My Weekend

On Friday, my family and I traveled to Ballarat, to Sovereign Hill Living Museum. Sovereign Hill is a museum that shows what life was like in Ballarat during the gold rush. There are plenty of interesting sights and activities throughout the museum, but one of the best parts is talking to the museum staff. We had very informative chats with the boiler operator and the "wheelwright", something that would not have happened if we had been on a guided tour. The museum really gets across what life was like in the 1850s-60s.
Score: 10/10
Also, lunch at the New York Bakery was absolutely delicious. I had a wonderful chicken parmigiana
Score: 9/10
Later that day, we went to the "Sound and Light Spectactular Show" of "Blood on the Southern Cross", the story of Victoria's Eureka Stockade and the shortest civil war in history (it took 20 minutes for the British to take the Eureka Stockade). The show itself was well done, and impressed upon you the horror of what had happened at the Stockade and before.
Score: 8/10
Dinner at the Charlie Napier hotel was not the best buffet, but the beautiful dessert made up for the slightly lacking dinner
Score: 7/10
That night, we stayed at the B-Grade accomadations at the Sovereign Hill Barracks. Terrible, but at least it was cheap. (The other option was $120 per person per night. Not much of an option for 5 people)
Score: 3/10
Getting up early that morning to travel to J.'s birthday near Seymour, we stopped along the way for breakfast at the Boathouse in Daylesford. Quite possibly the best croissants I have ever had. We also took a walk around Lake Daylesford, and spotted somebody training for the Olympics.
Score: 10/10
After that, it was a two-hour drive to B.'s farm for J.'s birthday party. We arrived at 1 o'clock, earlier than most people, and had barbequed hamburgers for lunch. We went searching for firewood for the fire, caught up with the other homeschoolers, and then played a game of Fugitive when all the others had arrived. After playing fugitive, we played two games of soccer. My team won the first and lost the second. I scored one goal, and spent a lot of time in Goalie.
After playing soccer, we spent a lot of time just hanging out and doing nothing in particular until 3 of the homeschoolers disappeared at about 8 o'clock. We spent about 40 minutes searching for them and calling out their names, but to no avail until they appeared at back the house. They had apparently heard us calling, but thought it was their parents calling them to go home, so they did not come. Then, we left the party, and stayed in the Best Western in Seymour. A good little hotel with very nice rooms
Score: 8.5/10
Then, we returned to Geelong on a long, scenic trip, dropping in on M. and A. in Melbourne and dropping off Dad at the airport on the way.