Ballarat Wildlife Park.

It was an early start today. I was picked up at 8am for a 1hr30min drive out to Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. It's a fake settlement recreating the gold rush. We went to the traditional bakery where we had pies and beer to start (a little early but the Aussies insisted on 'roadies' for the journey). Later we headed into the mineshaft and learn't about how they found the gold, excavated it and the risks to the miners. We saw a gold pour, where 3 kgs of gold was melted, purified and poured into a solid gold bar worth $160 000. Ballarat gold is the purest gold of any mined. We then travelled on to Ballarat Wildlife Park, where the kangaroos wander in amongst all the visitors and you buy feed to hand to them as you walk around. They are bolshy and very demanding. If you are not feeding them quickly enough, then they pull the bag and dismantle it to drop the seed, so you have to be quick. They are so gentle otherwise and wonderfully soft. I also saw a calling Koala, they make a strange sound mixed between a donkey, a growl and a very big burp!! We returned home via Williamstown for the view and then the harbour for dinner.