Hunting the Gold
With a few days left in Melbourne before returning home I made a return trip to the Old Melbourne Gaol and spent a day in Ballarat, visiting the Sovereign Hill gold mine and museum.
Although I’d been to the old Melbourne Gaol before I wanted to go again. It is a great museum and has improved a lot since that last visit. A few little extras have been added with the chance to be a part of the Ned Kelly Trial (volunteers always required) and a brief history of the Kelly Gang from the perspective of Ned’s mother.
Between 1842 and 1929 the old Melbourne Gaol saw 136 executions including the infamous bushranger, Ned Kelly, and was later used to house Australian military personnel who had transgressed or gone AWOL during the Second World War. Although most of the prison has since been destroyed the one wing that remains is a remarkable piece of Melbourne’s history.
Ned Kelly’s mother, Ellen, gave an interesting tale of like in Victoria. Ned Kelly is either a hero or villain to Australians, depending on the point of view that he and his family were treated badly by the police. Ellen’s tale, naturally, lands of the side of hero for her son.
The trip to Sovereign Hill proved to be very worthwhile. Catching a train to Ballarat from Southern Cross Station the journey passed through the farmland in Victoria before arriving at the famous gold mine town. The bus routes stop outside Sovereign Hill and a train ticket affords free bus travel.
Sovereign Hill is an excellent open air museum, set in a time during the 1850s gold rush in Victoria. Gold had been mined at Sovereign Hill. Now historic huts, mines and stores create a little township, ideal for a long day out.
Today would also be a hot one. It was a day for sun hats and lots of sun cream on exposed skin. The museum itself was fascinating, educational and at times just pure fun. I spent most of the morning walking around the edges of Sovereign Hill, in and around the camps and gold mines before walking down the High Street and its stores, bars and theatre.
It would have been remiss not to have a pie here. Sadly it was also the worst meat pie I’ve had in Australia. Having picked up some acid drops from the sweet shop and with the afternoon sun making the place very hot I headed across the road to the Gold Museum, a nicer air conditioned history of the Victoria Gold Rush and examples of just how much gold has been a part of worldwide civilised culture over the centuries.
The next plan had been to visit the Eureka Stockade but with the heat and the bus only running every hour I headed back to Ballarat Railway Station and the train back to Melbourne.
