Treasure Hunting........

Yes, I am back from my 'mini break'. I'm not sure that I am totally relaxed as Marisa and I crammed a whole lot into the few days but I'm completely exhilarated with my antique treasure hunting.....more of that later.

This week Marisa and I headed off to Ballarat for some serious Op Shop hopping and Antique shopping.

A sense of history is evident in Ballarat's streetscapes. Lydiard and Sturt Street are renowned for their Victorian splendour and there is much to see with beautiful gardens, bandstands, fountains, statues, monuments and memorials - and that is just Sturt Street (the main street).

Anyhoo, that's enough of the history lesson on Ballarat - once you have explored Ballarat's past there is so much more to do..... like shopping, eating and more shopping.

Woohoo...can you tell I don't get out much without the family??

Lucky Marisa had her Navman or as we like to call her, 'NavGirl', to get us around without having to consult the maps.

We spent several glorious days at Bonnie Brae, a beautiful 1880's miners cottage decked out with antiques and period style features.

The small but comfortable sitting room was perfect for our late night chats fueled with Midori and Cadbury Roses......sshhh, the diet was on hold for a few days.

Not sure what our neighbours made of Marisa's ear piercing squeals late on the 2nd night as I chased a large angry and agitated spider around her room. I'm still not sure who was more scared - Marisa or the spider??? I think he may have been quite happy to make his escape to the outside world. Sorry....I didn't get a photo of this very large arachnid as Marisa may have had heart failure had I delayed his exit any longer.

We had some great meals too but we were too eager to eat to take photos. I can highly recommend L'espresso for lunch and the Grapes Hotel in Grant Street served a great pub meal which was enormous. We also enjoyed a meal at The Boathouse on Lake Wendouree but sadly, the lake is almost waterless.

But.......this was not the best part of our mini break.

Nothing comes close to the exhilaration of treasure hunting for antique bric a brac, old wares and forgotten treasures.

Sherryn at Antiques, Goods and Chattels in Main Street had quite a diverse range of interesting items. We scored some great old postcards, handwritten letters and music manuscripts here.

Our first two days were spent rushing from one shop to another adding more items to our booty. The boot of the car quickly filled up as we were left wondering how we would get more in.

Friday morning we headed off to Smythesdale to visit Ruth at 44 Brooke Street.

Ruth has filled the old Town hall to the brim with all manner of collectibles. I am pleased to say I relieved her of quite a bit of clutter during my visit.

I managed to amass quite a big haul of silverware, glass, Denton china, teacups, old laces, a washboard and pegs (that's a present I gave myself), old linen, letters and postcards, more suitcases to paint and the list goes on. Truth be told, I haven't unpacked everything yet so I'm sure I have forgotten about a few things.

On our way back to Melbourne, on a road in the middle of nowhere, we turned off to the Yuulong Lavender Estate.

This lavender farm was so breathtakingly beautiful and the perfect place to finish our trip with lunch on the shady veranda.

While it was great to get away and indulge in my favourite past time, nothing compares to coming home to my beautiful family.