We arrived at
the home of the Eureka Stockade, Ballarat, to a chilly and rainy morning
which climbed to a maximum of 9 degrees. This town is frozen in time, set following the discovery of
gold in 1851. Talking about frozen… we experienced a quick rain shower which
was actual hailstones.
Sovereign Hill still turned on its historical charm and with
the rain gone before our activities began, we knew we were in for a great day.
We headed to a gold pouring demonstration, where we were able to draw on our
Term 1 Science unit of separating mixtures to understand how gold is removed
from quartz using mercury, and then separated from the mercury to purify it. Molten
gold was heated at 1200 degrees, poured into a bullion mould in front of us,
and then cooled in cold water. The resulting gold 24k bar weighed 3kg and was
worth $220 000.
Some of the special tours we encountered included the ‘Secret
Chamber’ tour, where we were taken in an inclined train 20 metres underground
in pitch darkness to adjust our eyes to the lantern lit mining corridors. We
were guided through the chilly, underground set of chambers to see what gold
and quartz looked like in its natural state, and to watch a short story about
two Chinese brothers who came in search of their fortune, projected onto the
rock wall.
Some tried their luck panning for gold, Mya-Jayne scored the
biggest find of the day to take home. The rest of us realised rather quickly
how much hard work, and how discouraging, gold panning actually was.
We learned more about the conditions of miners in another
underground tour at Red Hill mine, narrated by a Cornish miner who found the
massive ‘Welcome Nugget’, of which we saw a replica.
From there, we observed dipping of candles, and on to
lolly-making where we watched the creation of hard candy from scratch, using
entirely 1800s equipment. The hot sugary liquid was transformed and many of our
onlookers were eagerly licking their lips, to wait for a taste. We were offered
lovely peppermint lollies, and many of us went back to the lolly shop to collect
jars of our favourite lolly flavours.
After dinner, the inclement weather set in again but the kids
enjoyed a ride around the CBD on the free tram loop. Very weary children were
in bed by 9:30pm ready for another exciting day, tomorrow.
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