Australia, Sovereign Hill

We went to Sovereign Hill on our sixth day in Melbourne. Sovereign Hill is located in the suburb of Ballarat and it took us about 1hr 20min via train. From Ballarat Train Station, we simply board the free shuttle service to Sovereign Hill.

I was lucky to get quick photo snap of the Ballarat Train Station from across the street. Time was pressing as we needed to catch the bus. I noticed too that the buildings here had a different architecture from those in Melbourne. 

Look at the architecture of this building. I was in awe because the heritage of Ballarat was kept intact. The building was built by miners in the 1850s, when gold was discovered. The discovery created a gold rush, where large volumes of people flocked to this town. The town soon became rich and people could afford to build many buildings like the one in the photo.

I couldn't take away my gaze from the fine details of the balustrade. They were amazing. And the colouring of this building, with its golden hue added up to the feeling that I was really in the gold miners' town.

Photo credit to: http://velvetescape.com/2014/06/sovereign-hill/

I couldn't wait to visit Sovereign Hill after looking around at the town. And finally, we're here. I was all prepared to step back in time to the gold rush period in Ballarat and to experience what it was like. Sovereign Hill provides us with this opportunity because it is a living museum, so everything feels quite authentic here.

I felt a rush of excitement as soon as I entered Sovereign Hill. The image before me was like a cowboy town. The smell of horse poop was indistinguishable to my sensitive nose. It hits me like cold water splashed on my face. I knew then that I was not dreaming.

There's really a bakery in Hope Bakery!! And one can shop for groceries at the Grocers.

I bought some anise sweets at the confectionery. It was fresh and made using traditional methods. I must say that I'm one satisfied customer when I tasted the sweets. They had a very unique taste.

We really had loads of fun in this place. We decided to bowl and this was when we found out what bowling was like in the olden days.

The bowling ball was so heavy; there's no way we can lift it up using one hand. This elevated, long stretch of wooden path was the bowling lane. And the pins were also made of wood. After we had bowled, we had to place the pins upright. You could imagine walking up and down from our bowling position to the pin area. It was quite a distance and bowling was absolutely a tiring sport at that time. 

We also viewed the blacksmith and the candle-maker at work here. It's so enlightening to see these special people perfecting the craft that was passed down through several generations. Would there be another generation to continue these crafts?

I do love Sovereign Hill on the whole. All the staffs were in Victorian costumes and we could engage them about the history of the town.

Panning for gold... anyone interested?

Jas decided to go for the Gold Mine Tour while I took this opportunity to wander on my own. Yeay!!! It's great to have that personal space and time. 

I waved at Jas as she went for the tour. We're to meet in 1.5 hrs time. 

I'll share the photos that I had taken while I was on my own soon. Until the next post then. Ciao.