Early Sunday morning, onesocial travelled back in time. Back 160 years. To a world that is so different to today. It all seemed a bit overwhelming when we first arrived, and we wandered around for a while to get our bearings. We started by exploring Main Street, where there were dozens of buildings to pop into; there was so much to discover. There was a film showing at the theatre, performances on the street and craftsmen in their workshops.
We came along and watched a gold pour demonstration, where we got to experience the magic of pure gold being smelted and poured before our eyes. We learnt that gold smelting is an essential process in producing gold. It enables gold miners to separate impure materials from pure gold desirable in the market. Once the gold's purified, it is put into the furnace one last time at 1200 degrees celsius so that it is melted in readiness for it to be moulded into ingots.
Can you guess how much this 3kg gold bar is worth?
It is worth $260,000 Australian dollars! How crazy!
We then made our way down to the confectionery to watch how to make Soverign's Hill's famous raspberry drops. We learnt how these sweet delights had become an icon of the lolly world. We even got to try some right at the very end. They were so yummy!
Next, we headed up the hill, past machinery and workshops, and arrived at a larger mine shaft with a steam-powered pump from the boiler room. From here, we went 60 feet underground to undertake a tour of the mines. A guide took us as we got to capture the spirit of working beneath the ground here in Ballarat. We headed down on a train that hurtled us through a pitch-black shaft to the level where we could find some of the original mines.
We then had the opportunity to participate and make a rainbow candle. We had lots of fun dipping our candles in pots of various colours.
Now we couldn't go to Sovereign Hill without panning for gold by the side of the creek. Unfortunately, we had no luck finding any; however, we had lots of fun trying.
It was such a fun-filled day, and everyone enjoyed exploring the history of Sovereign Hill. There was so much to do and see that we didn't get to do it all. We will have to come back shortly.
- Brooke & Anthony from onesocial :)