Exploring Ballarat and Melbourne

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to do Melbourne justice. We just spent one day there to meet former neighbours who had moved into the locality. Having an early flight the next day we had booked into the Hilton Hotel at the airport and taken the bus in. We walked along from the bus station to Federation Square where we were meeting up. It would have been quicker to take a tram, which is part of an integrated transport system. We did on the way back but for now we just wanted to wander and view the town.

Having some time to spare we had a look into St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral. It is on the site of an earlier parish church of 1850. The foundation stone of the present neo-Gothic church was laid in 1880. It has a richly decorated façade with pointed gables, bell towers and a massive tower over the crossing. It is a great example of late 19th century Gothic-Revival architecture. The interior is renowned for its wonderful carved cedar woodwork, tessellated tiled floors, stonework and stained glass.

Across from it is Flinders Street station. It is more then just a train station. Its design is magnificent, and is one of Melbourne's grandest iconic buildings. Federation Square is something else. Perhaps the intention was to split the population into those who love it and those who hate it. Certainly its jigsaw architecture of jagged zinc, steel and glass inspire both. Personally I felt that compared with the architecture of this square even the iconic Scottish Parliament building looked attractive.

Capable of hosting 20,000 people, the square is the focus of much of Melbourne’s calendar of events and promotions and is a great place to watch sport matches on the giant digital screen. It also met our purpose for we did meet our friends there. We joined them for a snack in one of the cafeterias there.

Afterwards we went for a stroll together to see some of the sights. A great place to get an overall view is from Eureka Tower so our friends took us there. It is named after the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion during the Victorian gold rush in 1854. This has been incorporated into the design, with the building's gold crown representing the gold rush and a red stripe representing the blood spilt during the revolt. The blue glass cladding that covers most of the building represents the blue background of the stockade's flag and the white lines also represent the eureka stockade flag.

Eureka Tower is the tallest residential building in the world. It stands 300 metres high with 91 storeys above ground. The observation deck occupies the entire 88th floor of the Tower and is the highest public vantage point in a building in the Southern Hemisphere. The deck has thirty viewfinders that help to pinpoint numerous significant landmarks around all parts of Melbourne.

We could see how the sea and the river lanced into the town, which had allowed easy construction of extended docklands. New futuristic designs like Federation Square mingle with older designs to give a vibrant city. In the distance we could see the racing circuit soon to host the Australian Grand prix.

We walked further and through the Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex also on the south bank of the Yarra River. It is the largest casino in Australia.

Crown Casino opened in 1994 at a different location but moved to its present location in 1997. It is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week except on Christmas Day, Good Friday and Anzac Day. It has a license for 350 table games and 2500 poker machines. They all seemed busy as we walked through. I find it fascinating how so much money can change hands on the turn of a card or the spin of a roulette wheel. The odds are stacked in favour of the house so long term people simply gamble their money away.

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to explore further. I have been told though by Australians that there is much more to see in Sydney than Melbourne. On the other hand they tell me that Melbourne is a much better place to live and indeed it is has been ranked as one of the world’s most liveable cities. So honours even between those competing cities.

The discovery of gold in this area in 1851 sparked off the gold rush in Victoria. While the influx of miners and others survived as best they could in tents and make do in the early years soon more permanent buildings appeared. These gave birth to the township of Clunes 36 kilometres north of Ballarat. Its Post Office opened on 1 October 1857 allowing miners to communicate home though at a snails pace.

Later gold mining, mainly driven by the Port Phillip and Colonial Mining Company saw the town's population rising to over 5,000 residents in the late 1880s – making it the fifth largest town in the colony. From the 1850s through to 1893, when gold mining eventually ended the area produced more than 1.2 million ounces of gold.

Surrounded by grassland, meadows and pastures the town has preserved many of its elegant historic buildings. One of the most original and intact gold towns in Australia, Clunes has over 50 buildings of historical significance. Many reflect the opulence and confidence of the boom period.

The Town-Hall & Courthouse, the Churches, the several old bank buildings and the shops in the central part of the town provide the basis of a living museum. The actual museum exists in the former warehouse of contractors Nichol and Wallace who supplied goods to the miners, farmers and residents. Other important buildings are the former London Chartered Bank (1871) and the former Post Office.

Clunes held its first Book town festival on 20 May 2007. Over 50 booksellers from around Australia set up shop for the day in the heritage buildings of the gold town. Such was the success the township now holds the event each year. Clunes for a weekend turns itself into a European-style book town. Thousands of rare, out-of-print and second-hand books, live music and free writers talks become available.

Clunes reminded me very much of the mid-western towns that appeared in American wild-west films. To go back in time its just necessary to change the name plates over the buildings. This hasn’t escaped the eye of film and TV producers. They filmed several high-profile Australian movies and advertisements here. Among the most famous are the 2003 film Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger. The town also appears in the films Mad Max starring Mel Gibson, and the remake of the 1950s classic On the Beach. It also appears in the ABC television series' Queen Kat, Carmel & St Jude and Something in the Air.

The most recent film shot in Clunes is Julius Avery's 13-minute movie Jerry can. Jerry can has won the 2008 Jury Prize at the 61st Cannes Film Festival in France for short films, with its portrayal of restless teenagers in rural Victoria.

Today, Clunes is an attractive centre for artists, authors, historians and photographers. It's known for an intriguing range of accommodation, cafés, shops, galleries, wineries and old stores offering antiques and collectibles. The Clunes Visitor Information Centre, housed in a school dating back to 1881 contains a display of local mining artefacts, an antique market and a working display of an 1860s soft drink factory.

Clunes has a population of only 850 but it has recently undergone a major transformation and resurgence following the decision by Wesley College, Australia's largest co-educational private school, to set up a campus for Year 9 students. Each term, over 100 Wesley students take up residency in the 'Wesley Village' in the town centre, and become part of the local community.

Part of the fascination for me of this area of Australia is that I had a great grandfather that came out to Victoria and made it rich by working in the goldfields. Just where he was I haven’t been able to trace but I am still hoping to find out.

Gold discovered near Ballarat in 1851 attracted an influx of over 10,000 miners in a year. These and those providing services transformed Ballarat from a pastoral town into Victoria's largest settlement. To get an idea of life back then visit Sovereign Hill outside the town the award-winning recreated 1850s gold mining settlement rated among the best tourism theme parks in the world.

The Ballarat East goldfield alone produced 18 million ounces of gold. Easily found at first eventually it became difficult and after the 1880s the city's growth slowed. Miners drifted on to newly discovered goldfields elsewhere or if among the successful here sometimes invested their money in a business venture.

Ballarat has become a tourist destination, having kept much of its Victorian era buildings, a unique culture, and its heritage of listed public and private buildings, monuments, statues and expansive gardens. With a little imagination it is still possible to envisage the town in its brash, confident and golden era.

Notable heritage buildings include the Town Hall (1872), the former Post Office (1864), the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery (1887), the Mechanics' Institute (1860), the Queen Victoria Wards of the Ballarat Base Hospital (1890s), and the Ballarat railway station (1862). Other fine buildings include the Provincial Hotel (1909), Reid's Coffee Palace (1886), Craig's Royal Hotel (1862 and Her Majesty's Theatre (1875)

A feature of Ballarate is its wide boulevards. These are so wide the main street, Sturt Street, has over two kilometres of central gardens between the carriageways. These gardens feature bandstands, fountains, statues, monuments and memorials. Among these are a bandstand built in 1913 as a tribute to the band players of the RMS Titanic and a fountain dedicated to the early explorers Burke and Wills.

The 22 kilometre long Ballarat Avenue of Honour stretches along the Western Highway and consists of around 4,000 trees, mostly deciduous, which in many parts arch over the road. Each tree has a bronze plaque dedicated to a Ballarat soldier that enlisted during the First World War. It begins at the Arch of Victory.

In late 2006, the town erected the "Big Miner" at the eastern entrance to Ballarat. The larger-than-life statue of a miner holding a pick and pan greets visitors as they approach the city from the east.

Because of its elevation of 438 metres, Ballarat and surrounding suburbs share a cool climate. It used to be moist - so much so Lake Wendouree created out of former wetlands hosted the rowing events for the 1956 Summer Olympics. Normally a large recreational lake it was dry when we were there. Jetties, berthing places and clubhouses remain but the lake has disappeared. The area has suffered a long period of drought. Clearly this was not the case in the gold boom days for ditches dug for supplying water to separate the gold from other matter cross the countryside. Happily there are plans afoot to recreate Wendouree using recycled water.

Ballarat is 105 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, with an urban population of around 90,000. Connected by a freeway it is easy to reach from Melbourne and is well worth a visit to examine Australia’s cultural past.

Set on a former gold mining site, this award-winning outdoor museum recreates the hustle and bustle of life during the gold rush days in the 1850s. A living museum it sprawls across 60 acres. This area, once pock-marked with alluvial workings and two abandoned quarries, is now a vast outdoor stage representing life in the goldfields of Ballarat.

In the diggings you can pan for gold in Red Hill Gully Creek which is salted regularly with fine alluvial gold. The little specks of gold though proved elusive. A solid cube of shiny metal worth $50,000 is easier to see.

Among a fascinated audience I listened to a blacksmith at ‘Goldpour’ explaining the complex procedures needed to extract gold from crushed quartz rock. In a crucible "cooking" at 1200 degrees Celsius gold slowly became molten. For safety he wore a thick protective apron, elbow length gloves, sturdy boots, and goggles. Picking up the crucible with a long-handled pincer, he poured the molten liquid, a stream of thick, golden honey, into a mould.

It solidified within a couple of minutes, but just in case any of us considered a quick grab, he ran a metal rod across the block’s surface, and flames shot upwards. He immersed the nugget in a trough of water, where it sizzles and steamed. Picking it up he held it up for us to admire.

Elsewhere the wheelwright’s machinery and saddler’s tools are still in use, making and repairing equipment for Sovereign Hill’s team of 40 horses, the wagons, stage coaches, and gigs which carry guests.

At Red Hill Mine we went 13 metres underground on a tour of the workings. The miners excavated by pick, hoe, sledgehammer and crowbar as blasting was too expensive - the dust and noise must have been horrific. Although the miners were well paid—they made about $75,000 a year in today’s currency—many of them died early of lung disease, and because of mining accidents.

Eventually we came to a life-size, moving "hologram" a reincarnation of Cornish miner, Richard Jeffrey. He stumbled on what was the biggest gold nugget ever found, the Welcome Nugget - at 69 kilograms, still the second largest nugget in the world. Many were fooled by the hologram thinking it was a real person and they tried to photograph it using flash only to find that there was nobody there in their photograph.

Main Street was busy with people garbed in the clothes of the period and horse-drawn vehicles. Here miners and their families shopped for soap, spices, herbs and coffee at stores such as Clarke Brothers Grocery. The windows of the Criterion Store display the latest in Victorian style crinolines, bonnets and accessories. Robson & Wayne’s Apothecary Hall contains mysterious powders and some rather formidable surgical instruments. Speedwell Street, leading off Main Street, is residential.

We paid the Gold Museum across the road from Sovereign Hill a visit. It houses an extensive and valuable collection of gold products. Also it contains a large panoramic view of Ballarat taken in the early days of photography from the town hall tower.

I left details of my great grandfather here. He had been out in the goldfields here and returned home a wealthy man. I knew from the dates he was out in Australia that he must have worked in the Victorian gold fields but other than that I knew nothing. The Gold Museum offered a tracing service but so far they haven’t contacted me with any information – perhaps eventually!

Sovereign Hill presents its Australian mining heritage with pride and verve—and its buildings represent meticulous attention to accurate historical architecture and style. Both entertaining and educational, it takes a large part of a day to explore Sovereign Hill’s shops, displays and the Chinese quarter.

The museum is open 10am to 5pm every day except Christmas Day. The Gold Museum that is next to Sovereign Hill is open 9:30am to 5:20pm.
The ticket costs $32.50 for adults, and $15.50 for children.

Our reason for visiting Australia was mainly to visit our son in Perth. However we also took the opportunity to visit one of my wife’s cousins, Joan. With her husband Jim Walsh and several family members they have developed and run the Forest Resort at Creswick. They booked us into the Novotel hotel, part of the resort, with their compliments.

Novotel Forest Resort Creswick is a new, 4½ star luxury, 144 bedrooms eco-friendly hotel that opened on 26th March 2008. It won the Best New Tourism Development award in Victoria for 2008. Surrounded by an 18-hole golf course designed by professional golfer, Robert Allenby and placed in 150 acres of bush land the location is stunning.

When Joan showed us our room, it impressed me so much both by its size and its furniture that I thought that she had favoured us over the other guests. However when Jim showed us through the hotel later we discovered the room was fairly standard. It had a king-sized bed, bathroom with shower and separate spa, lounge suite, kitchen area, balcony, flat screen TV, and bar fridge. If cold a log effect gas fire could throw heat from its welcoming flames across the room. We had a luxurious bed, lovely decor, comfy pillows, large couch, quality bathroom products, and a large selection of tea, coffee, and cocoa.

The whole hotel is clean, luxuriously decorated, with soft music playing in the lobby, views over golf greens, plenty of outdoor veranda areas, cafe, bar, and restaurant. Plus outdoor games, walking tracks, indoor games room for kids, pool and spa, gym. hire a bike, hire golf clubs or use the library which has computers.

On offer at breakfast were fresh fruit, yoghurts, cereals and muslin, wide range of breads for toasting, fresh juices and the best part- mouth-watering range of Danishes. Those who chose the buffet had the added choice of eggs (poached and scrambled, mushrooms, tomatoes, bacon and sausages. The coffee barista machine was a huge hit. They also had a juicer machine where you could make your own fruit juice and a range of teas.

We ate in twice. On both occasions we just had a light meal in the bar. The food was a credit to the chef and service was fast. On the other occasions our hosts had us over to eat at their home which is just across from the hotel.

I had a run around the golf course in the evening on a golf buggy snapping away at the kangaroos that appear. Pity I didn’t have time to play golf here in the middle of a forest with tall trees in the background, breathing in the fresh air.

This hotel relies to a large extend on hosting conferences and has several rooms suitable for the purpose. This in no way detracts from it as a holiday destination. Indeed it is a guarantee the hotel will maintain its high standards.

As well as the hotel it is possible to buy a holiday home in the resort. When not used by the owner the hotel will look after it and lease it out to other people on holiday for the owners.

Overall we had a great time. I highly recommend this resort. It's outstanding for couples, golf enthusiasts, weddings, families and conferences.