Like Castlemaine, it is a town which grew and prospered in the second half of the 19th century due to the huge amounts of gold found there. Consequently,it is impossible to visit the town without learning some of its gold mining history. In Castlemaine we made good use of the self-guided audio tours. In Ballarat, on the other hand, we spent most of a day looking round a splendid reconstruction of a goldfield.
We even panned for gold in the creek.
If you are persistent enough you can find tiny particles of gold in the silt.
A gold nugget in the gold museum
This is how the first (alluvial) gold was extracted from 1851 onwards, mostly by individuals who staked their claim to a parcel of land. As this source was gradually exhausted, in the 1860's mining became more industrialised, as rock was removed from underground and crushed, the gold then being separated out with the aid of mercury. The main gold rush in the area was over surprisingly quickly, by 1870, and finally the last mine closed in 1918. The value of the total recorded yield from the Ballarat Goldfield was $10,000,000,000, and much was unrecorded.
As new techniques became available, periodically there were revivals of the mine workings, and today gold is once more being extracted, as the price has risen to a level which makes mining it economically worthwhile again.
I have to admit that for me the best way to absorb history is through these sites which bring the period to life. Childish maybe, but it works. I managed to come through school unscathed by any elements of history, which I found excruciatingly boring.
Another excellent experience we had in this second week was a couple of days driving along the Great Ocean Road along the S coast of Victoria, in a car kindly lent to us by our hosts.
The scenery here is spectacular and we saw our one and only koala in the wild on this route.
Lots of swamp wallabies staring at us on Griffith Island too.
And cars. Of course there had to be cars. Jon's Castlemaine friend repairs and restores vintage and veteran cars for a living, from workshops on his premises so we were steeped in cars and car talk there, even riding round in an Austin Chummy for our sight-seeing.
Ballarat was also a visit to a car friend and resulted in other car inspections and a visit to another enthusiast.
So car talk, lots of outdoor sight-seeing, the company of lovely hospitable friends, seeing Chris, wildlife galore, cities and backwoods. Altogether we have both been well-catered for and the time has just flown by.
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