Family tour Part 2: Ballarat

On the third day of Chin Fei's family trip to Melbourne, we brought them to Sovereign Hill, Ballarat, a historical place popular for its gold mine. There we saw how families in those days live in the gold mine; the men working hard in the mine while the women caring for their children at home.

We also had the opportunity to pan for gold but I did not have the patience to look for a speck of gold, so I did not bother about that. Haha. :P

Chin Fei's dad busy looking for gold

There were some animals like sheep, donkeys and horses there too to create a very nostalgic olden times kind of feeling of how people those days depend on animals to do the work for them. Seriously, I pitied those horses there, having to pull the cart (now). Others think that this is what animals should do for mankind but I still think that they should be let free to roam around instead of being tied to one position the entire day.

Poor little lonely horsie. So ke lian (pitiful)

Not everyone at Ballarat mined for gold last time. At Sovereign Hill, we had the opportunity of watching how people those days make wheels for the horse carts, how people smelt gold, make candies, make candles etc etc.

Candy making demonstration

The end process with candies on the table top. We even got to try it for free and if we like it, we could purchase a bag of it

This man taught us how to make the wheel from scratch, that is from a tree log!

Gold smelting

The gold block is so hot that sparks fly when you hit the block with a metal

And voila, 3kg pure gold block!

He was prepared to shoot me if I ran away with the gold!

Our Sovereign Hill entrance ticket also includes passes to the Gold Museum, which I honestly found was boring. :P I guess the large size of gold nuggets found did not really wow me that much. Haha. :P

That is how big the gold nugget is!

After that, we went to Eureka Stockade, a memorial for those gold miners who fought against the government during that time to stand up for democracy.

There was a park there too





where I played for an hour :P






with a little girl named Amelia :)

Family tour Part 1: Phillip Island

So, Chin Fei and his other 6 family members dropped by Melbourne a week ago after their 2 weeks tour around the north and south New Zealand.

One of the places we went to was Phillip Island, the island popular for its penguins. On the way to Phillip Island, we stopped by Maru Koala and Fauna Park.

where we saw lots of different animals and had the opportunity to feed them too, like:

1. Koala bear









2. Parrots and peacocks









3. Kangaroos and wallabies

With an albino joey

A big family. From left: Chin Fei's 4th uncle, 4th aunt, grandmother, mother, father, grandfather, Chin Fei. Haha.

4. Donkeys, alpacas and goats











There was also a pirate ship display there.





















We stopped by Woolamai beach before heading to Penguin Parade.

This beach is so popular for its fierce waves for surfing. I was so terrified looking at those waves crashing into the shore that for a moment, I wondered to myself, how terrified those tsunami victims were when they saw tsunami waves coming towards them. OMG.



Our next stop was the Nobbies centre, popular for its nesting ground for seals and seagulls. We couldn't see the seals because they were very very far away but OMG, there were so many seagulls; eggs, baby seagulls, mother feeding her babies, middle-aged seagulls, adult seagulls and even dead and rotting seagulls; yes, we've seen them all - the entire cycle. (The seagulls actually change their feather colours as they grow older, so we know if they are fully matured.)

Chin Fei and his grandfather

There we saw the Blowhole, where you get to see the waves hitting the rock and then splash up high. Quite a nice sight to watch actually. Hehe. :P

We also stopped by for a short picnic before heading to wander off in a forest.












where we saw a wild wallaby in the woods. :)

That night, we had home-cooked food for dinner. The first time after so long, I got to have a meal as a family. :)