Footsteps in Australia #3

4th Day ~ Ballarat

Mention the Gold Rush and an image of splendour comes to mind. Indeed this is what awaits u @ Ballarat, the city of Victoria that saw the discovery of gold in the 1850s.

We went to visit Sovereign Hill to experience the re-creation of the turbulent mining era. This is Victoria's award winning tourist attraction where u could relive the goldrush days! Shop 1850s style, ride in a coach, meet costumed characters, watch craftsmen at work, pan for gold and tour an underground mine. I did everything! :)


@ the top of the tower overlooking the Sovereign Hill.



Panning the gold is really a very hard work. I have always thought that it was an easy task, cos from the tv, u only see those ppl doing it in ease. But when i experienced it myself, my gosh, do u know how heavy the sand (and if u are lucky, there might be a teeny weeny of gold dust inside) they have to pan?


Found any gold yet?

There was one moment when we were on our way to the Gold Mine Tour, a guy dressed in costume came up to us and grab my camera on my hand. I was really shocked, seriously. But he then handed the camera to Lee Yan and told her to take a picture of me with him. That was really funny. Haha.


Here is the costumed man i was talking about :P

There was this new attraction by night called Blood on the Southern Cross, a dramatic sound and light show depicting the Eureka Uprising, Australia's only armed civil rebellion. I did not go for that, though.

Later that evening, Lee Yan brought me to her uni, University of Ballarat and showed me her faculty. Although it was a semester break, but u could still see a few students strolling in the uni compound, probably heading to the library or something. Seeing the cosy and relaxing environment made me feel like going back to study again. Maybe i will do my master sometime.. i have always wanted to study abroad, but my financial situation kicked me into reality. I could never afford myself.... not now.

Anyways, we had a good time and visited the Lake Wendouree before driving home for dinner and getting ourselves prepared for yet another exciting journey to come. Here we come, Gold Coast!!


5th Day ~ Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast

Woke up as early as 4am, cos we gotta take an hour and a half drive to the airport to catch an early flight to Gold Coast via JetStar. If you guys didnt know, parking in Asutralia is superbly expensive. An hour in the airport cost AUD20, this is really absurd. If we convert it back to Malaysian Ringgit, it is around RM 54. Can u believe that?

And take a guess how much do we have to pay for a long term parking, for the couple of days (6 days to be exact) we were in Queensland? Any takers?

Well, its AUD60, which is in a way cheaper than the hourly parking. But still, RM162 is a very big amount! -_-

Anyhow, we checked in to Quarterdeck Apartments and took our own sweet time to explore the place. Initially we wanted to go to the Paradise Country Farm, but it was too late to arrange for a shuttle to fetch us there and apparently, there is no other means of transportation to get there. So we dropped the whole idea, and went jln jln @ the Surfers Paradise instead.


Warner Bros bulding.

Pacific Fair Shopping Centre is an icon of shopping and fashion on Australia's internationally renowned Gold Coast. They have this internationally themed shopping precincts set amongst lanscaped gardens and lakes. I have done some surveys before coming to Australia, and this shopping centre seems to be one of the must go places in Queensland, so i simply couldnt miss it out, am i right?



We ended our day with a short walk on the beach. The sand is soft and white. How lucky these Aussie ppl are...




6th Day ~ Wet 'n' Wild Water World

Have u guys been to Sunway Lagoon? Well, the Wet 'n Wild Water World is somewhat similar to the wet park in Sunway, but in a bigger scale.


Caught the entrance while i was queuing up to enter the water park.

I dont know if it was a peak season at that time, but there were certainly a big crowd at the entrance of the water park by the time we reached the place, more than 15 minutes earlier than their opening hours. Are they all tourists like me? If there were not, dont they have something to do? Work or studies? These ang mohs sure know how to enjoy their life! O_o


Lee Yan in the park.

Among all the water rides, the best was one called Jetstream. U were supposed to glide down with ur back, in 75 degree angle. U can feel that u were like jumping down a building or something.. that was really awesome.. provided ur heart can take it. I went for that alone, as Lee Yan decided to pass. Hee..

A lot of girls on bikinis.. in different sizes too, if u know what i meant. *Muahaha*

I didnt take much pics here, cos we had our belongings secured in a locker. But i do have a few of bikini shots... sorry guys, for private viewing only :P

At night, we checked out the night market along the esplanade. U can see a lot of their local products here, boomerangs, surfboard photo frames, kangaroo's skin, some home made soaps and etc, etc. They even had a beach cinema for the patrons to catch a predefined movie on the sandy beach. They were showing 50 First Dates, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore that nite, how romantic. *wink*wink*


Their night market is very much cleaner than ours, most probably cos they didnt sell vege, meat or cooked food there.


The Beach Cinema.