Oz Musings: Gold In The Hills
Peter Clarkson is underwhelmed by the “authenticity’’ when he visits an Australian gold mining town.
One thing about the Victorian countryside is that there is lots to get out and about and do. Touristy attractions are everywhere, just check out the Lonely Planet and see for yourself.
OK then, maybe once you get past the beaches and mountains there is just a lot of countryside. Interestingly Mad Max, The road warrior, was filmed in Victoria. I am, of course, talking about the first film, Victoria is not known for its apocalyptic scenery. Anyway of you look beyond all the above you find some gems amongst the smaller villages and towns dotted around the state.
Once such gem is to be found near Ballarat, north west of Melbourne. The town itself was one of the centres of the 1800’s gold rush in Australia and has a past linked with prospecting and violence. More about the violence later.
Sovereign Hill is a huge outdoor live action museum celebrating all the aspects of 1850’s Australian culture at the heart of the gold rush. Features of the museum include descending deep into the mines to experience what it was like to be a gold miner.
Museum staff dress up and walk around the centre of town, bringing an air of authenticity to proceedings. The tourists for their part wander round, camera in hand, completely removing any authentic feel. Perhaps we were unlucky. The day was overcast, but there were few people present to give me a feeling of authenticity. I am probably being a little harsh. There was the chance to fire an oldy-worldy rifle, after extensive H&S talks and a cursory check of medical certificates. The most shocked by the explosion were two goats who looked as though they were about to have heart attacks.
Shops sold authentic curry flavoured pies and hand made produce including sweets, (yes I did), and candles, (yes she did. ) The biggest attraction was the gold. We saw an ingot being poured from molten gold,. The guy doing the pouring was shown on a TV travel programme the week after our visit. He even told the same jokes!
Eventually we arrived at the panning creek, a small rivulet that contains real gold. You can pan for it. Don’t get excited here. We think a few sand-sized grains of gold are added to the river bed for tourists to “discover” using authentic (that word features a lot in this article) panning methods.
Basically you swirl a sample of the riverbed around in a flat wok-sized pan while staring into the detritus to see if you can spot a microscopic glitter of gold in the bottom. If found, carefully remove said grain being very careful not to drop it back into the river. You don’t stand a chance of re-finding it.
Alternatively you can pan for about five minutes before letting out a simulated. Everyone will look your way, though this “fake discovery’’ is frowned upon.
Down in the mine you see gold. Well, plaster casts of nuggets which are painted gold, half-hidden by over-kill security. Who would want to steal a replica of a nugget found 150 years ago? I suppose it is intended to ad to the authent… Sorry, I can’t bring myself to finishing that word.
Over the road is a gold museum showing more finds from the area, again cast in plaster and painted. and also again behind impressive-looking vault doors. This museum does hold a lot more gold. It is almost interesting, though it does have a groovy shop, selling gold granules, probably reclaimed from the creek next door.
People buy membership to the town so they can return to re-sample the gold mining experience. Check out this website and see what other things they offer as I really am not doing the place justice and I have heard that in the future companies will be able to sue people for blog entries so better not put it down too much. http://www.sovereignhill.com.au/
Apparently the night show is a must, and you can stay in the town hotel or even have a meal,. Exciting!
It does revolve around the violence I spoke of earlier. Apparently Ballarat was the place where men swore an oath on Australian soil to a lag that was not BRITISH! The b--------s! High taxes and conditions for miners was the underlying cause. The flag was the Southern Cross, blue with white stars.
Men were executed after a dawn raid by those “heartless British’’. This raid is re-enacted in every detail in a wonderful night-time spectacle. (Sorry folks. I just made up that last bit.)
