For all of you lost in the Ballarat vs. Barkerville mumbo-jumbo above, it is pretty niche history, but fun for me as it links to the curriculum I teach. Barkerville was at one point in the 1860s was the biggest town west of Chicago and north of San Francisco. Those were gold rush days. Ballarat was at one point one of the richest town in the world because of its gold rush which started in the 1850s. There is only one mine still active near the city, and the tunnels actually go under the city itself. Apparently since 1851, 643 tonnes of gold has left Ballarat. That's a lot of wedding rings.
A little piece of history for the rowers who read this (and especially Wendy Patel), the rowing and kayaking events for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics were held in Ballarat. Mrs. Patel's dad, David Helliwell - rowed in that event and won a silver medal for Canada.
Back to present day and the ongoing Wismer travel saga. We went to Ballarat earlier in the week and were very impressed. How impressed? Well, smiling faces do not lie...
Do I really start work tomorrow?