Victoria: Ballarat, Southern Ocean, Tower Hill, Geriwerd, and Melbourne

G'day mates! I recently returned form the beautiful and cold state of Victoria. I'm told that is it not always cold down there, but it being July, winter and even closer to the South Pole down there, my body was not having it and was thoroughly confused. I should be sun bathing and BBQing, shooting off fireworks for the 4th of July instead of wearing 3-4 layers and struggling through the rain to race home and have a cup of tea and some hot soup.

Despite the rainy weather in Victoria, we had a few sunny moments and lovely drives through the beautiful, green countryside. All of the greenery, farms, cows, rain and cups of tea made me feel like I was back in Wales, but the occasional marsupial, eucalyptus tree and Aussie accent reminded me of where I was. Even the Southern Ocean had the grey hues of the Atlantic, but every once in a while you'd catch that turquoise blaze in the waves that can only be found in Aus.

After driving though the miles of green countryside, I arrived in Ballarat. A small town just 2 hours West of of the bustling and cosmopolitan city of Melbourne, Ballarat has its charm in its old Victorian styled architecture buildings, complete with lattice ironwork, and stoic Cathedrals and clock towers. I felt like I had stepped back in time to the days of Ned Kelly and his gang.

I explored the town of Ballarat pretty thoroughly on my first couple of days in town. From here, I went to visit the Tower Hill (Koroit) and Grampians (Geriwerd) National Parks, which lie further Northwest of Ballarat. My very generous supervisor was a trooper - driving me from point A to point B and back to point A in a day, a trip that should take at least a couple of days with a decent amount of rest. I don't know how he made such good time.

 The parks were beautiful and pristine. We visited the Aboriginal cultural centers, which had a lot of cool, authentically made products for us to buy. We were also welcomed by the feathered and furry ambassadors of the parks who greeted us upon our arrival.

 Speaking of furry and feathered greeters, my best day in Victoria was spent at the Ballarat Wildlife Park. Like I didn't get enough animal attention at Australia Zoo, I have become addicted to these friendly and funny creatures. I just cant stop feeding them! and they seem pretty OK with that.

I might have overdone it on some of them though...

We saw everything: kangaroos, koalas, wombats, wallabies, Tasmanian devils, wallaroos, emus, black swans (who bite), crocs, snakes, and yes even alpacas! I was shocked to see these guys since it is supposed to be an Aussie animal park, but I didn't complain. They were pretty hungry too, but tended to tickle your hand more when feeding.

Eventually, we had to leave and get down to work. My next day, July 4th, was spent in Melbourne. What a beautiful and picturesque city. It is Fall, so many of the trees were in full golden glory.

After a morning of meetings for the PhD project, I was left to my own devices and spent the day exploring the plentiful stores of the arcades on Bourke Street. Every store you could imagine is here. The consumer within me was trying very hard not to splurge on Mac, Zara, H&M, Victoria's Secret, all the stores I cannot get in Newcastle. My suitcase was definitely not big enough and I wasn't about to lug a million bags back to Ballarat, let alone Newcastle. I curbed my urges, bought a couple of books, and continued walking to Federation Square, but you can always take the trolley around town as well.

From Federation Square you get a great view of the city and the river.

Along the way, I saw many beautiful buildings and churches that held a bit of the Victorian charm about them. Les Miserables had just opened, so there was a lot of rouge, blanc and bleu around the city, which was fitting for my July the 4th. Thankfully the rain had subsided as well so I got to enjoy plenty of sunshine on Independence Day.

It was a short visit, but I had a productive, fun and fulfilling time on my first trip to Victoria and look forward to exploring Melbourne and all its charming Victorian surroundings on my future trips down there.

I'll keep you all posted on more of Melbourne's hidden gems soon!