Back home and resting
Hello all,
I have a long story to tell, so I shall get to it right away. I took Friday off from work and decided to go travelling. It had been more than a month since my trip the Grampians and I was getting quite restless. Work had kept me on a tight leash and I had to break free and chill out. God bless my manager for he let me and a friend of mine off on a Friday. I set about planning a trip for a couple of days such that we would be back late on Saturday evening.
Friday morning arrived, beautifully sunny with a clear sky dotted with just enough white fluff to shield the glaring sun when driving and Pravansu and I set off on our journey. Fuel tank filled and tyre pressure checked and corrected, we were all set to drive to Ballarat, our first destination.
The drive would take us an hour and twenty minutes. With Kishore Kumar singing out of a CD, the mood was just right. The holiday bug started buzzing around our ears. Ballarat is one of the oldest towns in Victoria. The town came into existence after a large amount of Gold was found to be present in and around the place. In 1850, Ballarat started as a miner’s settlement over Sovereign Hill and grew rapidly in size as word of the gold spread and people from far and wide came rushing to make their fortunes in Ballarat Gold.
We reached Ballarat in good time and made our way to the information centre where a friendly member of the staff helped us get reservations at a nice twin share motel for the night and also helped us with directions to the attractions in town. Our first visit was to the newly built Aboriginal Arts Centre. It is a small but dainty collection of art and artefacts made by the aboriginal peoples of the area. The Centre showcases the life and history of the aborigine people and has a lot of lovely didgeridoos, boomerangs and paintings.
The main attraction of Ballarat however is Sovereign Hill itself. The government has preserved the whole town in its 1850s splendour. Complete with people in 1850 costumes and shops and homes operating the way they used to in the ‘50s, Sovereign Hill is a unique experience that brings you face to face with living history.
I have a long story to tell, so I shall get to it right away. I took Friday off from work and decided to go travelling. It had been more than a month since my trip the Grampians and I was getting quite restless. Work had kept me on a tight leash and I had to break free and chill out. God bless my manager for he let me and a friend of mine off on a Friday. I set about planning a trip for a couple of days such that we would be back late on Saturday evening.
Friday morning arrived, beautifully sunny with a clear sky dotted with just enough white fluff to shield the glaring sun when driving and Pravansu and I set off on our journey. Fuel tank filled and tyre pressure checked and corrected, we were all set to drive to Ballarat, our first destination.
The drive would take us an hour and twenty minutes. With Kishore Kumar singing out of a CD, the mood was just right. The holiday bug started buzzing around our ears. Ballarat is one of the oldest towns in Victoria. The town came into existence after a large amount of Gold was found to be present in and around the place. In 1850, Ballarat started as a miner’s settlement over Sovereign Hill and grew rapidly in size as word of the gold spread and people from far and wide came rushing to make their fortunes in Ballarat Gold.
We reached Ballarat in good time and made our way to the information centre where a friendly member of the staff helped us get reservations at a nice twin share motel for the night and also helped us with directions to the attractions in town. Our first visit was to the newly built Aboriginal Arts Centre. It is a small but dainty collection of art and artefacts made by the aboriginal peoples of the area. The Centre showcases the life and history of the aborigine people and has a lot of lovely didgeridoos, boomerangs and paintings.
The main attraction of Ballarat however is Sovereign Hill itself. The government has preserved the whole town in its 1850s splendour. Complete with people in 1850 costumes and shops and homes operating the way they used to in the ‘50s, Sovereign Hill is a unique experience that brings you face to face with living history.
A typical day on Sovereign Hill
The Red Hill Mining Company operated the largest mine on Sovereign Hill. I went down the real mine shaft and the tunnels on a tour and the darkness and the damp and dusty heavily laden air was quite spooky. Imagine tunnels several hundred feet deep into the ground where in some places you can only walk single file and bent double. In these depths and treacherous conditions worked the miners of a bygone era churning out 8-10 hour shifts with a single break of twenty minutes! It is no surprise that the average life expectancy of those miners, because of the unhealthy conditions that they worked in without any protection to speak of, was less than 60 years. After going deep into the tunnels, having learnt from the guide all about how the miners used to dig for gold first with just sledge-hammers and a tap and later using pneumatic drills, how water from the lower depths was pumped up continuously to keep from drowning the miners and how the quartz containing the gold veins were transported to the top manually by young boys aged 11 to 15 on carts (laden with half a ton of the rock), we rode through the dark tunnels on a track buggy into blinding sunlight. What a fantastic experience indeed!
Strolling thought the town we bumped into a file of red-coats marching about town making sure all was in order. The executioner got hold of me for getting in the way and I almost got his broadsword in my middle. Luckily for me, before he could strike, the governor’s carriage came by on Main Street and his attention was drawn for a moment and I managed to slip free to safety. That was a close shave indeed and I ran on till I reached the other part of town where I found musketeers practising firing their long muskets. I certainly did not want to get into the way and turned off towards the sweet aroma that was coming out of the building on my left. It was the confectioner‘s. A large sign outside read “Brown’s Confectionery Factory”. I walked in and was welcomed by a jolly person (his sweet s were as sweet as him, he claimed). I saw him make a mess of the place and himself as he made his famous raspberry drops. I tried one out and it tasted wonderful , just like he had claimed. I purchased a bottle of raspberry drops and bade the sweet maker goodbye.
Down the far end of Main Street I came upon the Wheel Wright. He was glad to show me how he wrought wheels and the spokes and the cogs from timber using machinery that ran on steam. The wheel wright makes the wheels for the carts and carriages of Sovereign Hill apart from shipping some to his customers abroad.
Near the mine, the smelter showed me how the nuggets were smelted and purified from the mercury in a retort and then poured into casts to make ingots each worth $50,000! Liquid Gold at 1200 degrees Centigrade is a sight to behold. The dazzle and shine will take your breath away and you cannot help but feel you want to possess it. I can understand now how Midas would have felt when he had the power to make gold out of anything by mere touch.
For recreation miners used to bowl at a nine-pin wooden alley.The alley is totally different from what we see today. It takes two people to play, for one rolls the heavy ball with both hands down a channel towards the skittles at the far end and the other replaces the fallen skittles after a throw and sends back the ball on another channel. After a few throws my arm started feeling sore and I gave it up.
I needed a bit of rest and I stopped by the stream that was flowing down Red Hill Gully. There were many busy panning for gold dust in the stream and I tried my luck as well. My luck aint anything to speak of, so I got no gold. The sun was slowly dipping down the horizon and what a day it had been for me. I shall not forget this day for a long time to come. What a life these people led in the 1850s! Hats off to their ingenious methods and discoveries.
The day was over but there was more to see. When fully dark Sovereign Hill turns into a theatre set, the largest I have seen, spread all over its 25 hectares. A multi-million dollar sound and light show called “Blood on the Southern Cross” takes you through the life and the fight of the miners against the government for their rights. The bitter struggle between the government and the common miner folk and the bloody battle that ensued are depicted in spectacular fashion under a starry sky. The miners group against the government under the banner of the blue Southern Cross. The action unfolds all around you and you are caught in the middle of a story more than a century before your time. It goes on for about 80 minutes as you are taken through different parts of the town on foot and aboard a buggy train. The climax where buildings a razed in a fire and shots are fired all around you spilling blood on the Southern Cross blew my breath away.
This day has been an exhilarating experience for me and one that will remain fresh in my memory for a very long time to come. It has been my pleasure to have shared my experiences with you and I hope you too can one day come to Ballarat and live the experience. Until my next blog from down under, I wish you all peace and happiness.
Strolling thought the town we bumped into a file of red-coats marching about town making sure all was in order. The executioner got hold of me for getting in the way and I almost got his broadsword in my middle. Luckily for me, before he could strike, the governor’s carriage came by on Main Street and his attention was drawn for a moment and I managed to slip free to safety. That was a close shave indeed and I ran on till I reached the other part of town where I found musketeers practising firing their long muskets. I certainly did not want to get into the way and turned off towards the sweet aroma that was coming out of the building on my left. It was the confectioner‘s. A large sign outside read “Brown’s Confectionery Factory”. I walked in and was welcomed by a jolly person (his sweet s were as sweet as him, he claimed). I saw him make a mess of the place and himself as he made his famous raspberry drops. I tried one out and it tasted wonderful , just like he had claimed. I purchased a bottle of raspberry drops and bade the sweet maker goodbye.
Down the far end of Main Street I came upon the Wheel Wright. He was glad to show me how he wrought wheels and the spokes and the cogs from timber using machinery that ran on steam. The wheel wright makes the wheels for the carts and carriages of Sovereign Hill apart from shipping some to his customers abroad.
Near the mine, the smelter showed me how the nuggets were smelted and purified from the mercury in a retort and then poured into casts to make ingots each worth $50,000! Liquid Gold at 1200 degrees Centigrade is a sight to behold. The dazzle and shine will take your breath away and you cannot help but feel you want to possess it. I can understand now how Midas would have felt when he had the power to make gold out of anything by mere touch.
For recreation miners used to bowl at a nine-pin wooden alley.The alley is totally different from what we see today. It takes two people to play, for one rolls the heavy ball with both hands down a channel towards the skittles at the far end and the other replaces the fallen skittles after a throw and sends back the ball on another channel. After a few throws my arm started feeling sore and I gave it up.
I needed a bit of rest and I stopped by the stream that was flowing down Red Hill Gully. There were many busy panning for gold dust in the stream and I tried my luck as well. My luck aint anything to speak of, so I got no gold. The sun was slowly dipping down the horizon and what a day it had been for me. I shall not forget this day for a long time to come. What a life these people led in the 1850s! Hats off to their ingenious methods and discoveries.
The day was over but there was more to see. When fully dark Sovereign Hill turns into a theatre set, the largest I have seen, spread all over its 25 hectares. A multi-million dollar sound and light show called “Blood on the Southern Cross” takes you through the life and the fight of the miners against the government for their rights. The bitter struggle between the government and the common miner folk and the bloody battle that ensued are depicted in spectacular fashion under a starry sky. The miners group against the government under the banner of the blue Southern Cross. The action unfolds all around you and you are caught in the middle of a story more than a century before your time. It goes on for about 80 minutes as you are taken through different parts of the town on foot and aboard a buggy train. The climax where buildings a razed in a fire and shots are fired all around you spilling blood on the Southern Cross blew my breath away.
This day has been an exhilarating experience for me and one that will remain fresh in my memory for a very long time to come. It has been my pleasure to have shared my experiences with you and I hope you too can one day come to Ballarat and live the experience. Until my next blog from down under, I wish you all peace and happiness.
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