{"id":69320,"date":"2020-06-19T04:54:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T18:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/?p=69320"},"modified":"2020-06-14T19:09:58","modified_gmt":"2020-06-14T09:09:58","slug":"find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Find a new family outing while staying close to home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ADVENTURES across the city and its surrounds await the exploration of families this winter, as residents stay close to home, mindful of COVID-19 restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>Ballarat Regional Tourism CEO, Natalie O\u2019Brien said the district is an \u201cincredibly wonderful spot\u201d for local families, with lots of classic locations to return to, or discover for the first time in a cost-effective way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven this isolation period, we\u2019ve all been stuck inside and want to get out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn places like the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, take an afternoon tea and supplement that with a hot chocolate. When I think of Ballarat, I think of great hot chocolate spots like Knife Fork Spoon and the lovely experience of Craig\u2019s Hotel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWinter is a beautiful time to work out which is your favourite hot chocolate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For families that enjoy getting out and active in the crisp air, they can jump on their bikes, take some treats with them and ride some of the Ballarat \u2013 Skipton Rail Train from Wendouree Train Station, finishing with a cuppa at a caf\u00e9 by Lake Wendouree.<\/p>\n<p>Mount Buninyong offers a few bush walking tracks, easier and more challenging, with Union Jack Reserve, the South Walk, and Zig Zag. Families can climb up the lookout tower for spectacular views of the Yendon Wind Farm, Warrenheip, Scotsburn, Ballarat and Napoleons.<\/p>\n<p>The Buninyong Botanic Gardens are also scenic, offer The Gong lake, are neatly maintained, and perfect for a picnic brought from home or curated from the village\u2019s food outlets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlaces like this are great for families to walk and stay safe, away from busy hotspots,\u201d Ms O\u2019Brien said.<\/p>\n<p>Fifteen minutes from the CBD is Black Cat Truffles in Wattle Flat, with wood fired pizza, and alpacas for children to meet and feed. It\u2019s a perfect place to stop on the way to the Creswick Woollen Mills.<\/p>\n<p>This centre in Creswick north offers an interactive exhibition unpacking the mill\u2019s manufacturing process, visitors can see their cashmere goats, merino sheep and alpacas, and pick up any cosy clothes they need for the season.<\/p>\n<p>On the other side of town towards Elaine, the \u201cmagnificent\u201d Lal Lal Falls has full amenities available for families stopping to view it cascading.<\/p>\n<p>Head to <a href=\"http:\/\/visitballarat.com.au\"><strong>visitballarat.com.au<\/strong><\/a> for more ideas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ADVENTURES across the city and its surrounds await the exploration of families this winter, as residents stay close to home, mindful of COVID-19 restrictions. Ballarat Regional Tourism CEO, Natalie O\u2019Brien said the district is an \u201cincredibly wonderful spot\u201d for local families, with lots of classic locations to return to, or discover for the first time [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":69321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-69320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Find a new family outing while staying close to home - Golden Plains Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Find a new family outing while staying close to home - Golden Plains Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ADVENTURES across the city and its surrounds await the exploration of families this winter, as residents stay close to home, mindful of COVID-19 restrictions. Ballarat Regional Tourism CEO, Natalie O\u2019Brien said the district is an \u201cincredibly wonderful spot\u201d for local families, with lots of classic locations to return to, or discover for the first time [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Golden Plains Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-18T18:54:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2020\/06\/IMG_4030-scaled-e1592125772865.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edwina Williams\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Edwina Williams\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/news\\\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/news\\\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Edwina Williams\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1679afe19d0c5817f387b660e66f07e9\"},\"headline\":\"Find a new family outing while staying close to home\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-18T18:54:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/news\\\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":388,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/news\\\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/IMG_4030-scaled-e1592125772865.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/news\\\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/news\\\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\\\/\",\"name\":\"Find a new family outing while staying close to home - Golden Plains Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/news\\\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/news\\\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/IMG_4030-scaled-e1592125772865.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-18T18:54:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/news\\\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/news\\\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/goldenplains\\\/news\\\/find-a-new-family-outing-while-staying-close-to-home\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/IMG_4030-scaled-e1592125772865.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/23\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/IMG_4030-scaled-e1592125772865.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":750,\"caption\":\"Historic: The Buninyong Botanic Gardens consists of upper and lower sections, spread across two blocks, and will be 160 years old in 2021. 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