Sovereign Hill

Today I went on a school excursion with the year four to six children at our school to Sovereign Hill, in Ballarat; "Australia's foremost outdoor museum". I had never been before and after the 2+ hours each way coach journey, we really didn't have enough time there to do it justice.

Being in charge of my son and three other year six boys, I didn't have a lot of time for photographic opportunities. For those who don't know, Ballarat was one of the centres of the Australian gold rush in the 1850s and Sovereign Hill is a re-created gold rush town, built atop a real mining area. What nobody explained was whether the buildings were moved from other places or purpose built? I'd like to know and the fact they don't mention it makes me think that non of the buildings are of the right vintage and it's all a big tourist/education park? It's still worth visiting and there are lots of actors in period costume playing their various roles in a gold mining town to great effect.

Oh and I found a few real gold flecks while panning in the creek!