Finally some history!

G'day all

Ok, so the title of this post is a slight exaggeration. There is more history in Australia than most Brits and many Australians would have you believe, especially when you take into account Aboriginal history which they reckon dates back 50,000 years. But in terms of ancient cathedrals and castles and the like, there's not much to see. Where Victoria comes into its own in terms of history is with the nineteenth-century gold boom which quickly replaced sheep farming as the newly colonised region's major source of income. And nowhere was the gold boom's impact more pronounced than in Ballarat, where it all began.

In 1851 Ballarat (or what was to become Ballarat, about 80 miles west of Melbourne) was the site of the first gold strike in the state which led to a gold rush and created a town with some incredible architecture for its size. As if wonderful architecture wasn't enough to entice the tourists, they've recreated a gold mine town called Sovereign Hill where you can pretend it's the 1850s and even look for gold yourself.

Yes, it's touristy but the horse-drawn carriage is still a fun way of getting round Sovereign Hill.

See that long shiny thing in the foreground? That's an ingot of gold that this guy has just poured. It's worth $180,000/£120,000. We weren't allowed to hold it.

Back outside there was a steam festival going on. Not sure what the connection with gold mining is but they were vaguely impressive.

Some 'locals'. They've obviously gone to a lot of effort in recreating a gold mining town - as you'd expect when you're paying $42/£26 to get in.

Gold panning. Apparently they pour $1000 worth of gold into the river each week and what you find you keep.

You can buy a small bottle in which to keep the gold you find while panning. As you can see, my little bottle is sadly empty. There was a moment when I thought I'd found quite a few small bits of gold and had collected them on my finger, ready to put into the bottle. Unfortunately, the guy helping everyone with their panning pointed out that what I actually had on my finger was glitter, gold glitter, accidentally (!) dropped in the river by school groups.

Lovely Ballarat. Built on the back of the gold boom.

More of lovely Ballarat's lovely architecture.

The Art Gallery of Ballarat is one of the best of its kind in the country. It's pretty small but has a good mix of pieces.

Just west of Ballarat's centre is Lake Wendouree. A natural lake and the town's original source of water, it was widened in 1956 for the rowing events in the Melbourne Olympics of that year.

Ballarat is also famous as the site of the Eureka Stockade. Early gold prospectors had to pay for a licence before they could start digging. The authorities argued that this was to pay for amenities, policing etc in a fast-growing community, but many of the prospectors saw it as unfair and in 1853 they began demanding an end to the licences. Pledging allegiance to the Southern Cross flag (above), their demands expanded to include votes for everyone and other democratic rights, and they created a stockade to protect themselves from the government. Worried authorities eventually sent the troops in, dozens of prospectors died, and the movement disintegrated. The stockade did inspire others though, and Australians look back on the events as the start of democracy in their country.

And that was Ballarat.

This weekend it's off to Sydney and the start of my final Aussie trip. A few days in Sydney, then overland to Melbourne via Canberra, the mountains (including Australia's highest, Mt Kosciusko), the Lakes District, and Wilson's Prom, the southernmost tip of the mainland. Hoping the weather will be better than the impressive but holiday-ruining thunderstorm we had today.

G'bye.

Cliff