Our final fling with Evan was a day's excursion to Ballarat, a drive west from Melbourne. Ballarat, one of Australia's best preserved cities, is a living museum of Australia's gold rush period in the 1850's. "Sovereign Hill" is a magnificent reconstructed township built on the site of one of the area's richest mines. During the day we panned for gold there, ventured into underground mines, and marvelled at a $100,00 gold pour. We toured a gold museum where we saw a replica of the world's largest gold nugget found in the area. We ventured out of town to have a supper picnic on a scenic overlook of the city. Then we drove to the neighbouring town of Buninyong, nestled among rolling hills. We came upon a tower which was dedicated to our own Canadian Alexander Garham Bell. My, but that fellow got around! We checked out the works of art at the Aboriginial Cultural Centre and visited the local art gallery which featured an exhibit about the local Australian rock band "Queen" (sorry, not the monarch!). In the late evening we returned to Sovereign Hill for its awesome Sound and Light show entitled "Blood on the Southern Cross", a depiction of the miner's Eureka Rebellion of 1854. Of course, a visit to Ballarat would not have been complete without a real gold purchase, and Karin was delighted!
The choice of word "awesome" in reference to the sound-and-light show at Ballarat is somewhat misleading. Perhaps "tacky" or "ridiculous" are better choices! :)
ReplyDeleteevan
Thanks for continuing to post your pictures and thoughts. Wonderful to read of your adventures.
ReplyDeleteJust for the record, the rock band "Queen" was a mega-British band that was hugely successful world-wide in the 70s, 80s and into the 90s.
Cheers.