Sovereign Hill or Bust!

I hadn't stayed at a Bed & Breakfast before so I didn't know what to expect for the breakfast part...what a wonderful surprise!!  It was one of the best breakfasts I'd had in Australia and as breakfast is a favorite meal that I could have any time of the day I can be a bit particular...it may have only been eggs, bacon, potatoes and toast but it was scrumptious and I was now sold on B & B's...at least Alexandra House!

After breakfast we were off to Sovereign Hill which is an open air museum where you step back into the 1850s as you walk through their doors.  It is also the sight of one of the major gold diggings in Australian history and is linked to the richest alluvial gold rush in the world.

One of the streets at
Sovereign Hill

We wandered up and down the streets and through the 60 or so buildings built to replicate the 1850s with people dressed in period costumes, soldiers and a stage coach gracing the dirt pathways (streets) of Sovereign Hill...along with more than a few screaming grade school aged kids out on day trips.  Somehow I wasn't quite as enthusiastic as they were but I'm sure more than one of them was on a sugar high the excitement of the day found them running here and there and even trying panning for gold to find that next big nugget in the creek that ran through the site...even Natalie gave panning a shot but no such luck.

Despite the crowds of kids I enjoyed walking through the 1850s despite it being a bit warm that day...okay more than a bit warm to me but having come from winter in Minnesota to summer in Australia I seemed to always get a 'sweat on' even if Natalie kept saying it was a cooler than normal summer for them.  Secretly I was glad for it being a cooler summer...I would have melted long before this day.  I was sympathetic for the men walking around in wool uniforms depicting British soldiers and the others in multi layered period costumes for the 1850s.  Those wool uniforms reminded me of my marching band uniform back in the day in high school and it was 100% wool and just horribly itchy when you got hot...a memory that can still make me shudder!!  Anyways...

We walked through most of Sovereign Hill and listened to a talk on what life was like for the miners back in the 1850s and after lunch we headed out and across the parking lot to the Gold Museum where there was a wide array of collections around the theme of gold.  Some of the replica gold nuggets that had been found in mines around Ballarat were simply amazing in their size...one was around 99 ounces which was unbelievable and would be worth a staggering amount in today's market...if only Natalie could have found a fraction of that nugget panning...

There were more sights and sounds for the day after Sovereign Hill and the museum but I will leave that for another day...

Until then...wherever you are have a great day!!

If you would like to see more pictures of Sovereign Hill here is a link to that photo album on Picasa:  Play slideshow