BALLARAT WINTERLUDE

Recently I was asked to attend the Ballarat Winter Winterlude Festival and after I was done questioning them that they had the right person and pinching myself that this was actually going to happen we hopped on a plane and headed to Victoria!

After the little drive from Melbourne Airport to Ballarat we arrived at about 11pm at night and my god was it cold! We had been warned that it would be cold but this was something else. But not even that could trump my excitement as we rolled into our BnB at Greenfield Place who would be hosting us for the weekend. Not only were we greeted with a toasty room that instantly defrosted the tips of our noses, but we had been left a beautiful welcome package made up of all local and home made produce. So, after some negotiating with the promise of treats from the hamper the next day, Harper finally went down and Brad and I retreated to our bed (which btw had been kindly heated up by an electric blanket). So far my impression of Ballarat was extremely high and we still had the entire weekend ahead of us!

The next day we had a nice and slow morning thanks to Harper sleeping in till 9am so we were already off to a good start.... and then we discovered the cafe adjoined to our BnB (praise hands)!!! Great coffee, amazing organic food and the lady that ran 'The Local' was an absolute legend. On the Sunday morning they even delivered breakfast to our room so I didn't even have to brush my hair before downing my coffee and waffles!

The weekend itinerary was jam packed with family friendly places... we started at Kryal Castle where the life size dragon scared the absolute shit out of Harper and none of my telling him it was the just the Dragon from Shrek could convince him it was safe to walk past. We went to the Ballarat Wildlife Park where we got robbed by a pack of kangaroos of our food and got to roast marshmallows by the bomb fire. We had wood-oven pizzas and red wine by an open fire at The Forge Pizzeria (which btw parents is not only amazing service, even with a squealing child, but they have a huge wall that is a black board so you can just let your kids go nuts drawing on the walls)... And of course there was Sovereign Hill, which was an absolute highlight. 

I remember going to Sovereign Hill as a kid, panning for gold and dressing up like I was part of the town but it was a completely different experience going as an adult and showing it all to Harper. It was possibly the sugar high from the old school sweet shop that we hit up way too many times but Harper had an absolute ball running around the dusty roads, riding in the horse and carriage and trying out all the old school mechanical equipment. And then the snow came. Granted it was fake snow but that in no way took away from the magic of it. And when night set in and the light show began it honestly felt like we were in Disneyland. With the snow, the lights, the caroler’s and the elaborate Christmas decorations it was one of the best nights I have had in my life. And just so you know, I don't throw that saying around willy-nilly. It was amazing. 

So a huge HUGE thank you to Visit Ballarat for hosting us and to all the incredible businesses that made our trip an 11/10. Ballarat completely won us over and for any families wanting a little weekend holiday I can't recommend this place enough. 

Danielle
xxx