Wine tours, rugby, parades, oh my!

The last couple weeks have been busy for Brad and I, full of adventures, new friends, and visitors.  First on the blog today are photos of a wine tour day over the long weekend.  The Pyrenees wine region was beautiful and had some gorgeous wines for us to sample.  Woo hoo! Brad drove, I sampled...

 and sampled some more!

The next day Brad and I went to the Begonia Day Parade in Ballarat to cheer on Pleasant Street Primary who came second in the school category. 

Brad had yet another opportunity to take in more rugby! This time it was New Zealand vs Auz.  Canterbury Crusaders had a fantastic win over the Melbourne Rebels. 

I finally had an opportunity to meet some of the other exchange teachers!  There are nine of us in total.  These three are sure to be mentioned in future posts....hehehe.

We had the opportunity to visit Sovereign Hill during the Ballarat ITA weekend and yep, they dressed us up.  Don't we look gorgeous! (snicker, snicker) And look to the far left...Marty and Angela Lewis joined us for the weekend.  Angela was my final kick to apply for this exchange as she did one to Sydney four years ago.  Thanks Ang!

Bowling 1890's style!  I saved you from the original view that Brad shot...thank gawd for cropping.  We then played English Bagatelle and tied for the highest score of the day.
 

The actors on the street are just brilliant.  This lovely creature was so life like that people would avoid her on the street!

Soldiers marched through the streets and fired their rifles.

I tried my hand at gold panning and found a flake on my first try! I'll have to go back again, I've got the fever...

Over the next couple weeks, Brad and I will be getting ready to go to Brisbane, the Whitsundays, and Tasmania.  We'll also be taking in a runway event during Melbourne's Fashion Festival and celebrating St. Patrick's Day and our favorite watering hole.  This was a brief blog so if you have any questions about the pics, please ask!