Sovereign Hill Gold Town at Ballarat

It was an early start on Tuesday to get to Susan’s, in order to make the trip (about an hour and a half) to Ballarat, where there is a recreation of an 1860’s gold town. Heidi and Andrew had arrived the evening before, after we had left to come home, and were remarkably bright. We all piled into Alastair’s car (it’s a long and complicated explanation but easy when insurance covers anyone to drive with the owner’s permission) and drove into the hills. If you can imagine taking out all the schmaltz that Walt Disney would put into a theme park, and having working craftsmen, using tools of the era, with steam-engine-powered, belt-driven lathes and pumps, shops selling home-cooking style pies and pastries, boiled sweets being made, and horse-drawn carriages riding up and down the sandy streets in between the wooden boardwalks leading to old-fashioned schoolhouses and residences, then you are beginning to get a flavour of how great a place it is to learn about the Gold Rush. We took a trip down into the old workings of a mine, but still operational in other parts of the town, and reluctantly dragged ourselves away, only because we had to get to Clodagh and Ben’s (late, of course) for a barbecue. If Clodagh decides against the marriage at the last minute, Ben can come back and cook for us – I must learn his skill of not charring meat on the outside whilst leaving it raw in the centre. Apparently, he does much of the cooking and with food like that, why not? We had to go back to Susan’s to collect our car and had one of our more efficient return journeys, where eventually….we collapsed into bed.