English (part 7): The Goldfields
Door: Franziska
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Franziska & Klaas
24 April 2015 | Nederland, Groningen
Friday 7th of November: Halls Gap – Ballarat
Although the weather is nice and warm again, unfortunately for us it’s time to leave the Grampians today. We had a wonderful time here, as the Grampians are not only ideal for hikers, but also a paradise for wildflower-addicts like me. It is going to be a hot drive, as the weather forecast promises temperatures of up to 30o Celsius. Luckily Ballarat, our final destination today, is only about a 2 hour drive from Halls Gap. Our first stop is at Langi Ghiran State Park though, where we want to make a short walk to see some Aboriginal rock art. The state park is situated on the A8 between Ararat and Beaufort and the entrance is signposted from the highway. An unsealed loop road connects this entrance to all the facilities in the park, eventually turning back towards the main highway and reaching it at the park’s second entrance a few kilometres further east on the A8. As the trailhead of the track to the Aboriginal art shelter is much closer to the second entrance and we don’t want to drive the whole loop on an unsealed road, we head back to the highway and drive east in search of the second park entrance. Unfortunately this one is not signposted though and of course we miss the correct exit and have to turn around. Luckily we had a park map downloaded to our tablet, when we were still back home, and this comes in very handy now. With the help of this map we eventually find the correct exit for the second park entrance and the trailhead for the track to the art shelter. It is an easy and flat walk sheltered by trees to the two enormous granite boulders forming the art shelter. We are very grateful for the shadow of the trees, as it starts to get very hot in the sun. Unfortunately the colours of the paintings in the shelter have fainted and the figures on the rock are hard to see and don’t make much sense to us. The art shelter is therefore slightly underwhelming to us. But it was good to stretch our legs anyway. Although the highway between Beaufort and Ballarat is a big construction site with road works going on all along, we reach Ballarat by noon.
The main attraction of this former gold mining town is Sovereign Hill, an outdoor museum and replica of what the town must have looked like during the Victorian gold rush in the second half of the 19th century. Like all the tourists here of course we plan to visit this museum. Therefore we decide to set up camp on the Big 4 Goldfields Caravan Park, which is in walking distance of Sovereign Hill. Our campsite is a lot smaller than the one in Halls Gap and the facilities are comparable. The campground is situated in the middle of a residential area and the sounds you hear are from barking dogs and cars racing up and down the street, instead of birds and the wind blowing through the trees. Nevertheless at 39 $ a night the price of this accommodation is about 10 $ more expensive than the site in Halls Gap. I’m afraid, this is the price you have to pay for the brand name “Big 4”. For us it is a good base camp to explore Ballarat for one or two days, but certainly no place to spend a whole vacation.
Once we’ve pitched our tent, we do the 10 minute walk to the Sovereign Hill Museum. For 107 $ p.p. we buy tickets including two days entry to the Sovereign Hill Outdoor Museum, to the adjacent Gold Museum and to the sound and light show “Blood on the Southern Cross”. Our first call after purchasing tickets is the bakery on Main Street in the outdoor museum, where we buy a delicious pasty / pie for lunch. Main Street is full of businesses and workshops like the blacksmith, the post office, the United States Hotel, the grocery store and much more. Almost all the stores and workshops along the street are actually open to the public and costumed staff members give demonstrations and sell old fashioned souvenirs to the visitors. Once we have reached the top end of Main Street, it’s time to continue our visit below ground level. At the Gold Mine a cable car takes us underground to explore the dark world of the miners back in the late 19th century. Although this 45 minute guided tour costs an additional 7.50 $ per person, it is well worth the expense, as it gives you a good impression of what the miner’s job must have been like back then. If you don’t want to pay the extra money, you can get a less detailed but free, self-guided mine experience at the Red Hill Mine further down the hill. Here you can see a replica of the 69 kilogram Welcome Nugget discovered at the original Red Hill Mine site in 1858. This massive piece of gold was the second largest nugget ever found. Back on the surface we have a quick look at the gold panning and digging sites, the tents and huts, which show the primitive lifestyle of the first miners arriving in Victoria during the gold rush. Then it’s time for the gold pouring demonstration. Pure gold is melted and poured into a mould, thus forming a gold ingot worth about 130000 $.
By now it’s late afternoon and we have to hurry back to the campsite in order to do some shopping and have dinner, before heading back to the museum for the sound and light show. “Blood on the Southern Cross” tells the story of the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion of the miners against the expensive mining licences the colonial government made them purchase to raise tax revenues. Most of the miners were poor people and didn’t have the money to buy a mining licence. On top of that they thought taxation without representation in the government was unfair. However without a licence mining was illegal. When the government started to organize police raids against illegal miners, they saw no other choice than to revolt against the authorities. The colonial government reacted by sending troops to fight the revolting miners. During a violent nightly attack they killed over 20 of revolting miners, thus bringing the rebellion to an end. Many of the remaining rebels were captured and brought to trial for high treason. However under the pressure of the public opinion taking the side of the miners, none of them were actually found guilty by the jury. Moreover the gold licences were abolished and the major goldfields got their own representatives in the Legislative Council of Victoria. This is the reason why the Eureka Stockade marks a major step in the development of democracy in Australia. The sound and light show on the Stockade is very cleverly done. It starts with an introduction movie at the theatre near the entrance of the open air museum. Then it’s time to go outside. Surrounded by illuminated tents and campfires you follow the nightly conversations of different miners at the old digging sites. A train shuttle then brings the audience to a secluded area at the other end of the museum. Here you will find another theatre built for the main part of the show telling the actual story of the Eureka Stockade Rebellion. While the audience is seated under the roof of the theatre building, the stage is actually situated in the open air on a hillside full of buildings, tents, carriages and other stage property. You won’t see a single actor during this part of the show. The story is exclusively told by a clever combination of different sound and light effects reaching from a glooming campfire to the explosion of a whole hotel. Finally the train brings you back to Main Street for the grand finale of the show. From the balcony of the United States Hotel the only live-acting person in the whole show tells you about the aftermath of the Stockade and the important influence it had on the development of democracy in Australia. It is almost 10.30 pm when we finally reach the campground and crawl into our sleeping bags for a good night’s sleep.
Saturday 8th of November: Ballarat
On our second day in Ballarat our first stop is at the Gold Museum situated opposite to Sovereign Hill Open Air Museum. Here the story of the Victorian gold rush is told by different drawings, contemporary photographs, old mining tools and replicas of gold nuggets found in the region. Some of the pictures displayed at the Gold Museum were actually used to reconstruct the buildings of the adjacent open air museum. The rest of the morning is spent back at the Sovereign Hill Open Air Museum visiting all the buildings and workshops we didn’t have time for yesterday. After a lovely lunch at the New York Bakery it is time to leave the museum and walk into the historic town centre of Ballarat. Most of the beautiful turn-of-the-century buildings found here were financed by money earned on the local gold fields. Stunning old hotels with cast iron verandas, banks as well as the mining exchange border the streets of the old city centre. We also visit the grand, historic train station of Ballarat and have a much needed cold drink at the station’s café. The sun has been shining all day and it is sizzling hot outside. Actually too hot for long strolls. That’s why we decide to walk straight back instead of following the much longer Eureka Trail back to the campground. After so much physical effort we deserve a little treat: At a 10 $ fee we unwind at the indoor heated spa for the next 30 minutes. On my way to the camping kitchen I have a little chat to a couple from Switzerland. Their camper van with Swiss licence plates caught our attention earlier today. Starting their trip in Switzerland they had been on the road over 2 ½ years now. An overland adventure from Switzerland to Singapore was followed by a transfer to and several months of travelling in Australia. Next on their agenda is New Zealand, before they continue their travels across the Pacific Ocean in South America. In case you’re interested, a detailed description of their adventures can be found on: www.rowefidibus.ch
We finish the day with a home cooked meal of chicken curry, salad and rice and another trip to the supermarket, in order to get some yoghurt for breakfast tomorrow. After another cup of tea and coffee at the camping kitchen it is time to go to sleep.
Sunday 9th of November: Ballarat – Moama
We didn’t sleep that well last night. Around 2 am we were woken by loud voices belonging to some of the tenants of the cabins surrounding us. They were having a chat on their front porch, clearly ignoring other people’s needs to get some sleep. With only a tent fly separating us from them, we could understand almost every word they said.
After breakfast we pack our stuff and leave Ballarat in direction of Maldon, another old gold mining town north of Ballarat. After a few showers last night and a clouded sky this morning, it starts to clear up quickly. By the time we reach Maldon, the sun is shining again and the air is warming up quickly. Maldon is one of the most authentically remaining towns built during the Victorian gold rush. Not only the shops and hotels along Main Street, but also most of the lovely cottages in the rest of town, the school as well as the hospital date back to the second half of the 19th century. The tourist office is a great place to start your tour around town. Friendly employees will fit you out with plenty of information about tours you can take, attractions you might want to visit and the history of this charming gold mining town. But please be cautious when accepting brochures or you will end up like us, carrying around half a ton of brochures during our self-guided historic town walk. Unfortunately the directions in the brochure for our walking tour aren’t very specific and at one time we end up in the back yard of a cottage. The owner is not very pleased to see us there. After concluding our exploration of historic Maldon we drive north to Bendigo, another gold mining town on our way to Moama. Most of Bendigo’s beautiful historic blue stone buildings are built along Midland Highway and can be seen by taking a tour with the talking tram. Tickets are sold at Central Deborah Gold Mine as well as at the tourist office situated in the magnificent old post office building in downtown Bendigo. We buy our tickets at the latter, head up to Rosalind Park Poppet Head Tower for a great view over the town centre and finally have lunch in the park. After lunch we mount the vintage talking tram first taking us east to the old tram depot and workshop and then on to the Chinese Joss House Temple. This temple is just one of the heritage sites dedicated to the many Chinese immigrants who used to work on the goldfields in Bendigo. Back in the 1870s about a quarter of Bendigo’s inhabitants were Chinese immigrants. As the tram line ends at the temple, the tram turns around and follows the same way back to the centre of town, then continuing west to Central Deborah Gold Mine. Today this historic gold mine is one of Bendigo’s major tourist attractions. Different tours take you up to nine levels down into the dark world of the miners. Unfortunately we lack the time to take a tour, but according to our Dutch friends, who took the tour earlier this year, it must be an excellent experience. We take the tram back to the car and continue our journey north to the valley of the Murray River, which forms the border between Victoria and New South Wales. At this border situated on opposite sides of the river you find the twin cities of Echuca (VIC) and Moama (N.S.W.), the latter being our final destination today. While we’ve hardly been using the gps we borrowed from Helen and David during the past two weeks, today it comes in handy guiding us to our friend’s house in Moama. Helen and David are giving us a warm welcome. After a cold drink they show us their home, the garden and of course their enormous collection of Prattware and Aboriginal art. It seems we will be living in a museum for the coming three days.
After an excellent home cooked dinner we head down to the Murray River for a stroll along its banks and a first glimpse at the paddlesteamers moored at the wharf across the river in Echuca. In the old days, when there weren’t any roads leading to Australia’s interior, these paddlesteamers and the railroad were the only means of transport around here. Goods (mostly wool and wood) from the farms (or stations as they are called in Australia) along the Murray and its tributaries were transported by paddlesteamers and barges to the port of Echuca. Here the goods were transferred onto the railroad and transported south to Melbourne on the coastline, from where they could be shipped to England and to places all over the world. In those days in the second half of the 19th century Echuca was Australia’s largest inland port. However when the railway and roads started to reach Australia’s interior at the end of the 19th century, the era of the paddlesteamers was soon over. Lots of the old boats fall in decay or were destroyed. Luckily most of the remaining paddlesteamers have been restored to their old glory and are currently used for river cruises reaching from a few hours to several days. Unfortunately we started our stroll along the river too late and it soon gets too dark to see the paddlesteamers on the other side of the river. So we head back home to Helen and David’s place and spend the rest of the evening catching up on the past two weeks.
Although the weather is nice and warm again, unfortunately for us it’s time to leave the Grampians today. We had a wonderful time here, as the Grampians are not only ideal for hikers, but also a paradise for wildflower-addicts like me. It is going to be a hot drive, as the weather forecast promises temperatures of up to 30o Celsius. Luckily Ballarat, our final destination today, is only about a 2 hour drive from Halls Gap. Our first stop is at Langi Ghiran State Park though, where we want to make a short walk to see some Aboriginal rock art. The state park is situated on the A8 between Ararat and Beaufort and the entrance is signposted from the highway. An unsealed loop road connects this entrance to all the facilities in the park, eventually turning back towards the main highway and reaching it at the park’s second entrance a few kilometres further east on the A8. As the trailhead of the track to the Aboriginal art shelter is much closer to the second entrance and we don’t want to drive the whole loop on an unsealed road, we head back to the highway and drive east in search of the second park entrance. Unfortunately this one is not signposted though and of course we miss the correct exit and have to turn around. Luckily we had a park map downloaded to our tablet, when we were still back home, and this comes in very handy now. With the help of this map we eventually find the correct exit for the second park entrance and the trailhead for the track to the art shelter. It is an easy and flat walk sheltered by trees to the two enormous granite boulders forming the art shelter. We are very grateful for the shadow of the trees, as it starts to get very hot in the sun. Unfortunately the colours of the paintings in the shelter have fainted and the figures on the rock are hard to see and don’t make much sense to us. The art shelter is therefore slightly underwhelming to us. But it was good to stretch our legs anyway. Although the highway between Beaufort and Ballarat is a big construction site with road works going on all along, we reach Ballarat by noon.
The main attraction of this former gold mining town is Sovereign Hill, an outdoor museum and replica of what the town must have looked like during the Victorian gold rush in the second half of the 19th century. Like all the tourists here of course we plan to visit this museum. Therefore we decide to set up camp on the Big 4 Goldfields Caravan Park, which is in walking distance of Sovereign Hill. Our campsite is a lot smaller than the one in Halls Gap and the facilities are comparable. The campground is situated in the middle of a residential area and the sounds you hear are from barking dogs and cars racing up and down the street, instead of birds and the wind blowing through the trees. Nevertheless at 39 $ a night the price of this accommodation is about 10 $ more expensive than the site in Halls Gap. I’m afraid, this is the price you have to pay for the brand name “Big 4”. For us it is a good base camp to explore Ballarat for one or two days, but certainly no place to spend a whole vacation.
Once we’ve pitched our tent, we do the 10 minute walk to the Sovereign Hill Museum. For 107 $ p.p. we buy tickets including two days entry to the Sovereign Hill Outdoor Museum, to the adjacent Gold Museum and to the sound and light show “Blood on the Southern Cross”. Our first call after purchasing tickets is the bakery on Main Street in the outdoor museum, where we buy a delicious pasty / pie for lunch. Main Street is full of businesses and workshops like the blacksmith, the post office, the United States Hotel, the grocery store and much more. Almost all the stores and workshops along the street are actually open to the public and costumed staff members give demonstrations and sell old fashioned souvenirs to the visitors. Once we have reached the top end of Main Street, it’s time to continue our visit below ground level. At the Gold Mine a cable car takes us underground to explore the dark world of the miners back in the late 19th century. Although this 45 minute guided tour costs an additional 7.50 $ per person, it is well worth the expense, as it gives you a good impression of what the miner’s job must have been like back then. If you don’t want to pay the extra money, you can get a less detailed but free, self-guided mine experience at the Red Hill Mine further down the hill. Here you can see a replica of the 69 kilogram Welcome Nugget discovered at the original Red Hill Mine site in 1858. This massive piece of gold was the second largest nugget ever found. Back on the surface we have a quick look at the gold panning and digging sites, the tents and huts, which show the primitive lifestyle of the first miners arriving in Victoria during the gold rush. Then it’s time for the gold pouring demonstration. Pure gold is melted and poured into a mould, thus forming a gold ingot worth about 130000 $.
By now it’s late afternoon and we have to hurry back to the campsite in order to do some shopping and have dinner, before heading back to the museum for the sound and light show. “Blood on the Southern Cross” tells the story of the Eureka Stockade, a rebellion of the miners against the expensive mining licences the colonial government made them purchase to raise tax revenues. Most of the miners were poor people and didn’t have the money to buy a mining licence. On top of that they thought taxation without representation in the government was unfair. However without a licence mining was illegal. When the government started to organize police raids against illegal miners, they saw no other choice than to revolt against the authorities. The colonial government reacted by sending troops to fight the revolting miners. During a violent nightly attack they killed over 20 of revolting miners, thus bringing the rebellion to an end. Many of the remaining rebels were captured and brought to trial for high treason. However under the pressure of the public opinion taking the side of the miners, none of them were actually found guilty by the jury. Moreover the gold licences were abolished and the major goldfields got their own representatives in the Legislative Council of Victoria. This is the reason why the Eureka Stockade marks a major step in the development of democracy in Australia. The sound and light show on the Stockade is very cleverly done. It starts with an introduction movie at the theatre near the entrance of the open air museum. Then it’s time to go outside. Surrounded by illuminated tents and campfires you follow the nightly conversations of different miners at the old digging sites. A train shuttle then brings the audience to a secluded area at the other end of the museum. Here you will find another theatre built for the main part of the show telling the actual story of the Eureka Stockade Rebellion. While the audience is seated under the roof of the theatre building, the stage is actually situated in the open air on a hillside full of buildings, tents, carriages and other stage property. You won’t see a single actor during this part of the show. The story is exclusively told by a clever combination of different sound and light effects reaching from a glooming campfire to the explosion of a whole hotel. Finally the train brings you back to Main Street for the grand finale of the show. From the balcony of the United States Hotel the only live-acting person in the whole show tells you about the aftermath of the Stockade and the important influence it had on the development of democracy in Australia. It is almost 10.30 pm when we finally reach the campground and crawl into our sleeping bags for a good night’s sleep.
Saturday 8th of November: Ballarat
On our second day in Ballarat our first stop is at the Gold Museum situated opposite to Sovereign Hill Open Air Museum. Here the story of the Victorian gold rush is told by different drawings, contemporary photographs, old mining tools and replicas of gold nuggets found in the region. Some of the pictures displayed at the Gold Museum were actually used to reconstruct the buildings of the adjacent open air museum. The rest of the morning is spent back at the Sovereign Hill Open Air Museum visiting all the buildings and workshops we didn’t have time for yesterday. After a lovely lunch at the New York Bakery it is time to leave the museum and walk into the historic town centre of Ballarat. Most of the beautiful turn-of-the-century buildings found here were financed by money earned on the local gold fields. Stunning old hotels with cast iron verandas, banks as well as the mining exchange border the streets of the old city centre. We also visit the grand, historic train station of Ballarat and have a much needed cold drink at the station’s café. The sun has been shining all day and it is sizzling hot outside. Actually too hot for long strolls. That’s why we decide to walk straight back instead of following the much longer Eureka Trail back to the campground. After so much physical effort we deserve a little treat: At a 10 $ fee we unwind at the indoor heated spa for the next 30 minutes. On my way to the camping kitchen I have a little chat to a couple from Switzerland. Their camper van with Swiss licence plates caught our attention earlier today. Starting their trip in Switzerland they had been on the road over 2 ½ years now. An overland adventure from Switzerland to Singapore was followed by a transfer to and several months of travelling in Australia. Next on their agenda is New Zealand, before they continue their travels across the Pacific Ocean in South America. In case you’re interested, a detailed description of their adventures can be found on: www.rowefidibus.ch
We finish the day with a home cooked meal of chicken curry, salad and rice and another trip to the supermarket, in order to get some yoghurt for breakfast tomorrow. After another cup of tea and coffee at the camping kitchen it is time to go to sleep.
Sunday 9th of November: Ballarat – Moama
We didn’t sleep that well last night. Around 2 am we were woken by loud voices belonging to some of the tenants of the cabins surrounding us. They were having a chat on their front porch, clearly ignoring other people’s needs to get some sleep. With only a tent fly separating us from them, we could understand almost every word they said.
After breakfast we pack our stuff and leave Ballarat in direction of Maldon, another old gold mining town north of Ballarat. After a few showers last night and a clouded sky this morning, it starts to clear up quickly. By the time we reach Maldon, the sun is shining again and the air is warming up quickly. Maldon is one of the most authentically remaining towns built during the Victorian gold rush. Not only the shops and hotels along Main Street, but also most of the lovely cottages in the rest of town, the school as well as the hospital date back to the second half of the 19th century. The tourist office is a great place to start your tour around town. Friendly employees will fit you out with plenty of information about tours you can take, attractions you might want to visit and the history of this charming gold mining town. But please be cautious when accepting brochures or you will end up like us, carrying around half a ton of brochures during our self-guided historic town walk. Unfortunately the directions in the brochure for our walking tour aren’t very specific and at one time we end up in the back yard of a cottage. The owner is not very pleased to see us there. After concluding our exploration of historic Maldon we drive north to Bendigo, another gold mining town on our way to Moama. Most of Bendigo’s beautiful historic blue stone buildings are built along Midland Highway and can be seen by taking a tour with the talking tram. Tickets are sold at Central Deborah Gold Mine as well as at the tourist office situated in the magnificent old post office building in downtown Bendigo. We buy our tickets at the latter, head up to Rosalind Park Poppet Head Tower for a great view over the town centre and finally have lunch in the park. After lunch we mount the vintage talking tram first taking us east to the old tram depot and workshop and then on to the Chinese Joss House Temple. This temple is just one of the heritage sites dedicated to the many Chinese immigrants who used to work on the goldfields in Bendigo. Back in the 1870s about a quarter of Bendigo’s inhabitants were Chinese immigrants. As the tram line ends at the temple, the tram turns around and follows the same way back to the centre of town, then continuing west to Central Deborah Gold Mine. Today this historic gold mine is one of Bendigo’s major tourist attractions. Different tours take you up to nine levels down into the dark world of the miners. Unfortunately we lack the time to take a tour, but according to our Dutch friends, who took the tour earlier this year, it must be an excellent experience. We take the tram back to the car and continue our journey north to the valley of the Murray River, which forms the border between Victoria and New South Wales. At this border situated on opposite sides of the river you find the twin cities of Echuca (VIC) and Moama (N.S.W.), the latter being our final destination today. While we’ve hardly been using the gps we borrowed from Helen and David during the past two weeks, today it comes in handy guiding us to our friend’s house in Moama. Helen and David are giving us a warm welcome. After a cold drink they show us their home, the garden and of course their enormous collection of Prattware and Aboriginal art. It seems we will be living in a museum for the coming three days.
After an excellent home cooked dinner we head down to the Murray River for a stroll along its banks and a first glimpse at the paddlesteamers moored at the wharf across the river in Echuca. In the old days, when there weren’t any roads leading to Australia’s interior, these paddlesteamers and the railroad were the only means of transport around here. Goods (mostly wool and wood) from the farms (or stations as they are called in Australia) along the Murray and its tributaries were transported by paddlesteamers and barges to the port of Echuca. Here the goods were transferred onto the railroad and transported south to Melbourne on the coastline, from where they could be shipped to England and to places all over the world. In those days in the second half of the 19th century Echuca was Australia’s largest inland port. However when the railway and roads started to reach Australia’s interior at the end of the 19th century, the era of the paddlesteamers was soon over. Lots of the old boats fall in decay or were destroyed. Luckily most of the remaining paddlesteamers have been restored to their old glory and are currently used for river cruises reaching from a few hours to several days. Unfortunately we started our stroll along the river too late and it soon gets too dark to see the paddlesteamers on the other side of the river. So we head back home to Helen and David’s place and spend the rest of the evening catching up on the past two weeks.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
