Kryal Castle.
I love everything about the place; the castle is phenomenal and so are the grounds. It's a good combination of the magical and the historical, with jousts and tournaments being regular features of the castles calendar. There is dragon animatronics as soon as you cross the moat and suites of armour scattered around the entire place.
It's a wonder I never went here as a kid because I would have loved it! But as it turns out, I only started to come to Kryal as an adult and I definitely haven't regretted the decision once. (Even when I got really bad sunburn in October a few years ago.)
Esther and I walked around the grounds, exploring a bit and seeing the animals and figuring out what we were going to do first.
Thankfully Kryal has a daily programme, which they give to you when you first enter the castle grounds.
After Denise had chased off the peddler that was the Amazing Sam, we set off to wander the grounds once more. Firstly going into the lolly shop, and then upwards towards the Wizards Tower.
The Wizard was really kind, having just finished up a potions class as we were entering. She had an area set up for rituals and books scattered all over the floor, with wax melted into the creaking boards that I was slightly scared would break at any moment (even with the reassurance that there had been a very large group upstairs before us).
Nearest the Wizard's desk, she had a small station set up where she would mix up a vial of perfume for you. Of course, we had to get one each, myself a blue Wildflower Honey and Esther a red Dragon's Blood.
We managed to catch the second round of the Skill at Arms, where both competitors managed two perfect scores each. Something that the Herald told the gathered crowd was exceedingly rare. I definitely felt honoured to watch the incredible talent both Lady Katherine and Sir Phillip have.
After this, we had lunch at the Alehouse and watched as it started to rain outside. Which is typical for Ballarat, but I'm glad that we made it inside. Our next stop was a little shop called 'The Forest and The Fae', which is a little occult shop within the grounds of Kryal Castle.
I could have spent hours in there and bought so much, but I restrained myself and only bought a few crystals that I have now added to my collection.
We stumbled upon the Amazing Sam once again, this time trying to sell the crowd a love potion that supposedly only took sixteen doses, with a final seventeenth and that was instantaneous in three weeks.
The Blacksmith told us that he didn't often sell his wares outside the Alehouse, but due to the weather he had moved.
Next was the moment that I had been looking forward to all day.
The Joust.
I absolutely love watching jousts, and especially in an environment that really promotes the jousting itself and the fantastic jousters themselves. We were lucky that the current World Champion Sir Phillip was jousting at the castle that day, and Lady Katherine also absolutely incredible.
We left shortly after the joust, and with the rain coming in it was probably about time we headed off. I always have an incredible time at Kryal and for a birthday day out; it's amazing.
Kryal Castle.
I love everything about the place; the castle is phenomenal and so are the grounds. It's a good combination of the magical and the historical, with jousts and tournaments being regular features of the castles calendar. There is dragon animatronics as soon as you cross the moat and suites of armour scattered around the entire place.
It's a wonder I never went here as a kid because I would have loved it! But as it turns out, I only started to come to Kryal as an adult and I definitely haven't regretted the decision once. (Even when I got really bad sunburn in October a few years ago.)
Esther and I walked around the grounds, exploring a bit and seeing the animals and figuring out what we were going to do first.
Thankfully Kryal has a daily programme, which they give to you when you first enter the castle grounds.
After Denise had chased off the peddler that was the Amazing Sam, we set off to wander the grounds once more. Firstly going into the lolly shop, and then upwards towards the Wizards Tower.
The Wizard was really kind, having just finished up a potions class as we were entering. She had an area set up for rituals and books scattered all over the floor, with wax melted into the creaking boards that I was slightly scared would break at any moment (even with the reassurance that there had been a very large group upstairs before us).
Nearest the Wizard's desk, she had a small station set up where she would mix up a vial of perfume for you. Of course, we had to get one each, myself a blue Wildflower Honey and Esther a red Dragon's Blood.
We managed to catch the second round of the Skill at Arms, where both competitors managed two perfect scores each. Something that the Herald told the gathered crowd was exceedingly rare. I definitely felt honoured to watch the incredible talent both Lady Katherine and Sir Phillip have.
After this, we had lunch at the Alehouse and watched as it started to rain outside. Which is typical for Ballarat, but I'm glad that we made it inside. Our next stop was a little shop called 'The Forest and The Fae', which is a little occult shop within the grounds of Kryal Castle.
I could have spent hours in there and bought so much, but I restrained myself and only bought a few crystals that I have now added to my collection.
We stumbled upon the Amazing Sam once again, this time trying to sell the crowd a love potion that supposedly only took sixteen doses, with a final seventeenth and that was instantaneous in three weeks.
The Blacksmith told us that he didn't often sell his wares outside the Alehouse, but due to the weather he had moved.
Next was the moment that I had been looking forward to all day.
The Joust.
I absolutely love watching jousts, and especially in an environment that really promotes the jousting itself and the fantastic jousters themselves. We were lucky that the current World Champion Sir Phillip was jousting at the castle that day, and Lady Katherine also absolutely incredible.
We left shortly after the joust, and with the rain coming in it was probably about time we headed off. I always have an incredible time at Kryal and for a birthday day out; it's amazing.
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