Sovereign Hill recreates a gold mining town on the site of some the richest goldfields ever discovered. The gold rush played a key part in Australian history and thus many Australians like to come here to experience a bit of their past.
As a foreigner, much of the historical significance was lost on me but I still found the place great fun as well as interesting.
There are some seventy buildings modeled after those that lined the streets of Ballarat in the 1850's. And they are run and operated by staff in period costume. I've never seen a recreated town of this magnitude. And they pull it off so well. It really is great fun.
Worth making a point ot visit is the Empire Bowling
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As a foreigner, much of the historical significance was lost on me but I still found the place great fun as well as interesting.
There are some seventy buildings modeled after those that lined the streets of Ballarat in the 1850's. And they are run and operated by staff in period costume. I've never seen a recreated town of this magnitude. And they pull it off so well. It really is great fun.
Worth making a point ot visit is the Empire Bowling Saloon where you can try your hand at an interesting type of bowling. All of the shops and machine rooms are quite interesting. You can witness a gold poor, drop in on the blacksmith, the goldsmith, the wheelright, visit the steam powered engine house, etc. And check out the lazy horses operated some of the older machinery when you first come in. All great fun.
Also check out the various stages of mining. There's the pan mining in the creek, which you can try for yourself. Then there's the Red Hill mine, which has a decent underground tour. And of course the deep undergound Quartz Mining Tour.
The place has an air of excitement around it and seems to really capture the spirit of fortune seeking and frontier living. Wonderfully enjoyable.
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