Strike Gold!

As an early birthday treat for me, Darren and I went to Ballarat for the weekend and visited Sovereign Hill, Australia’s foremost outdoor museum, that re-creates Ballarat’s first ten years after the discovery of gold in 1851 when thousands of international adventurers rushed to the Australian goldfields in search of fortune.

Sovereign Hill is a living museum with working exhibits brought to life by costumed characters and over 40 horses. Set on 25 acres of an original mining site, Sovereign Hill is a goldfields town with shops, hotels, a theatre, schools, factories, a gold diggings and underground mines to explore.

Panning for gold

We also visited the Gold Museum and saw Henry Bolte on the way!

In the evening we had dinner in Ballarat and then went back to Sovereign hill for the sound and light show - "Blood on the Southern Cross".  Unfortunately we weren't able to take photographs but it was amazing.  

The story is of the Eureka Rebellion, a dramatic battle between gold miners and Government forces at Ballarat on 3 December, 1854.  The show is set under the night skies at Sovereign Hill and involves no actors – just voices, sound-and-light effects and a stunning open-air set.  We were able to experience the miners’ disgust at unfair gold taxes and witness the dramatic burning of the Eureka Hotel. We also heard Governor Hotham’s reasoning for a dawn attack on a band of men who were the first to swear an oath of loyalty on Australian soil to a flag that was not British – the flag of the Southern Cross.

In the morning we were spoilt with breakfast in the room.......

.....and then headed back to Sovereign Hill for a last look around and to see the police musket firing!

It was a really fun way to celebrate my birthday weekend!