Event date: 9-10 July 2022
Alarm strikes at 6am - ready for our first road trip as members of the BMW Drivers Club.
Heading for Ballarat and Sovereign Hill we pack Moby (The Corolla Hybrid) and drove through rain from Pakenham up the Monash and over the Westgate Bridge.
We can see blue skies ahead as we pull into Maccas at Derrimut to meet up with the rest of the weekend crew. We see a few BMW's of various shapes, models and vintage as we get ready to order breakfast. There's Jo and Graeme and a couple of familiar faces we had seen at the Waverley BMW visit the Tuesday night before.
Then it was convoy time (although being in 'RKS', the Corolla Hybrid we managed to remain incognito throughout the journey), we hit the Western Freeway and off to Ballarat and straight to our state's gem of a tourist attraction, Sovereign Hill. Bev and I have been here many times with our kids and with overseas family members to show off Australia's early gold mining past.
Opens at 10, so we all line up ready for the gates to open, going through as a group before dispersing into a past lifetime. Beautiful blue skies with no clouds. Perfect.
We headed straight for the old time photo studio and registered for a 1pm photo shoot, then we toured the town.
After a quick trip to the bowling alley, the Chinese village, the gold diggings, the old homes and all the buildings we head to watch the Pantomime (Blackbeard) in the United States Hotel.
Great show and suitably Christmas panto.
After a quick trip back to our hotel to check in and get our bearings we are back at Sovereign Hill as the sun goes down and the Winter Wonderlights begins.
It was fantastic, with animated scenes projected onto each building and fake snow pumping out over the crowd (some 6000 we were told) combined with the cold weather - it was a delight. We had not seen anything like it before and all the hundreds of families and kids dressed in Christmas outfits and beanies were thrilled.
Once it was over we battled the car park in Moby and headed to the Robin Hood Hotel with the rest of the crew for dinner. The club raffle and Christmas jumper competition kept everyone amused. We didn't pack our Christmas jumpers (to be honest we don't have any yet!).
Early on Sunday some of the crew went to see the hot air balloon display while we visited lake Wendouree and the Botanical Gardens. Saw the Prime Minister's sculptures (with Kevin Rudd's head made half the size of everyone else's).
Met up again with the rest of the crew at the Park Hotel for lunch and some more conversations about which BMW we all owned and whose call signs were which.
Whatsapp became our go to app over the weekend as the crew communicated where they were and what they had seen. Great idea!
Then as quickly as we had arrived we headed back to Melbourne to avoid the end of school holidays traffic jams (which we did not see).
Big thanks to the organisers and for us it was a great introduction to a club weekend away and it was great to meet other members for the first time.
The weekend flew past and we certainly had a great time.
Richard & Bev Sherman | Member #843
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
From exploding muffins to sky divers falling from the sky, the BMWDCM trip to Sovereign Hill was set to be full of surprises.
Starting at Macca’s is always a great land mark to begin a journey with friends (as long as you know your inbound from your outbound!!)
Our BMW convoy (and a zippy hybrid Corolla) set off towards Ballarat.
Our tour guide, Peter, gave a very informative commentary along the way about extinct volcanoes, churches and temperature gauges on the cars (notable as the outside temperature was rather low).
We finally arrived in Ballarat, driving in a convoy through the beautiful historic streets with restored Victorian/Federation homes and gorgeous gardens.
BMWDCM then proceeded to fill the carpark at Sovereign Hill. Many different models and varieties of BMW were on show. Friends and families spilled from the various BMW’s (and Corolla), to excitedly start our goldfields adventure.
The goldfields involved a lot of walking and exploring. Some chose to pan for gold (unfortunately no fortunes were made), others went on a tour of the mine or watched gold being smelted. “The Red Coats” put on a performance and you could also go to a LOUD musket firing demonstration. There was candle making, bowling, coach building, coach riding and shopping – for trinkets, souvenirs or warm hats and gloves. All very necessary attire.
As with all adventures, refreshments are a necessity. The old fashioned lolly shop was exciting for big and little kids, the bakery was warm and inviting. The tea rooms were perfect for scones and coffee in front of an open fire.
After a brief exit from Sovereign Hill to book into our hotel, we returned for the main event.
The Winter Wonderlights!!! How exciting. The light show and the snow were fantastic. There were roaming choirs singing Christmas Carols and Santa walking through the crowd. Christmas trees, Christmas lights and fires to warm your hands. There were so many happy faces enjoying the snow and the total immersion in the Christmas spirit.
After a warm cup of tea and a change of clothes back at the hotel, it was off to dinner at the Robin Hood Hotel, famous for having 33 parma’s to choose from. BMWDCM had a large representation at the pub, many wearing their favourite crazy Christmas jumpers!! Not sure how many had parma’s but, we all ate well and enjoyed a glass of wine (or two) and a few beers.
Sunday morning showed who the keen adventurers were. A select few were up early and at the park to see the “Whale Hot Air Balloons”. In icy conditions they eagerly watched, took photos and were disappointed when the balloons failed to lift off.
The day was then filled with a tasty breakfast at cute cafes, walks around the Lake or Botanic Gardens, antique shopping or the Eureka Stockade. Some ventured down the “Avenue of Honour”, which seemed to go on forever (we actually lost radio reception and still hadn’t reached the end).
Some then went on to enjoy lunch at the Park Hotel prior to the return journey, while others started their trip earlier and elected to return home via the scenic route. Lots of miles were covered and lots of memories were made over the weekend.
Thanks again to Jo and her team for organising a great weekend. We had a fantastic time, and we are looking forward to our next adventure with BMWDCM.
Adrian and Patricia Masotti | Member #848
BMW Drivers Club Melbourne
