Day 7 - Late Start

We aren't the most productive people somedays. This Friday was one of those days. We had big plans but we just couldn't get moving. Don't know what was wrong but it happens.

We drove out to Ballarat and checked out the town. Had a bite to eat and then moved on to our destination.

There was apparently a Gold Rush in Australia. The town of Ballarat must have been front and center in the rush because Sovereign Hill was dedicated to the era. This was sort of like Greenfield Village. Everyone was dressed for the times, only instead of random buildings, this was a replica of what Ballarat would have looked like.

We walked around for a few hours, saw them pour a block of gold, checked out all the stores and headed home.

Day 6 - Just a Regular Day

We decided we would take an easy day and just be normal for once. It wasn't exactly all normal but it was close.

Seth went to work. (Normal)

Lilly had a birthday party. (Not normal) It was at an indoor play center pretty close to our house. The birthday girl was from Lilly's ballet class so she didn't know too many of the children, but she didn't care. I think her favorite part was the trampoline.

Next we had some shopping to do. (Normal, sort of) I had a coupon for the craft store (as close to JoAnns as I'm gonna get!) so we headed to the closest one and used the coupon.

Ballet for Lilly. (Normal) Mom and I went down to the cafe and got some hot chocolate. Then we went back upstairs and tried to sneak a peak at the dancers. Lilly saw us and couldn't focus on anything else. So, Mrs. Anna let us come in and watch. Mom was pleased as punch.

Rest time back at home and then dinner and bedtime for Lilly. (Normal) At this rate I should have been taking a nap!

Soccer game at 10:00. (More normal than I would like) Everyone gets into a final game for the games. There is a winners bracket (first through fourth place) and a losers bracket (fifth through eighth place). We were in the losers bracket and somehow we won. There was a big debate about not even playing because we didn't have enough people and it was late. But I said my mom was coming and the team rallied. In case I forget to mention later, we did go on to win the Grand Finale for the losers the next week. I should post a picture of the trophy we got.

Day 5 - It's all a bit foggy

We woke up to rain, no surprise. Packed up our car and headed to our first stop. This was called Mait's Rest after some guy who used to rest his horse here way back when. This was a boardwalk sort of walk but it was lower to the ground. We were definitely in the rain forest and Lilly was sure that we were going to have to try to find a sun forest by the end of the walk. The rain was pretty heavy so we walked pretty quickly.

We then drove to the 12 Apostles which is close to Port Campbell. There were tons of tourists out there including a couple of buses. We ate our lunch in the car as there were many places to sit outside (and again, the weather wasn't very cooperative). We had a sea gull sitting right outside our car just waiting for something to eat. He left disappointed.

The 12 Apostles are these giant rocks that stick up out the water. They are always changing as the waves beat them down (limestone wears away at a pretty steady pace). In fact, another of the apostles has fallen since we were there. Which brings the number left standing to six or seven. I wonder if they'll change the name when there is only one left. Apparently this place is supposed to be wonderful for sunrises and sunsets. We were there in the middle of the day and it was cloudy.

Finally we drove into Port Campbell. We stopped at a little craft shop but that turned out to be more museum than crafts. We tried to get ice cream but the place was closed so we just got a little treat and headed home.

We went by the highway home so it didn't take nearly as long. It wasn't as scenic and by mom's watch, we didn't pass any kangaroos.