Leonie Dukes
The first stop of the day was at the Creswick Woolen Mills. They have a display showing how they make their products – I know a lot about how it is produced at a craft level, and seeing the way the same techniques are used in the industrial machines
Read more
Today I headed to Ararat, taking the “scenic route”. The weather was extremely variable, changing constantly from wet to sunny and back again.
Read more
The weather was very wet again this morning, and as I was driving out to see an old railway bridge on the Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail I was just hoping the rain would clear enough for me to have a look. Fortunately it did, although there was still a bit
Read more
There are many beautiful historic buildings in the centre of Ballarat. I only walked around the main areas as the rain was starting to set in again. There is also a nice park area along the centre of Sturt Street, which includes a large number of statues.
Read more
I had intended to visit the Art Gallery in the afternoon, but gave up after discovering all the parking seemed to require coins (which I didn’t have). Instead I headed out to Lake Wendouree and the Botanical Gardens. I was fortunate that the weather remained dry enough that I could
Read more
My drive to Ballarat was pretty miserable, with heavy rain and strong winds most of the way. When I reached my first stop, the Ballarat Gold Museum, the rain had eased slightly but it was still very cold and blustery. I would love to be able to say that the
Read more
A very enjoyable couple of hours today learning to make dumplings at Otao Kitchen in Richmond. I got to eat lots, and brought home a couple more containers for dinner.
Read more
I had a great day visiting various places around Heathcote and Bendigo, as well as visiting Shiraz Republic winery to press my wine, which has been fermenting for the last 10 days. I started out early and went to Heathcote Powder Magazine first – the sun was not fully up
Read more
Ten days after picking and crushing the grapes, it was time to crush them and put the juice into a demijohn for further fermentation. The crushed grapes are poured into the press, which uses a ratchet mechanism to press all of the juice out. The juice is collected into buckets,
Read more