Day 3: Ye Olde Gold Mining Town


Another bright and early start so that we could make our 1.5 hour journey up to Ballarat, to visit Sovereign Hill for the day. This town is frozen in time, set following the discovery of gold in 1851.


We started our day with 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. We had molten gold 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 $165000 (and was therefore instantly transferred to a safe after the demonstration).


From here we were off to 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.


We then tried our luck panning for gold ourselves, where Elsa, Julia and Mr Franich all found specks of gold to take home. The rest of us realised rather quickly how much hard work, and how discouraging, gold panning actually was.


We then 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 here we raced back to Main Street, to see the marching of the red coat soldiers, who whisked us local town folk into a frenzy with a four gun salute to Queen Victoria. The massive bang of the gunshots scared the life out of many of us and made for a very entertaining presentation.


Following some time in an 1850s classroom with a rather strict teacher and a lunch of old style pies, Cornish pastries and sandwiches, we were off to our other demonstrations. 


First up was candle making, where we were informed of the process involved of making candles in the 1800s and watched the rotating machinery that would repeatedly dip candle wicks. Some students elected to buy their own candles to dip and colour as souvenirs to take home.


From candles to lollies where we watched the creating of some hard candy from scratch, using entirely 1800s equipment. The hot sugary liquid was molded and flavoured (with the scent of lime quickly filling the sweet smelling room), then constantly folded to cool it, with citric acid sprinkled over. It was then passed through a roller to give it individual lolly shape and smashed into those pieces once it cooled. It was an amazing process to watch and to have explained to us. Most importantly, we then got a taste tester of the finished product!


We had free time at the end of the day to explore the town and make some purchases (the lolly shop took quite a hit) before it was time to make the 1.5 hour return trip to Melbourne.

We had dinner in the hotel, then went on another walking tour of the CBD where at long last the craving for those sugary, doughy pieces of heaven in the form of Krispy Kreme were satisfied as the kids (and teachers) were treated to a dessert donut in Federation Square. We circled back through the CBD and experienced a big city Saturday night - lots of different characters in the streets and buskers playing beautiful music on every street corner (including one dressed up as Darth Vader who played the Imperial March as we walked by). With the crisp spring air, the lights, sounds and buzzing excitement in the air, it was a gorgeous evening to be out and about.


Back to our hotel and one last burst of energy required to climb 8 floors to the rooftop deck - the spectacular views of the city skyrises surrounding us made the ascent worth it.


After a monstrous few days and some very weary bones, we were more than ready for showers and a slightly earlier night in bed. Coming up tomorrow - Werribee Zoo and Luna Park!!!!

Popular posts from this blog

Day 4 - Safaris and Wild rides

Image
  After several days of blue skies and crisp air, we were due a cold, overcast day and that day was today! After a slightly later start (half an hour more sleep - yay!), Ray drove us the 45 minutes out of town to Werribee Zoo, where we were greeted with a very brisk 11 degrees (but ‘feels like 6 degrees’) and the threat of rain.  With jackets and scarves on, and rain jackets in backpacks at the ready, we threw ourselves in with the animals. It was a quiet day at the zoo so students had a chance to see the animals up close and personal, including the newly opened Australian Trail where kangaroos, emus and other wildlife roamed free amongst the visitors. We had booked a safari tour through the plains of the zoo where we were loaded into open air safari Jeep buses and driven out amongst the giraffes, rhino and other amazing creatures.  It was incredible to get to see the animals roaming around rather than behind glass or a fence! Next up, we were glad to be
Read more

Day 5 - Skating, Giant-wheeling, Stadium-ing and Flying

Image
  It was hard to believe that our final tour day had finally arrived, but we still had one more jam packed day of activities and sight-seeing. After breakfast a group of students went for one last walk through the CBD for a Starbucks hot chocolate (and much needed to warm our hands in 6 degree but 'feels like' 3 degree weather), before we loaded the bus with our noticeably heavier bags and took off to begin the big day of our Docklands experience. Our first stop a ice skating. The O’Brien Group Icehouse Complex was built in 2010 at a cost of $16M. It features two Olympic-sized rinks, one of which has been fitted for viewing ice hockey. We arrived to see what can only be described as champions of the future, practising graceful moves on the ice (much to the disbelief of the students who were just hoping to remain upright). We assembled for a coaching lesson by professional coaches and then skills were tested on the Bradbury ice rink (named after Australia’s fi
Read more

Day 1: Melbourne, here we come!

Image
After months of counting down and planning, the big day had finally arrived. 39 super excited students and 4 almost-as-excited teachers met at Townsville airport to begin our adventure to Melbourne! After saying goodbye to mums and dads, and a quick stop via the gift stop to purchase the all-important plane snacks, we embarked on our first of two flights to Brisbane. Sadly, with a change in departure time, our ability to keep Krispy Kreme flourishing was compromised and we were straight onto our flight to Melbourne.  Upon arriving we were thrown into touring - by meeting our trusty bus driver for the next five days, Ray, and heading directly to Old Melbourne Gaol. Here the students were given personal tours of the prison cells and heard lots of historical stories of Melbourne in the 1800 to early 1900s, where the favourites were the ghost stories and tales of great escape. Somewhat morbidly, we visited the place of the infamous Ned Kelly’s execution
Read more