Day 83 - Tuesday 21 March - A day on the mines

Day 83

Tuesday

21 March 2017

Ballarat – Sovereign Hill

After a stormy night, we woke to a grey day. We had big plans for today, heading on to Sovereign Hill to check out the living museum, of life on the gold mines back in the 1800’s.

We made it out of the park by 9.40am and joined the morning traffic on the wet roads. We puled into the car park a couple of minutes before opening and joined the small crowd waiting for the doors to open. It isn’t a cheap attraction at $54 an adult, this does allow you to come in on two consecutive days though. Once in the door we were ushered through a museum that gave an idea of those who came here from the UK and then we were thrust out into the 1800’s.

Everything here seems quite authentic, including the slushy roads. Thankfully there wasn’t any rain, so they were just slightly damp under foot. We made our way through the lower section quickly, eager to get to the mine tour area and book our spot, another expense at $7.50 each.

Once we had our ticket booked for the 11am tour we were free to walk around for 40 min checking out the old buildings and the Clydesdales pulling the stagecoach. We found our way to the bowling alley and had a go at the old 10pin with wooden balls. I was rubbish, but Paul managed a strike with his first bowl.  

We made our way through the candle shop and watched them making candles, we also checked out the brass and tin workshop before returning to the tour area and beginning our tour. This required us to take a tram underground in the pitch black. Two minutes later we were at the bottom and wandering around in the old gold mine.

The guide provided plenty information about how they found gold and company and independent conditions. It didn’t seem like much fun and most miners died in their 30s from associated health issues. We also took a short train underground before returning to our tram and the surface once again.

With the tour over, I walked to the top of the triangular structure for a great view over Sovereign Hill and Ballarat before we checked out the gold shop, stopping to talk to the attendant. We walked the main street enjoying the various shops and small cottages and the workers dressed in period costume wandering around in character.

All of the shop fronts sold goods relevant to their profession. You could spend a lot of money here if you had deep pockets. We spoke to one of the workers in the newspaper building for some time before returning to the gold store and watching a gold pour worth $150 000. That was quite fascinating and the guy running the show was very entertaining.

We then made our way to the centre in readiness to watch the red coat soldiers who were due to make their arrival. We were entertained by the various actors playing the part of DR, Mayor, Policeman and troublemaker.  I managed to get a few photos of the red coats, but it was made more difficult with the Chinese tourists jumping in the way, standing in places they shouldn’t be or shielding themselves from the sun and rain with their brollies.

After their very loud 3 gun salute I had my photo taken with one of the men and then we sought some refuge in the bakery, having our lunch, a Cornish pastie for me, with meat and vege at one end and apple at the other. Yum.

The rain was now starting to spit on and off. We wandered around the areas we hadn’t seen at the top, including a couple of schools and lovely homes and gardens.  We passed through the wheelwright and horse stables then it was a slow stroll down the hill, through the blacksmiths and into the miners’ camp below.

It was now raining thick and fast that made the roads more sludgey and it was a little more difficult to take everything in.  We watched others pan for gold then wandered into the Chinese Temple to listen to the story of the Chinese miners, before wandering through their camp. It would have been a hard life for them.

We wandered around the last of the buildings and then returned to the entrance where we made our way out of the complex and across the road to check out the Gold museum.

The museum held replicas of gold nuggets found in the area and also nuggets of those found around Australia. There were some massive pieces found. We did a quick whip around the complex, tired and ready to head on home. 

By the time we reached the car, the rain had well and truly set in and it was a slow and steady drive home to the comfort of the van.

I went through the photos before we went to the office to book in for another day and pick up more vouchers for the net. Paul exchanged his books and then we returned to continue working on the net and reading.

At 630 we went to the pool for a spa again. We didn’t have it to ourselves this time, nor did we have the TV going. We swapped to the pool to do some laps and build up the step count before finishing in the spa.

Once back at the van, we made our dinner and whiled away the evening listening to the ipod, reading and loading the pics.