Chooks and Chocs

Ah, regional Australia, it's good to get out there and meet the people. Work took me to Victoria for a few days...first to Melbourne, a city I increasingly like more with each visit. I met up with Haeli and the family for a typical family sunday, out for lunch in the Dandenongs and Roast Lamb for dinner. Then it was west to the town of Geelong, an industrial port where I totally lost my orientation, not helped by a car hire place which had transformed into a building site.

An hour or so north of Geelong through wide green farmland and koala lined roads (well, signs saying as much anyway) brought me to Ballarat, a town with a bit of history thanks to the discovery of some big gold nuggets back in 1851.

Unfortunately I spent most of my time in a hotel out of town, speaking to people from the area who were all rather charming in that country town type of way. After a long day tucking into a dinner for one in a sparsely populated hotel restaurant I felt very much like the travelling salesman!

Oh well, I managed a quick half hour look round the centre of Ballarat the next morning and it felt kinda nice, a bit twee in places, but certainly showing some history. It must've been well established a century or more ago as they even have some Brit named Vicky looking down on the town. She looked a bit grumpy though. Less grumpy was the pink haired woman in the coffee shop and she served a good brew too. And that is about all I can tell you about Ballarat.

I like Victoria (the state), it seems a bit more manageable and more English-like, complete with cool grey clouds and mist at this time of year. I'll be back living the Aussie dream this weekend though, as Queensland is a-calling and it'll be back to the beaches, barbies and bush.