Today we visited Sovereign Hill, which is like an amusement park that recreates life in the gold mining camps during their gold rush era (late 1800s). In a sense it reminded me a lot of Greenfield Village. We started out looking at some of the camps that were set up including tent shelters and mining cabins. Geoffrey's favorite activity was fining rocks and various locations to throw them, such as the creek, at trees, down wells, or in mining carts. We did a self guided tour through a mine where one of the largest gold nuggets in the world was found. Geoffrey wasn't sure about the dark tunnels at first, especially with all the special effects (sounds, voices, etc piped in) but he enjoyed it as we went on.
Next we checked out the Chinese mining camp before going to watch a gold smelting presentation. At the presentation, the gold smith showed process by which gold was separated from mined rock, purified and then melted down into gold bricks. He actually poured a brick of molten gold worth $140,000USD at the end.
We looked a some of the shops along the main street and were pleasantly surprised at the prices. In most places in Australia, we are blown over by how expensive things are, but here we found them to be quite reasonable which is ironic considering we are inside a theme park. No complaints from us! We bought some chocolate covered licorice and some hard boiled candy from the candy store.
Next we went on our 45 minute guided mine tour. In order to get into the mine, we took an inclined tram about 100 meters down into the mine. It took about 60 seconds and was pitch dark the entire time. We thought Geoffrey might get nervous about the dark, but he did great considering we WERE on a train. Because we had already done the self guided mine tour Geoffrey was used to the tunnels and this tour was led by live people (as opposed to audio piped in through speakers). This tour focused on describing what life was like in the mines for miners that worked for mining companies including the dangers they faced. Then they contrasted it with independent miners and how their lives and mining experiences differed. The tour was quite interesting and of course Geoffrey was happy that it ended with another train ride up to the surface.
After a quick lunch at the cafeteria, we walked around to look at some of the other buildings. There were houses recreated to show what miners, mine owners, etc. looked like, including their farms. barns, and gardens. There was a boiler room, churches, schools, and places of business like wheel makers, tin smiths, and candle makers. We bought candles and a brass money clip, as well as more candy - those boiled candies were very tasty!
Another cool thing about Sovereign Hill is the field trips they offer for classes who visit. Of course, rhere is the standard tour, but there is also an option where students come and dress in period pieces (authentic, provided by Sovereign Hill). They wander about the village touring it in small groups, after receiving lessons in how to deal with the other guests that visit (to greet us politely, etc.) They add a whole dimension of ambiance for visitors like us becasue they increase the number of people we see dressed in period costumes, making the experience more authentic. Also, when you visit the school houses, there are often whole classes of children int here doing "lessons," which you don't often get to see. What an awesome experience for those kids - a win-win for all!
We finished our adventure mining for gold. Geoff had a blast playing witht he shovels and the pans and the rocks and the water. Both Gary and Blake found a few gold flakes each. We really had fun here!
Across the street, there was a gold museum included with our admission- we popped in but didn't spend too much time as it was already four. Geoff fell asleep here, and we had driving to do so we hopped int he car and drove an hour and a half to Bendigo.
In Bendigo, we checked into two rooms at the Quality Inn. We drove downtown and had dinner at "Grill'd Burgers," and then walked around the quiant downtown area - lots of pedestrian only areas to walk in, cute fountains, statures, and charming buildings (we encountered this in many of the towns we drove through!)
Back at our hotel, Grant, Blake, Geoff, and I went to the indoor pool/jacuzzi and swam for a bit before heading off to bed!
Next we checked out the Chinese mining camp before going to watch a gold smelting presentation. At the presentation, the gold smith showed process by which gold was separated from mined rock, purified and then melted down into gold bricks. He actually poured a brick of molten gold worth $140,000USD at the end.
We looked a some of the shops along the main street and were pleasantly surprised at the prices. In most places in Australia, we are blown over by how expensive things are, but here we found them to be quite reasonable which is ironic considering we are inside a theme park. No complaints from us! We bought some chocolate covered licorice and some hard boiled candy from the candy store.
Next we went on our 45 minute guided mine tour. In order to get into the mine, we took an inclined tram about 100 meters down into the mine. It took about 60 seconds and was pitch dark the entire time. We thought Geoffrey might get nervous about the dark, but he did great considering we WERE on a train. Because we had already done the self guided mine tour Geoffrey was used to the tunnels and this tour was led by live people (as opposed to audio piped in through speakers). This tour focused on describing what life was like in the mines for miners that worked for mining companies including the dangers they faced. Then they contrasted it with independent miners and how their lives and mining experiences differed. The tour was quite interesting and of course Geoffrey was happy that it ended with another train ride up to the surface.
After a quick lunch at the cafeteria, we walked around to look at some of the other buildings. There were houses recreated to show what miners, mine owners, etc. looked like, including their farms. barns, and gardens. There was a boiler room, churches, schools, and places of business like wheel makers, tin smiths, and candle makers. We bought candles and a brass money clip, as well as more candy - those boiled candies were very tasty!
Another cool thing about Sovereign Hill is the field trips they offer for classes who visit. Of course, rhere is the standard tour, but there is also an option where students come and dress in period pieces (authentic, provided by Sovereign Hill). They wander about the village touring it in small groups, after receiving lessons in how to deal with the other guests that visit (to greet us politely, etc.) They add a whole dimension of ambiance for visitors like us becasue they increase the number of people we see dressed in period costumes, making the experience more authentic. Also, when you visit the school houses, there are often whole classes of children int here doing "lessons," which you don't often get to see. What an awesome experience for those kids - a win-win for all!
We finished our adventure mining for gold. Geoff had a blast playing witht he shovels and the pans and the rocks and the water. Both Gary and Blake found a few gold flakes each. We really had fun here!
Across the street, there was a gold museum included with our admission- we popped in but didn't spend too much time as it was already four. Geoff fell asleep here, and we had driving to do so we hopped int he car and drove an hour and a half to Bendigo.
In Bendigo, we checked into two rooms at the Quality Inn. We drove downtown and had dinner at "Grill'd Burgers," and then walked around the quiant downtown area - lots of pedestrian only areas to walk in, cute fountains, statures, and charming buildings (we encountered this in many of the towns we drove through!)
Back at our hotel, Grant, Blake, Geoff, and I went to the indoor pool/jacuzzi and swam for a bit before heading off to bed!
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