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Ballarat Car Boot & Farmers Market dates list 2018

Car boot and farmers markets in Ballarat and surrounds are a great morning our with family and & friends.

You never know what you might find, from fresh fruits, nuts, vegies and home cooked goodies at farmers markets, to furniture, bikes, odds and ends at bargain prices at the car boot sales.

Most have been running for years, if not decades, and are a chance to support not just local producers,Artisans, home crafters & bakers, as well as larrkin wheeler dealer hobbyist second hand merchants, but also the charities and service clubs that run them in some cases.

The markets don’t generally have set dates each month- they work off particular weeks of the month in most cases.

There are also the occasional specialist or occasional market event that is organised, such as the inaugural colossal swap meet at the Mitchell park airport each year, which will offer up a veritable treasure trove of rare and unusual goods, and tasty fare.

Visit Ballarat is a great resource for finding excellent markets in Ballarat and surrounds that might be updated more frequently than this site, so be sure to check out their website

http://www.visitballarat.com.au/events/markets

The blog eat local Ballarat is also not a bad resource; it has not been updated since 2016, but most of the information is still fairly current.

http://eatlocalballarat.com/ballarat-regional-farmers-markets/

Dates of Saturday Farmer’s Markets Ballarat, 3350 Victoria

 1st Saturday of the month 9 am – 1 pm: Bridgemall Farmers Market

http://bridgemallmarket.com.au

https://www.instagram.com/bridgemallfarmersmarket/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_ipw3OzS-OsKEW2e_HRkDA

2nd Saturday of the month 9 am – 1 pm: Ballarat Farmers Market- Lake Wendouree (Lakeside, opposite the botanical gardens)

3rd Saturday of the month 9am – 1pm Creswick farmers market

http://creswickmarket.com.au/

4th Saturday of the month 9 am – 1 pm:  Ballarat Farmers Market- Brown Hill Hall- 357 Humffray St Nth, Brown Hill (all weather market!)

https://ballaratmarkets.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/ballaratfarmersmarket/

Dates of Regular Sunday Farmers Markets in Ballarat

3rd Sunday of every Month: Talbot Farmer’s market (Talbot 3371)

This market is a popular and varied market which basically takes over the town of Talbot, with streets closed in the “CBD” for the market.

You can get everything from fruit & veggies, to plants, or even a chook, goat or farm equipment, or clothing.

http://talbotfarmersmarket.org.au/

https://www.instagram.com/talbotfarmersmarket/

https://www.facebook.com/TalbotFarmersMarket#

EVERY Sunday! – Daylesford Sunday market

http://www.dscr.com.au/sunday-market.php

 

Dates of Regular Sunday Car boot Market in Ballarat

EVERY single Sunday, every month at the Ballarat showgrounds Run by the rotary club of Ballarat south.

There is the odd sunday where the market does not run due to a special event, the show or other reason such as extreme weather- check the facebook page to see if there’s an exception or not.

https://www.facebook.com/marketballarat/

http://www.ballaratmarket.com.au/

 

List of Occasional and special interest markets in Ballarat:

Design Exchange Market (At the mining Exchange, Lydiard Street)

Artisan clothing, crafts, sculpture, paintings & ceramics.

http://www.thedesignexchange.com.au/dates/

https://www.facebook.com/thedesignexchangemarket/

https://www.instagram.com/thedesignexchange/

Ballarat Swap Meet- Mitchell Park (airport) (19th Feb, 2019)

Possibly the biggest and most interesting market that you are ever likely to see.

Stall holders come from all around Victoria and the entire country to meet, sell wares and have a yarn.

Thousands of stalls + food and other oddments. $10/day entry fee

http://www.ballaratswapmeet.com.au/

Ballarat Springfest- Lake (November) Wendouree parade, Ballarat.

Big, bright and bashful- this market festival is a mix between agricultural show, car show& shine, and a swap meet / farmers market.

Expect to see stalls ringing the entire lake!

The annual springfest is run by rotary Ballarat.

http://ballaratspringfest.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/Rotary-Club-of-Ballarat-248166368573606/

https://www.instagram.com/rotaryballarat/

Gong Gong Reservoir park reserve ballarat public BBQ & bushwalks + address GPS location

Gong GongWP_20170826_15_32_12_Pro reservoir park is located less than 10 kilometers outside of Ballarat, along the Daylesford-Ballarat road, just past the brewery tap road turnoff.

Technically, the address to tap into your GPS is:

255 Daylesford Rd, Gong Gong VIC 3352

The public recreational park in Ballarat is operated and maintained by Central Highlands water.

Tours and community educational activities are run by CHW on a regular basis on the site

Call CHW on 1800-061-513 for more information.

http://www.chw.net.au/community/gong-gong-reservoir-parkWP_20170826_14_57_36_ProWP_20170826_16_26_54_Pro

The reserve contains large open grassy areas among european style gardens, gas BBQ facilites, and outdoor numerous sites featuring  smoky woodfire BBQ and site heating pits, picnic facilities including tables & chairs, drinking water fountains, public toilets and sufficient car parking for your family and friends.

If you have a fishing license, you can even fish for trout in the gong gong reservoir, but you cannot use any burly to attract the fish, as this will contaminate the drinking water supply.of Ballarat.WP_20170826_16_16_05_Pro

Gong Gong park Ballarat is a favorite venue in Ballarat to host wedding ceremonies, receptions and other family   functions, and includes paved, flowering vine draped pergolas positioned against beautiful natural bushland backdrops, perfect for wedding ceremonies.

You have to book if you have a party of more than 30 people planned,, and there is a no confetti, and take home rubbish policy to adhere to however.

Your friendly pooch however, is not welcome, due to the population of native animals in the park, some of which are rare or threatened species and for the quiet enjoyment of the facilities by other patrons who would not appreciate misbehaving dogs rampaging noisily though their picnic, or blatantly stealing sausages.

Attached to, or within the Gong Gong park are a number of great bushwalks-

  • Yarrowee river Catchment Habitat and Water Trail
  • Waterwatch Wetlands Trail
  • Native Nesting Box trail

gong_gong_reservoir_ballarat_bushwalking_map_trails

All walks are leisurely walk along and over the river, or through bush land with regular interpretation panels at intervals explaining and highlighting the diverse and wonderful native flora and fauna that the river and park supports.WP_20170826_15_27_15_Pro

Inexplicably thought however, access has been limited to many parts of Gong Gong reservoir for an unstated reason with walks fenced off, and signs proclaiming “no public access” in areas where ballarattians were free to venture. Why parts of Gong Gong reservoir has been closed is a bit of mystery.

The Gong Gong reservoir itself is one of the oldest elements of the Ballarat water supply infrastructure, and was built in 1877 has a capacity of 1902 megalitres, (1902ML) and is up to 22 meters deep.

Gong gong reservoir forms one of the largest dams of the white swan system.

The reservoir was named after the Chinese water god Gong Gong, who is considered to be responsible for enormous floods- this naming highlights the importance of the Chinese community’s influence and contribution in ballarat during the gold rush years.

http://www.chw.net.au/interactive-maps/water-storage/gong-gong-reservoir#zoom=9&lat=-37.33963&lon=143.87698&layers=00BT

The new upgraded spillway, pictured below was built  by Engineer-in Chief for the Ballarat Water Commissioners 1945-1970, A.E. Stohr

More details on the infrastructure can be found in the book

The Ballarat Water Commissioners report concerning water supply to Ballarat and district with special reference to the White Swan Reservoir Project / by A. E. Stohr.

WP_20170826_15_01_41_Pro

WP_20170826_15_00_06_Pro

Rat Lane Ballarat CBD aka McKensie Street (Situated at 208 Sturt street, between GMBHA and Stephen & Turner Travel)

Tucked between stephen & turner travel associates a 206 sturt street, and GMHBA health insurance at 208 is Ballarat’s very own “Rat Lane”. – It may well be an extension of Mckensie street, as no official maps appaer to refer to it as such, but theres the sign, and it’s sort of cool and quirky.

WP_20170813_22_05_15_ProFor Ballarat, the iconic, and ironically named Rat Lane is clearly one of the most Auspicious addresses in the central business district, clearly!

 

 

 

It is questionable about whether rat lane is truly called rat lane, or a local  subversive stencil artist dubbed it as such in timeless paint, (which has not been removed in years, I note, as cheryl muir’s / cole mcallister’s photo below from 2015 indicates), but it seems apt that our great city celebrates the pesky rodent, and its fondness for dark alleys.

https://www.pixoto.com/images-photography/buildings-and-architecture/other-exteriors/rat-lane-5722120687452160

rat_lane_ballarat_cbd_208_sturt_street_mckensie_street_photographer_cheryl_muir

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