ST KILDA & BALLARAT

We hired a car for our second two days in Melbourne and so were able to go further afield.  Round the bay we visited St Kilda which reminded me of a traditional British seaside town complete with pier.  There was a lovely kiosk at the end of the pier where we had coffee.  It is also famous for the little fairy penguins but we didn't see them since they only come out at dusk.  The British feel was re-enforced by the names of the streets and farther round we came to Brighton Beach which had beautiful beach huts, painted in bright colours.  A beautiful beach which reminded me of Cornwall.  On the way home we visited Albert Park and drove round the Australian Grand Prix Formula 1 circuit.   Think Phil wanted to try out his new Golf. Next day we headed for Ballarat which grew up during the Gold Rush. It was a stately old town much bigger than I thought it would be. We drove out to Sovereign Hill which is where the gold was discovered and where they have maintained the town as it was during the gold rush. They have re-enactments of the various historical events. We visited the foundry, panned for gold etc. I spoke to one guy who had actually found gold so I am not sure whether they put some in the stream for the tourists or whether he was just very lucky.  We had a go on what must have been the oldest bowling alley in OZ.  Our visit could not be complete without seeing the largest zebra in the Southern hemisphere. It was very interesting to learn about the history of the area. We saw  the Eureka Stockade which played a part in the history of Australia leading to improved rights for the Australians.

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