Melbourne was our second Australia port and the last one before we disembarked in Sydney. In other words, this was my last shore excursion. Just in case yesterday had turned out to be a bust, I had chosen an all day trip which included another wildlife park. I was going to see those animals, one way or the other! In my research, Ballarat Wildlife Park had gotten great reviews so I had scheduled the only excursion which included it. But it also included a visit to Sovereign Hill, a recreation of a gold rush town, which didn’t really interest me at all. I suppose that they were combined in the same trip because they were just a few miles apart, but it was a strange combination of tours in my opinion. But to get the wildlife park, you take the gold rush town, so that’s what I did. Greg was also doing a wildlife excursion but he was walking through a forest, looking for koalas up in the trees. That seemed a little unpredictable so I had opted for the sure thing.
Ballarat is a fairly long drive from Melbourne so we had an opportunity to see some of the countryside on the way to the park. Melbourne is a very modern city, with a very pretty skyline. And the scenery on the ride was equally nice. But I was looking for animals, not scenery. Boy, did I find them! Ballarat was much larger and more spread out than Truwanna. Groups were organized for guided tours or you could choose to explore on your own. Not being a “group” kind of guy, I chose option two. All the pens were labeled with the names of the animals, plus a little information about each one. But the really 
great thing about this park was that many of the animals, including the kangaroos, were free to roam among the guests. The gift shop sold bags of food so that customers could feed the kangaroos and, as a result, the kangaroos were so tame that they would come up to you to beg for food. I actually had two ‘roos grab my hand when I squatted down to feed them! It was a very weird and wonderful experience. I wanted to see animals but I sure didn’t expect all of this! Walking around the park, I saw all the animals I had seen the previous day plus emus, snakes, tortoises, eagles, goannas and several kinds of birds that I didn’t recognize. Plus, they had five or six koalas that we could take pictures with, but the keeper had to hold them. This was the best animal encounter yet! 
By the way, I probably should mention that Greg saw the koalas “in the wild”, so we both had successful shore excursions. He got some great pictures but I still think my trip was better. I got to play with my animals and he didn’t!
Our other stop was Sovereign Hill, the gold rush town. Maybe I had already decided that I wouldn’t enjoy it or maybe the morning was just too much fun. But I absolutely couldn’t wait to leave! Authenticity is nice, I guess, but the streets were dirt and it was windy. And it was hot. And the flies were everywhere, buzzing my head. Swatting them only seemed to piss ‘em off! I had a hot dog and fries at the café, then wandered through a few of the stores.
But it just wasn’t working for me. I left the park and went outside, where there was a gift shop and a coffee shop. I spent the next three hours sitting at an outdoor table, waiting for the group to return. All in all, this portion of the tour was a total waste of time. Eventually, the others began to show up and it was time to make the drive back to the ship.
The wildlife encounters had made it worthwhile.
Ballarat is a fairly long drive from Melbourne so we had an opportunity to see some of the countryside on the way to the park. Melbourne is a very modern city, with a very pretty skyline. And the scenery on the ride was equally nice. But I was looking for animals, not scenery. Boy, did I find them! Ballarat was much larger and more spread out than Truwanna. Groups were organized for guided tours or you could choose to explore on your own. Not being a “group” kind of guy, I chose option two. All the pens were labeled with the names of the animals, plus a little information about each one. But the really 
great thing about this park was that many of the animals, including the kangaroos, were free to roam among the guests. The gift shop sold bags of food so that customers could feed the kangaroos and, as a result, the kangaroos were so tame that they would come up to you to beg for food. I actually had two ‘roos grab my hand when I squatted down to feed them! It was a very weird and wonderful experience. I wanted to see animals but I sure didn’t expect all of this! Walking around the park, I saw all the animals I had seen the previous day plus emus, snakes, tortoises, eagles, goannas and several kinds of birds that I didn’t recognize. Plus, they had five or six koalas that we could take pictures with, but the keeper had to hold them. This was the best animal encounter yet! 
By the way, I probably should mention that Greg saw the koalas “in the wild”, so we both had successful shore excursions. He got some great pictures but I still think my trip was better. I got to play with my animals and he didn’t!
Our other stop was Sovereign Hill, the gold rush town. Maybe I had already decided that I wouldn’t enjoy it or maybe the morning was just too much fun. But I absolutely couldn’t wait to leave! Authenticity is nice, I guess, but the streets were dirt and it was windy. And it was hot. And the flies were everywhere, buzzing my head. Swatting them only seemed to piss ‘em off! I had a hot dog and fries at the café, then wandered through a few of the stores.
But it just wasn’t working for me. I left the park and went outside, where there was a gift shop and a coffee shop. I spent the next three hours sitting at an outdoor table, waiting for the group to return. All in all, this portion of the tour was a total waste of time. Eventually, the others began to show up and it was time to make the drive back to the ship.The wildlife encounters had made it worthwhile.
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