Pop Up Ice Skating Rink Ballarat
As part of Ballarat’s Winterlude event these school holidays you’re invited to get on some skates and hit the rink!
When: 27 June – 12 July 2015, 9.30am – 8.30pm, 1 hour sessions
Where: Armstrong Street South BALLARAT (next to Myer)
Cost: Adults $10, children $5 BOOK tickets
Anyone who has skated in Melbourne will know that this is an insanely good deal when it comes to price! (There is a pop-up rink happening at Fed Square these holidays and an Adult ticket is almost $30 for 45 min!)
The Pop Up Ice Skating Rink is under cover and out of the wind, it’s easily accessed (as it’s in the heart of the city), the staff were super friendly and helpful. And if you’ve forgotten your gloves – there are $3 gloves for sale.
The tobogganing was an extra ticket (I couldn’t see any information obviously posted up and forgot to ask when I had the time) and at times it had a bit of a queue. We however were having far too much fun to get off the rink.
This is the first time we have had a truly successful skating experience – when I say successful I mean no one cried or wanted to leave 10 minutes after we arrived. Unlike the city rinks there was no option for an aide (in the form of a frame or penguin – and if you’ve skated in town you’ll know what I mean). And the rule on helmets was BYO – which when we arrived with ours and my kids saw 100% of everyone without they quickly stuffed their helmets under the bench. The ice itself wasn’t as perfectly groomed as other rinks we’ve experienced and this was actually a good thing as it slowed the surface down considerably.
So perhaps it was the combination of a rougher surface, no physical crutch and the kids being just that little bit older – but whatever it was after a lap of holding onto the wall they suddenly let go and were off (I was still getting my skates organised at this point!). And an hour later they reluctantly left the rink when we were all shooed off by the staff.
I should also add that Charlie (7) fell over possibly more than 10 times – but for whatever reason it was no big deal and he was laughing and picking himself up. What a different child from our last experience (just over a year ago) when after half a lap he wanted to go home and was quite furious with the world that he wasn’t able to control the skates.
At the end of our hour there was an ice-hockey demonstration and then anyone who was keen could grab a hockey stick and have a turn – we decided we weren’t quite at that level yet, but it was fun to watch.
There are some lockers on site if you need to store your handbag. Also a few cold drinks for sale. If you need the bathroom (and I highly recommend you plan this in advance) the nearest one is in Myer (female is on the second floor).
Finally book online if you don’t want to be disappointed – there are a few tickets sold on the day, but this event has been super popular and regularly sold out.
Check out other things we have done in Ballarat:
Disclaimer: Meetoo travelled to Ballarat in July 2015 as guests of Visit Ballarat and we were provided with a Ballarat Pass to review. All views are our own. All details were correct at time of publishing.
