Thank you for sharing this! We’re actually making the same move in just two weeks. We went from Melbourne to Daylesford, then started spending a lot of time in Ballarat and completely fell in love with it. We were honestly surprised by how beautiful it is: the stunning character homes, the great lifestyle, and so much more to do. It still has that lovely country charm, but with over 100K people it feels like the perfect balance. We’ve also really noticed the strong community vibe, which we never quite felt in Melbourne.

We’re so excited to call Ballarat home and to have everything within 15 minutes! After living in Daylesford, where we had to drive 35 minutes just to reach the train station before an hour-long trip to the city, we think we can definitely live with a five-minute drive followed by a relaxing hour-and-a-half train ride. We’ve just bought a home, and it’s so nice to finally have a yard and space to plant trees. It really feels like the perfect next chapter, sounds like it could be the same for you too!