Sculptures at Botanical Garden, Ballarat

When I was at Ballarat on the weekend we visited the Botanical Gardens and I got lots of little clips of the sculptures and statues there. I was really saddened by the ones that had to be housed in the greenhouse building and had been vandalised. I don't understand why people would destroy public property that is so beautiful and a gift for everyone. This photo may need to be enlarged to read the history of the statues. I will be adding to the revver collection of Ballarat Sculptures so if you are interested check back.

Ballarat Wedding

I spent the weekend in Ballarat. My brother was married on Friday there and we spent the weekend, since we were there. It was a great family occasion. I feel pretty blessed by my large extended family. I was chatting to my cousin and a brother at one stage of the night and we all agreed we were pretty lucky in the family department. Our family gets together and has a good time. The wedding was very beautiful and I was proud of my brother and his wife and the way they expressed their committment to each other with such love and pleasure.
I haven't been to Ballarat for a long time. In fact I think it was an excursion when I was doing my HSC (contemporary VCE or Year 12). I don't remember much about my previous visits and I enjoyed seeing Ballarat now. It had a spacious and gracious feel to it. The old houses are distinctive and individual and the streets are wide.
We enjoyed the place we stayed at and visited the Botanical Gardens on the Sunday before heading home. I will put some video's up on revver. I took mainly videos of the sculptures in the park.

Carrajung

Went for a drive today to look at some properties for sale. It was a very spring kind of day and there is an amazing view from Carrajung that we enjoyed whilst having a yummy picnic on what was probably once an oval. It was framed by tall trees and I can't believe now that I didn't take a photo. Too distracted by the view I guess and by daydreaming about what could happen in that space. It was warm, sunny and delightful.

Foster - Breakfast at Dawn

We ate our breakfast on the beach, Andy ate his healthy oats and sultana's, whilst I indulged in a decadent jam tart, with buttery pastry, mmmmmm..

Foster for a week in September

There are heaps of little trips to take from Foster and as usual, Andy selected the more obscure and interesting ones. I love that he takes me to places I would never discover. He has a GPS now and that is making him even more exploratory!
We found an amazing beach down a quiet dirt track. It had views of the prom on one side and the hills beyond Toora and Foster on the other. It was so quiet, except for the frogs and animal life in the small patch of bush that separated the waterfront from the road. We spent an afternoon there and then got up at 4.30 in the morning to watch the sunrise and got some amazing photos. I will put my favourite one up, once I decide what it is.
We visited Toora. There were so many properties for sale there. The area is quite expensive still. Toora was a ghost town. It made me feel sad to be honest. Surrounded by beauty and abandoned. The old shops that with a huge injection of cash, could have been very interesting and stylish, but had moss growing on the inside and were dusty and falling down! It was stagnant and decaying. The milk factory has closed about 12 months ago and apparently this has been the aftermath. I feel it must have been in decline for longer than that. It would be interesting to see if it sparks up in summer. There were signs that there had recently been life there. We drove a lot more on this trip and the views were of green rolling farmlands and the prom’s hills emerging from the water. It is a breathtaking sight. There is a slight fogginess that evokes a sense of unreality about it and makes it seem illusory or fragile. As though the mist could swallow the view up.