PROSPECT COTTAGE BALLARAT

Our Location

Prospect Cottage is a comfortable 90-minute drive from Melbourne along the Western Highway, and only an hour from Melbourne Airport or Geelong.

Prospect Cottage Ballarat Street Facade

Prospect Cottage is a comfortable 90-minute drive from Melbourne along the Western Highway, and only an hour from Melbourne Airport.

Arriving by car

Take the 110km journey along the Western Freeway. Prospect Cottage is a comfortable 90-minute drive from Melbourne.

Arriving by train and bus

Direct from Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station, hop on the V/Line train and arrive in less than 90 minutes at the historic Ballarat Railway Station in the centre of town. From here you can catch bus route 21. We are an 8 minute walk from the Lal lal St/Main Rd stop. Plan your journey here.

Arriving by Taxi

Rideshare services operating in Ballarat

  • Uber
  • Lyft
  • Ola
  • Didi

The Neighbourhood

Golden Point

Golden Point is a suburb of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia located south-east of the CBD. It is the oldest settlement in Greater Ballarat.

The area was once known as Poverty Point. However, on 21 August 1851 prospectors John Dunlop and James Regan struck a few ounces of gold when passing through the area; the announcement of this discovery is attributed to sparking the Ballarat Gold Rush, hence the poetic name change. A historical marker for the location of the discovery is located in a reserve just off Clayton Street.

Golden Point was the site of what was known as the Ballarat diggings, and for at least a decade the focal point of the original Ballarat township was Main Street.

Ballarat

Ballarat originated with two boroughs – the Borough of Ballaarat and the Borough of Ballaarat East. However, the spelling of Ballaarat’s name caused endless confusion in its early days. It came from two Aboriginal words “balla” and “arat” (meaning resting place) but, while the town’s official municipal name was Ballaarat, everyone else dropped the second “a” over time.

Even today, a couple of organisations still retain the double a, including the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute and the Ballaarat General Cemeteries.

The Borough of Ballaarat was incorporated on December 10, 1855. It eventually became a city on September 9, 1870.

The Borough of Ballaarat East was incorporated in May 1857 and became a town on August 23, 1872.

On May 25, 1921, the two merged to form the City of Ballarat.