Day 86 Melbourne (Sovereign Hill)

Today was always going to be a big day.  I didn't go to bed until well after 1am for paying bills, and to be honest, I was just too cold to sleep.  We woke up to the alarm again at 0700 as we were all too tired to wake up by ourselves.  A quick breakfast later, and we were sitting in peak hour traffic trying to drive across the Melbourne city to get to the Western Suburbs.

Sovereign hill, a replication of the gold rush era of the mid 1800's, is 154km away according to the GPS, but it was a drive that would take two and a half hours to complete, taking in the sights of the Burnleigh Tunnel, and the Westgate Bridge as we passed through the centre of Melbourne.  This part of the trip (51km) took an hour and a half on the tollways, and the other 104km took an hour. 

I am told that getting there is half the fun, but I could only dread what I would face on the return journey. 

Into Sovereign Hill we went though, with our expectations high, and the sun shining.  Our first stop was down in the river bed to do a bit of gold panning with the kids.  Before too long we were all standing about with wet feet, and frozen fingers plucking fragments of gold out of the pans.  The kids were having a ball, and they each got a small commemorative bottle to put their gold into.

Next up we went to the gold pour demonstration where the metallurgist was refining the gold from 99% to 99.999 percent purity by adding borax and heating to a modest 1300 Deg C.

He poured a gold bar weighing 3kg, and after it had been cooled in water, the metallurgist let Emma hold onto the bar to verify it was heavy enough to be gold.  The estimated worth of the bar was around $140,000.00. 

I would estimate that the smile on her face is priceless, but apparently I am mistaken.  In the next room they had a scale that could tell you your value if you were made of gold, meaning that Emma is worth over one million dollars.  In the interest of being fair, I am worth $3,157,459.63 at today's pricing, give or take a couple of grand after a big lunch.

From the gold pour, we booked onto a mine tour and then went and had a look at the main street.  On the way down Emma saw the horses, and blew a foofer valve with excitement.  So the next couple of photos reflect the fact that I had to take a bunch of pictures of the horses.

After much begging and eye batting from the middle child, we bought tickets for a trip around Sovereign Hill on the horse drawn carriage.

It was quite luxurious in the carriage with nice, thickly upholstered leather seats.  I was also surprised at how smooth the ride was considering the state of the road.  It's hard to comprehend some times how far we have come technologically in the past 100 years or so.

Whilst we were travelling around the town site, it was easy to slip into that feeling of stepping back in time.  There were lots and lots of pushy annoying tourists taking our photo as we were passing by.

Lisa also insisted on extra photos with the horses.  At one point there was the smell of wet, sweaty horse, horse poo, leather and dust and Emma exclaimed...It smells like home!.  I am hoping she means pony club / riding lessons, and not her bedroom...Although there are some similarities at times.

Conspicuously missing is Ashley whom today has decided that he is too cool to be in horsey photos.

Whilst wandering around, we came across this early bowling alley.  Pretty simple concept; The ball is bowled down the centre of the lane which is a very shallow scoop.  The gutters are dropped sections either side.  Solid wood skittles are the targets at the end, and when you have bowled, you go down and reset the pins whilst the ball is returned on the incline down the right hand side of the lane.

I had a go, and think that our version today with the self righting pins, self returning ball, and bar is a much better set up, but I can see how during the era this would have been a lot of fun. 

I wasn't very successful with a best bowl of 7 pins out of 9.  It was lots of fun until the pushy tourists piled in and started standing in the way and taking over without asking...*SIGH*

Poor Rowan wasn't strong enough to get the ball to the pins on the kids lane...He was a bit frustrated.

From the bowling alley we strolled across to the candle works where Lisa and the kids all bought a candle to dip in coloured waxes.

There was a kind man there that showed everyone how to get the best results prior to starting, and then it was up to everyone to figure out their sequence to get their own pattern.

Lisa bought some lumpy candles which were a little bit phallic, but Emma and Rowan chose smooth candles which are just like every day ones.

The results were quite appealing and very satisfying for all accounts. Unfortunately it meant we had to spend more money on candle holders whilst we were there, but I think it was worthwhile. 

I think it is a bit weird that Ashley is too cool for a photograph with some working horses, but he was more than happy to have his picture taken with his rainbow candle.

Must be the artistic side of him coming out.

When we came out of the candle works, there was a parade of smarmy British Red Coat Soldiers coming down the main street.

They had come to brag about the Kings victory over the Russian oppression, and they did a firing of their muskets in appreciation.  HUZZAH!

There is a great feeling around this place with all of the shop vendors, and people in the street not only in costume, but also in character for the era. 

When the kids made too much noise or stood in the way they were bustled back by the Captain of the guards.  Very funny.

After their pomp and ceremony, the guard broke formation to mingle with us commoners for photos.  Ashley had remembered he was too cool again, and refused to have his picture taken.

I asked the guard if he would hold a rainbow candle instead of his musket, but he tried to swat me.  So I'll have to just live with a photo without Ashley in it.

I think the guard took kindly to Lisa either because she was dressed like him, or because he barracks for the Sydney Swans...Not sure...Just saying.  It was really great that they all looked very non plussed about this, and were quick to not change their expression at all.

The live firing of the muskets was extremely loud, and the kids were warned to insert their fingers into their auricular orifices.

From here, we went on our Mine Tour.  This lasted for about 45 minutes, and involved travelling around 30m underground on a tram and trolling through some tunnels and looking at various pieces of infrastructure.  Whilst it was a bit interesting, I think that the Hannans Mine Tour at the Goldfields Museum in Kalgoorlie is much more authentic and better value.  Too dark for photos underground, so none here.

There is so much to do and see, especially down the main street where we came across the printing press.  There was a great assortment of posters that you could have your name inked on.  Ashley chose the giant nugget found poster, and Emma is a horse thief and reckless rider. 

This guy was great, and asked the kids which one was the smartest.  Ashley took the bait, and then found himself trying to figure out the mirror image for his name on the individual "Type" blocks.  We have the proof with his backward and upside down letters to giggle at.

Next door to the printing shop was the general store which was loaded with wooden games and activities for the kids. 

The floor was covered in sawdust which I have seen before, but never knew the use.  The sawdust was used to mop up mud and water off the boots of the workers, and in the 1800's was soaked in kerosene to treat the wood floors.  (No wonder buildings burnt so well if they had a match thrown through the door.)  In modern times they use a much more civilised linseed oil on the sawdust to polish the floor when it is swept out of the building.  Nice to know that they loved the smell of jet fuel before aeroplanes were invented.

Rowan couldn't resist getting a lollipop, and this little sucker actually lasted him through till the end of the day.  He doesn't look pleased at all does he?


I found a lovely pair of matching wooden truncheons which I was more than tempted to try out, but the kids suddenly found their manners and refused to come near me.  I think the expression on my face is just a wee bit disturbed...But who could blame me at this stage of the trip...Right?

During our shopping we also discovered chocolate coated candy raspberries which I was unable to resist.  I am so disappointed that Lisa didn't like them, and I was forced to eat them by myself.

It was starting to get late in the day, and we were all in need of a bit of a rest, but we ploughed on through the pain barrier and watched an altercation in the street between the local constabulary and the pub owner, a stage actress and an unsavoury stage critic play out in front of us. 

Shortly after that the constabulary chased down a couple of thieves in the main street before retiring puffing and blowing to the brazier to keep warm.

We found ourselves strolling through the theatre, and then into a period costume shop.  If they had a hat in my size, I would have been sorely tempted to buy it.

I keep telling Lisa that they don't make hats in extra large square head size.  This one left permanent impressions down the temples. 

And then it started raining...heavily.


The rain came and would not abate, so we decided to have a look at the self guided mine tour (Underground...umbrellas not required) which detailed the story of Richard Oates and the finding of the Welcome Stranger Nugget which is one of the largest found anywhere in the world, and the largest at Ballarat weighing in at 70kg, with a current value of $3,500,278.00.   Wouldn't mind uncovering that one.

By the time we had finished, the rain had eased to a monsoonal downpour and we made our way back to the entry.  We also had tickets to the Gold Museum which was quite interesting but the day had caught up with me and I think I was caught snoring during a 10 minute video.

154km back to Dandenong through peak hour traffic had us home in around two and a half hours driving time, but it was worth it because it was lamb rib night.  Mmmmmm!

Way too exhausted to stay up and blog so that had to wait until Wednesday.