Begonia Festival.

Market at Skipton.

Ballarat.

Sunday, 11th March, 2012

Yesterday we drove to Ballarat for the annual Begonia Festival. We left early to make sure we got there by the opening as we wanted to see what goodies were for sale at the Begonia Club's stall.

We stopped at a small street market in Skipton where Lyn bought a plant. The first for the day.

We made Ballarat in time, but we are definitely not city people. The traffic and closed-in feeling is nothing like the outback. Maybe we have been out bush too long.

Ballarat gardens.

The Botanical Gardens in Ballarat were a picture. Colour lined all the walkways.

We headed straight for the conservatory, paid our $6 admission, and entered heaven.

Begonia display.

There were endless displays of beautiful tuberous begonias in a huge range of colours, all in full bloom.

Some of the colours were just exquisite.

Begonia display.

There were so many beautiful flowers it was quite overwhelming.

With the amount of people in the conservatory, it was quite hard at times to move through the displays without brushing against the plants.

When we left the pavilion, lyn headed straight for the plant store. She was looking for the rex and shrub types of plants.

We found some, then moved to another pavilion where there were more stalls selling plants. I took the first load of bags back to the truck while Lyn keep looking.

By the time I got back, she had found another load of interesting plants for her collection.

After a walk around the food area, looking for something for dinner, and listening to the free concert, we decided to head back to the truck and get food elsewhere.

Begonia display.

On the way back to Casterton, we took a "short cut" as recommended by others. It turned out to be 50km longer, but the roads were not as rough, and there weren't as many small towns to slow down for.

In Hamilton we took a break and also did some grocery shopping, then it was back to our home.

Sunday we sorted out the new plants and arranged them in our portable plant enclosures.

It was a very worthwhile trip. The Begonia Festival is highly recommended.