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The Ballarat Mill Markets

September 6, 2013 by Emma

* Apinun! I’m thawing my Winter bones in tropical Papua New Guinea at the moment, so here is a post I prepared for you whilst I’m in holiday mode. Now where is my mojito…

Driving home to South Australia from my last trip to Melbourne, somewhere around Ballarat the steady rain hitting my windscreen stopped…and then started again very lightly, very softly, very quietly and very white. It was snowing. Not just sleet or ice falling and melting, but real white-on-the-ground snow. Where I grew up in the Strezlecki Ranges of South Gippsland it’s not uncommon for it to snow once a year, but still, snow in Australia is a bit of an anomaly.

I pulled off the highway and found myself at the infamous Ballarat Mill Markets, a place I had always wanted to get to but never found myself in Ballarat (or Geelong where they have another Mill Market). After the initial shock (seriously breathtaking!) of how ice-cold the air really was out of my warm car, I huddled inside the big old warehouse shed to see what I could see. Stallholders chatted happily amongst each other whilst sipping hot chocolates from mittened hands, I could see my breath as I wandered through the antiques and vintage wares. Here’s what I found on a snowy Ballarat Saturday in July…

IMG_8671 IMG_8666 IMG_8649 IMG_8669 IMG_8656 IMG_8658 IMG_8650Different stalls of various odds and ends, bric a brac, antiques and vintage collectables. It’s a bit of a hit and miss situation, like a ginormous op shop where you might have to dig through some junk to get to the good stuff. But…that ‘junk’ might be what others consider the ‘good stuff’. It’s all relative. The Mill Market was a bit mid-century for my taste, but if that’s what you’re into it’s fabulous – loads of kitschy Australiana and retro furniture and homewares, as well as clothing. I eyed off a World War 2 army nurses trunk as well as some of those giant amber glass bottles.

IMG_8667 IMG_8652 IMG_8655 IMG_8648 IMG_8670 IMG_8668Alas, my car was literally chockablock full of spoils from Melbourne. So off I trundled home to ‘Carlton’ through the snow of central Victoria. Hopefully we will visit The Mill Markets again on a Melbourne trip as we drive straight past. We’re going to a wedding in Geelong in November so I might just have to pop my head in to the market down there too!

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The Mill Markets in Ballarat can be found at 9367 Western Highway, Warrenheip. In Geelong they’re at 114 Bellarine Highway, and there is also a market in Daylesford at 105 Central Springs Road. All three stores are open every day of the year except Christmas Day from 10am until 6pm. Visit their website here.

Filed Under: Explore, Shopping Tagged With: antique, Australiana, Ballarat, collectable, mid-century, Mill Market, retro, vintage

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kasey says

    September 19, 2013 at 9:36 am

    Thanks so much for sharing some great places to fossik through. Love your blog, beautiful photography and great tips.

  2. Alli @ Ducks on the dam says

    September 9, 2013 at 9:22 pm

    I *need* to go to the Mill markets! Stunning. Don’t get over that way very often but will have to plan……

  3. look see. says

    September 8, 2013 at 3:24 pm

    Um, that looks like a little bit of heaven to me! ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. Lisa says

    September 6, 2013 at 6:07 pm

    It sort of reminds me of that antique shop near Healesville that you recommended when we were there! x

    • Emma says

      September 7, 2013 at 6:47 am

      Yes very similar to Yarra Glen antiques! Only a lot bigger ๐Ÿ™‚

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Hello, I’m Emma

I am a farmer's wife, green thumb, baker of scones, grower of chubby babies and giant pumpkins.

She Sows Seeds celebrates rural living and our simple country life in a little old farmhouse in Gippsland, Australia. Read Moreโ€ฆ

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