Sovereign Hill

It was easier to keep the car for an extra day so we decided to head out on one of the final Australian adventures with the kids to Ballarat to see Sovereign Hill.

Sovereign Hill is a recreation of an old gold-mining settlement and they have everything set up like the late 1800s.

Even with only a few hours we had a great time seeing the old mine and how they made tin and gold.  We went to the candlemaking shop and the kids got to dip their taper candles to make rainbow candles (just in time for Chantal's visit!)

We saw the Red Coat soldiers come up Main street and shoot off their muskets (which was loud).  But I think the favourite part was panning for gold in the river.  I was impressed with the teaching at both the candle dipping and the panning for gold.  The teachers were really good at explaining what to do and I even found gold flecks for both the kids!

It was a very nice adventure to the 1800s!