Day Six

The main street of Ballarat, a very pretty city of 85,000 people.

Outside the Gold Museum which was our first port of call this morning. I could have stayed longer but the kids were keen to move on and have a look around Ballarat. This is code for go shopping. Henry Bolte was Victorian Premier when I lived there as a kid.



Haydn gives the impression that he could live on a diet consisting entirely of Hungry Jacks! We are trying to broaden his culinary horizons but he is resisting.


We're back in Melbourne now and the kids are in bed earlier than normal. We are heading down to Geelong tomorrow on the train and need to get up and going early. Unlike this morning, where I was the first one up, at 9.30!! Trust me when I say, I am never the first one out of bed, anywhere, ever!They were obviously comfortable, and warm. Apparently it was minus 3 degrees in Ballarat last night!


Paul the Principal came to see how we'd fared this morning and wished us good luck for the rest of the trip, and not to get lost at Hanging Rock!

We drove to Woodend via Daylesford and it was there that Sophie realised she'd left her wallet behind at a shop in Ballarat. We rang them and they had the wallet but rather than drive all the way back they offered to mail it back to her in Melbourne.There was a strong sense of reaping what you sow in this incident. Earlier in the day when she went to an ATM, Sophie had found $500 in notes sticking out of the machine. She tracked down the man the money belonged to and gave it back to him. you can imagine how grateful he felt for her honesty. Thus, she was confident she'd get her wallet back, and she did.

Unfortunately we arrived at Hanging Rock just as they were closing the park and the ranger made it abundantly clear we weren't welcome in light of the time.We satisfied ourselves with a kick of Alex's much loved new footy, and fell about laughing when Joel and then others slipped on the wet grass and landed on their bums as they tried to kick. Being the fashion conscious young men they are they were most anxious to know if there is a washing machine at Box Forest so they wash the mud off their jeans. There is and they have!

Ironically I got lost as we arrived back in Melbourne and it took about an extra half an hour to find our way back to Box Forest. A quick stop at Coles for some food then Sophie cooked us coconut curry risotto for dinner which some of the kids found a little too spicy for their taste. Ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert soothed their mouths! We had a bit of a debrief of the trip so far after dinner and heard a recap of all the funny incidents and stories that have happened as well as the good and bad things. We discussed our plans for tomorrow and the next few days then I sent them off to bed.
Tomorrow night after tea I told them I'd like to share some of my story and my faith with them and we'll have a bit of a question and answer forum. They all seemed cool with that and they've got a day to think about any questions they may like to ask about God, Life and the Universe. I can't guarantee I'll be able to answer but I'll give it a shot.