Crestwick & Ballarat

Leaving Melbourne we headed on the search for some GOLD!!!!! We stayed in a free forest camp for a couple of nights at Creswick. It rained most of the time but it was fun anyway, collecting wood for the fire and  Alizah & Levi went on an adventure walk and Alizah has decided she would like to tell you all about it.

   So here's Alizah......

Hi Blog readers hope you have been enjoying the blog so far. 

Mum said we should go on a mission to find water and land animals as we were bored from all the rain I thought it might be a good idea to also look for fosssils.

We were prepared with gumboots - raincoats - water - Camera - plastic containers - unbrellas and a carry bag to hold it all.

Levi and I started our adventure from the toilet block, which was next to our van.  We went around through the creek, which was on the other side of our van. We found landscapes like water falls , flat trees , tree bridges , flooded roads. 

Dad showed us how to crack open a rock with iron in it, we found yellow and red iron all though the rocks.  We found lots of Quartz rocks, later at Soveriegn Hill  during our underground mine tour we learnt  that Gold is attracted to Quartz and also only about 10 years ago a large nugget of Gold was found in Creswick.  I wish we could have went back to look for some more.  

At last we found some wood bugs we went to show mum then we got lost but I was able to see the toilet block from the hill and find our way home. When we got back we asked mum to come with us as we found a secret path that leads to a waterfall.

Mum was scared to get her boots wet when we crossed the creek so she stayed on the other side.

Well I hope you enjoy the photos. BYE BYE!!!

After leaving Creswick we went to Ballarat for a couple of nights to try our luck at Soveriegn Hill panning for Gold.  We stayed at the worst caravan park so far.  The lady was happy to take our money then says in a very rude manner, "don't ask for the jumping pillow because we have nothing like that for kids". The showers smelt like sewage and the kids/ baby bath was converted into a dog wash.  I guess they should advertise their park as "Not Family Friendly, but pets are most welcome!"

Ballarat was quite a beautiful old town, some very beautiful little cottages and huge old churches. The kids favourite was the biggest playground we had ever seen. We spent a couple of hours there, the kids playing while Jamie and I worked out where our travels we taking us next. 

Soverieign Hill was the next place to visit, the kids had a ball and so did I trying our luck looking for Gold.  We were showed how they melt down Gold and make it pure and into the bars.  Once it was made it weighed about 3kilos and out of the group of people watching I was chosen to hold the block which was worth $140 000, I was hoping I was the lucky person who got to take it home.  No such luck, but it was great to hold.  The Red Coat Soliders had a fantastic show, with rifles blazing.  I would highly recommend a visit if your in the area as its a 2 day pass and you can go to the Gold Museum across the road.

Creswick - Slatey Creek

Levi wanted me to mention that he was carrying the bag  nearly all of the time

They found a "waterfall"

very exciting stuff

Me stoking the fire

The Hunter & the Gatherer!

and the Chef!

The biggest playground ever!

Hours of fun with a box from the supermarket

Sovereign Hill  Horse and Cart

Levi trying to steal a bar of gold $680000 worth

Alizah having her turn

watching how they do gold smelting

I Won the lottery $140000 worth, didn't get to keep it though :(

back to school with the sand box

Levi not impressed about using the ink

The message we say to Alizah everyday .. There is a place for everything and everything in its place.

Kaine ringing the church bell

Making acid drop lollies

final product

panning for GOLD!!!!

FOUND SOME!

Can you see those 2 very tiny pieces on the right of the $1 coin

The red coat soldiers

Love a man in uniform

trooper showing us how to fire the musket

Did you know??? that a piece of pure gold the size of a 20cent piece can be stretched to the size of a tennis court.

Next stop The Great Ocean Road

Victoria- Gibbsland & Melbourne

First I must start by saying this was almost our last blog, as the stress of living in close surrounds and the kids constantly misbehaving we were ready to give up and head home.  But we changed a few things with the kids and ourselves and so far things are looking really well and there will be several more blogs coming.


Victoria
Well, I must say the car drivers of Victoria are absolutely crazy, one speed, flat out and no working indicators.  It is also the first time I have seen someone  drive with a broken axle and only three wheels on their dual wheel trailer, did I mention on the highway. Madness.
Another observation I have found is that the people aren't the friendliest, quite rude really. Everyone else so for have been  so much nicer. But that's enough complaining.
First entering the NSW / VIC border we noticed how destructive the resent storm was here, thank god we were staying in Threadbo we would have ended up blown back to Queensland in our van.  For about 200kms in the Gibbsland region, mainly National Park, the trees were uprooted or snapped in half.  We did get through to Bellbird Creek Hotel where Jurgen the owner informed  us that they had 9inches of rain. That was evident  because every free park we tried to stop at was either under water or had trees lying all over it.  Staying the night at the back of the hotel we meet a guy from Chicago USA who was riding his bicycle from Sydney to Melbourne. "Why?" I hear ask, I don't know I said the same thing.

The weather in Victoria is definitely four seasons in one day, heavy fog till about 11am, sun for about an hour and then heavy cloud and freezing cold.  That probably explains the peoples bad moods.
Trying to escape the fog we headed for the ocean, with no luck at Frankston,we couldn't even see the water from the road.  We headed towards Portsea, and what do you know, there was sun for a little while anyway.  We found it hard to find  tourist sites, as things aren't signed all that well.  We did however find a place called London Bridge, it was on the edge of the Southern Ocean and was quite spectacular.  Alizah found a cuttlefish backbone which was the biggest I have ever seen, it would have been as big or bigger than my size 10 foot. The kids liked exploring into all the little crevices and caves.

We didn't really go into Melbourne City as that didn't really excite us, but we did drive past a couple of times on the way to some of the TAFE's. Jamie still has his mind on the job (industry) and trying to get Solid Plastering to be all on the same page, but that's enough about work.

We took the van in to get its promised free service by  Golf Caravans, but for some reason they didn't want us dropping it off to Golf (it could have been that we said we would love to give the idiot we were dealing with a good punch in the nose, not sure) We gave them a list of things we wanted fixed but that didn't happen, but they have hopefully fixed our main problem with the winch.

Heading to Ballarat to find us some GOLD now!

can you see the water? At Frankston

Alizah still wanted a photo, even though it was spelt differently

Port Phillip

the first "London Bridge" we saw

Huge cuttlefish bone

Family shot

Jamie wants this block of land which leads to .............

this  - Bush Ranger Bay

If you want to do a 5.2km walk be prepared to do this with little ones

even not so little ones

Deano, Jamie wants you to see this golf course. Right next to the ocean cliff ( not the best photo)

Melbourne city by drive by

The Snow of Threadbo

Our last day in Canberra we called into the Old Parliament House, the kids had a fantastic time dressing up and hopefully learning a little bit about democracy at the same time.

Old Parliament House

Queen Alizah

Levi - Perikles the famous ruler of Athens

Queen Zara

Old grumpy Levi

I FOUND GOLD!!!!!

I'm sure he will do a better job than Peter Slipper

Another beautiful sunset over Canberra

 With the bad weather predicted on the coastline we decided to head towards the Snowy Mountains instead. It also gives the kids an opportunity to see the snow.  The forecast here was also rain so we couldn't be bothered setting up the camper, so thank God for the last minute accommodation specials, and with the snow season only starting on the weekend we got a great deal in a huge three bedroom apartment.  The kids thought they were in heaven, room to run, separate beds and 2 tvs and also HEATING.  But the best part of all was seeing how excited the kids were to see and touch the snow, another priceless moment.  Alizah got an ear infection the 2nd day we were there so she had to stay in and rest, so she was ready to head up the mountain on our last day.  I actually thought the kids would be scared going on the chair lift but they thought it was heaps of fun.  We spent a couple of hours up the top of the mountain, snowball fighting, making snowmen and most of my time was sinking up to my knees in the snow.  Next time we do visit the snow however we will be a bit more organised and make sure we all have waterproof pants, as every time we went sliding we ended up with frozen pants. It was cheap entertainment however.
On the trip out of Threadbo we called into a Schnapps distillery to have a bit of a taste.  "WOW" they make some really tasty ones, Raspberry, Sour Apple, Sweet Apple, Pear, Butterscotch and I'm sure there was a few more but the barman just kept lining them up for me. I wasn't driving, so I kept on drinking. So if you are in the Threadbo area, call into Wild Brumby's Distillery. I recommend you get someone to drive you there and try them all.

Heading to the Snowy Mountains

The road continues

"LOOK! The Snow is coming"

Snowball fight

Levi  showing off his baby snowman

Kaine loved the  snow

Clear sunny day

Our car windscreen

Alizah on top of the mountain

On the way up on the chairlift

Spare tyre on the caravan, that's the reason I rented an apartment

On top of Threadbo - 1937metres above sea level

The highest Australian Restaurant

Enjoying their hot chocolate 1937metres up

Plant covered in ice- looked cool

Nice and sunny but still -5

The boys going back down the mountain

Really big ice block trees

MMMM YUM

Watch Out!