View from The Boathouse restaurant on Lake Wendouree
We have travelled to Ballarat several times for Barry’s work. Previously we have stayed in the town center at the Quest serviced apartments which were quite dreary, time worn and with uninspiring views of the parking lot and a brick wall. I was sure that there must be something better and did some research on AirBnB and came up with a lovely two bedroom apartment with views over Lake Wendouree for almost exactly the same price.
We stayed here for four days last week and will be here for five days this week. I have enjoyed the 8,000 step, one hour walk around the lake quite a few times. The Ballarat Botanical Gardens are at the half way mark and worth while exploring. I particularly enjoyed the Prime Ministers Avenue which documents Australian political history by displaying bronze busts of successive Australian Prime Ministers beginning with Sir Edmond Barton in 1901, all the way through to Julia Gillard.
The bird life around the lake is glorious: coots, ducks, ibis, swans, cockatoos and lorikeets, to name but a few. One day Barry met me for lunch at the beautifully restored Pipers by the Lake where we had the best ham and cheese toastie that either of us has ever eaten. pipersbythelake.com.au
After lunch, strolling by the lake’s edge, we came across an extraordinary courtship display, that may well be the origin of the commonly used term ‘necking’. Two black swans were doing an erotic dance entwining each other around their long necks in turn, until finally the male pushed the females head under water and raucously mounted her for 20 seconds (I took a video clip that went for 27 seconds), before they went their separate ways.
ANZAC DAY – 25TH APRIL, 2019
Ballarat’s Australian Ex-Prisoner of War Memorial is situated in the Botanical Gardens on Lake Wendouree. It was the perfect place to visit on Anzac Day, especially as my grandfather on my mother’s side had been held prisoner by the Japanese in infamous Changi.
Dedicated in 2004, the monument features a 130-meter long wall of polished black granite engraved with the names of more than 35,000 Australian held prisoners during the Boer War, the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War.
I looked for Granddad Stearn’s name, and there he was!
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