Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Day 13 - Striking Gold in Ballarat


Bryce pans for gold at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat

The final destination on our 2 week South Australian trip was to Ballarat. There we would explore Sovereign Hill - a historical park and open-air museum located in a famous gold-diggings area.

We left Kangaroo Island on the SeaLink Ferry and began our 8 hour drive from Cape Jervis to Ballarat. 




We stumbled upon this Giant Koala in Dadswell Bridge on our way...


...and a Canadian Gully!


Where are we?


The Canadian theme continued the next morning near our hotel with the discovery of "Canadian Creek." We just happened to be wearing our Jays and Raptors gear...fitting!

Gold Museum at Sovereign Hill

We entered Sovereign Hill to begin our day of discovery and history


Within the park, we were taken back to the 10 year period just after gold was discovered here in 1851. Everyone was dressed in costume and taught us about their jobs and roles during this time. 







The Underground Mine Tour




View of Ballarat from the Tower





We had both boys weighed to figure out how much money we could get for them 
(if they were made of gold of course!)



The $150,000 Gold Pour Demonstration




Panning for Gold

  

(that's shock and excitement at finding the "big nugget!")






The Old Schoolhouse 





The boys tried their hand at bowling (old school!)





We had bought tickets to have dinner in Sovereign Hill and then watch the "Blood on the Southern Cross" show. This is a multi-million dollar lights and action show recreating the events of the Battle at Euroka.



Poverty Point is where gold was first discovered in Ballarat (1851)


On our final drive home from Ballarat to Nowra (another 10 hours),
we found one more famous "big" thing - the Big Merino in Gouburn. 


A terrific 2 weeks in the South of Australia. Another amazing experience in this great country!

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