My husband Glenn is back down in Melbourne with me, as I prepare to finish up my three month membership at Savour Chocolate & Patisserie School. Back in early September, we travelled the breathtakingly spectacular stretch of the Victorian coast known as The Great Ocean Road, though only got as far as Loch Ard Gorge in the two days we had. With two days free, it was our chance to get back down there & see the other coastal rock formations that are part of Port Campbell National park. So off to Warrnambool we go, travelling inland via Ballarat.
Ballarat lies within the Victoria's goldfield area, on the lower Western plains of the Great Dividing Range.
The first establishment in the area was a sheep run, named Ballaarat, in 1837. Just months after Victoria was granted separation from NSW, the boom of the Victorian goldrush transformed the area from small sheep station to major settlement. Gold was discovered in August 1851. Within months approximately 20,000 migrants had journeyed to the district to strike their luck in the rich alluvial fields where the gold was easily extracted. For those areas where the gold had to be mined, innovative techniques brought by migrants, such as the use of a Chilean mill in 1851, & mining cages, introduced in 1861, meant the Ballarat fields experienced sustained high gold yields for decades. Gold extraction stagnated late in the 19th century.
Ballarat is famous as the location of the Eureka Stockade, which took place in December 1854. This rebellion is the only armed rebellion in Australian history & is regarded by many as the origin of Australian democracy. The rebellion came about because the gold diggers opposed the Government's imposing of regular taxes, through miners licences, which had to be paid regardless of whether a diggers claim was lucrative or not. On the 3/12/1854, hundreds of miners burnt their mining licences in a show of protest & marshalled themselves in a stockade. Soldiers had been sent to the Ballarat area to assist the constabulary with the growing tensions. The fire power of the opposing soldiers was too great for the protesters & the rebellion was easily quashed, with lives being lost on both sides. Commissions into the treatment of the gold diggers did bring about reforms in their favour. Thus, the legacy of the Eureka Stockade was law reform. In addition, the principles of mateship, of standing beside your mate in tough times, were recognised & the term "digger" was later adopted by ANZAC soldiers in WWI.
As with Bendigo, Ballarat has many fine examples of Victorian era architecture. The two main cross streets are lined with statues, including one of Queen Victoria, Peter Lalor the leader of the Eureka Rebellion who later became a sitting member for Ballarat & a tribute to "Pompey" Elliot, a well-regarded local, who was considered a master tactician & saw action at Villers-Bretonneaux & Lone Pine.
Photo: old Ballarat gaol now houses part of the University of Ballarat
Photo: Ballarat Town Hall
Photo: the mining exchange
Ballarat also features beautiful Botanical Gardens out by the artificially created Lake Wendouree. Lake Wendouree was the setting for the rowing & kayaking events in Melbourne's 1956 summer Olympics. The six kilometre circumference of the lake was fully parkland & the lake was dotted with boathouses. Birdlife thrives amongst the wetland area opposite the Botanical Gardens.
Ballarat Botanical Gardens are recognised as one of Australia's most significant cool climate gardens & encompasses 40 hectares of gardens, avenues & art. The Botanical Gardens were established in 1858, with the grounds of the Ballarat police horse paddock being converted for the purpose. The site contains tree-lined avenues, a modern conservatory, a statuary pavilion containing five marble works, the Prime Ministers Avenue which contains bronze busts of all serving Prime Ministers, the Stoddard collection of marble statues & a horticultural centre.
Warrnambool was our destination for the evening. En route, we came across a volcano in the middle of plains dedicated to farming, which only opens one Sunday in the month. Amazing!
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