Daily Lankadeepa E-Paper

Sovereign Hill

AUSTRALIA

BALLARAT, Vishaka Ratnayake

I2021

One of the most memorable places my husband and

I visited while we were in Australia is Sovereign Hill.

It is an outdoor museum (a museum where exhibitions are located outdoors) and is situated in Golden Point, a suburb of Ballarat,, Victoria, Australia.Named Australia’s best major tourist attraction several times, it takes you back in time to relive Australia’s 1850’s Gold Rush.

Some of the most photographed characters are the Redcoat Soldiers, who tell the story of the Bri sh Army’s role in the 19th century Victoria. The daily parade and ring of muskets by Redcoat Soldiers aretwoof the most popular events in Sovereign Hill.

There are various things to see and doin Sovereign Hill and following are some of them.

You can wearVictorian costumes and have your picture taken at the Red Hill Photographic Rooms. You can choose to be a lady, gentleman, gypsy or bar singer. These photos are taken in black and white, sepia or vigne e.

You can ride on a horse-drawn carriage or coach around town. Children can go to school and learn how to write in nib and ink.The Ballarat Times o ce lets you have your name printed on a “Wanted” poster and show how they aligned le ers and printed back in the day. You can buy stamps and mail le ers or postcards from the Sovereign Hill post o ce.

Refreshments can be bought at the Hope Bakery which sells foods made on site in a wood re oven, New York Bakery,Charlie Napier Hotel, nited States Hotel, Sovereign Hill Caf and niversal Transit O ce. You can buy n and brass objects manufactured in the Soho Foundry at the Clark Brothers Tinsmiths.

At Ash Dawson Builders ndertakers you can view the co n making workshop and the funeral carriage. Hewe ’s Yarrowee Soap Candleworks shows you the candle making process by hand where wicks are dipped in melted para n layer a er layer and let you buy your children candles so theycan do their own candle dipping.

You can visit two gold mines in Sovereign Hill, one is a self-guided tour and the other involves going underground by a small train with a guide. You can pan for Gold. You can also visit the small co ages to have a glimpse at the villagers’ private lives. They even have a bowling alley called the Empire Bowling Saloon where everything is made of wood including the ball.

While the list is not exhaus ve, the Colonial Bank of Australasia, the re brigade, the Blacksmith,Robinson Wayne Apothecaries Hall, Clarke Brothers Grocers, Reese Benjamin Watch Clockmakers, Waterloo Store, Brown’s Confec onery Manufactory and the Chinese Camp are few other interes ng places to visit.

You don’t have to worry if you couldn’t visit all these places in one day as Sovereign Hill also provides accommoda on facili es so that you can enjoy the whole experience. Even though most of these ac vi es are targeted for children, adults will equally enjoy this unique trip back in me,and if you visit Sovereign Hill once you will surely be dreaming of revisi ng it.

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2021-11-21T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-21T08:00:00.0000000Z

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