It’s been a very long time since I have been to Sovereign Hill.  I’m thinking……. primary school or early high school days, and still that seems like a life time ago.  So when the opportunity came up to visit again, I was really excited to take my daughter and husband, who BOTH, have never been before.  Sovereign Hill is roughly a 90 minute drive from Melbourne, so we had some great bonding time as a family on the drive in.  Really, we did!

For those who don’t know, “Sovereign Hill re-creates Ballarat’s first ten years after the discovery of gold in 1851 when thousands of international adventurers rushed to the Australian goldfields in search of fortune.”  Sovereign Hill is set on 25 acres of an original mining site and is a town with shops, schools, factories, hotels, gold diggings and an underground mine to explore and see what it was like back in the day.  There are working exhibits and lots of costumed characters that add to the experience.  Make sure you get your photo taken with some of them.

We got there nice and early and had a stroll around the shops in the main street, before any other visitors were around, which was lovely.

We then headed to the New York Bakery for some morning tea which consisted of coffees, milkshakes and some delicious scones, jam and cream. After consuming these delightful treats, we were ready to pan for some gold.

I think we spent a good hour or so searching and panning for gold.  The day was hot, but we were determined to find that gold. And we did, just a little bit, nothing to retire off, but enough to take home in a small bottle (bottles can be purchased at the shop for $1) and treasure forever.

We then picked up our weary bodies and headed up the stairs and over to the main street to drop in via the United States Hotel Bar for a few beverages.  They went down beautifully after all the sweating panning for that golden nugget (that we didn’t find).

We then did a tour of the town by horse and coach which my daughter absolutely loved.  She even got to touch the horses which I think just made her day.

Next on the to-do list was a game of bowling.  We set up the skittles and rolled the wooden ball down the lane and really got to understand what it would it would be like back in the day.

There is so much to see and do at Sovereign Hill, and at the moment when you buy your ticket, you get to come back the second day for FREE, so definitely take advantage of this.  Unfortunately we couldn’t do this, so were unable to see everything.

We didn’t get to experience the show “Blood on the Southern Cross”, the dramatic story of the 1854 Eureka Uprising as it is currently be revamped, but we will definitely go back and see it soon.

At the end of the day, it was almost closing time and after battling the heat all day, it was definitely time to head to our room at the Comfort Inn which is located on the Sovereign Hill site.  To read all about it, click HERE.  Our day was done as gold diggers, but the day will live on in our memories.

Hot Tips

*Get their early as there is so much to see and do.

*Wear comfortable shoes.

*Bring bottled water with you when it’s hot.

*Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen

*Take advantage of the two day pass to see everything.

*Take a change of clothes, as it’s very dusty.

*If you’re staying for two days, stay at the Comfort Inn, located conveniently onsite.

Congratulations to Sovereign Hill for being named Australia’s Major Tourist Attraction at the 2015 Qantas Australia National Tourism Awards.

Also a big Congratulations to Sovereign Hill for also winning the RACV People’s Choice for Favourite Regional Attraction Experience and the Victoria’s Major Tourist Attraction at the 2015 RACV Victorian Tourism Awards.

For more information, please visit:

Sovereign Hill

Bradshaw Street, Ballarat, VIC, 3350

Phone: 03 5337 1199

Website: www.sovereignhill.com.au

Facebook: www.facebook.com/sovereignhill

Twitter: www.twitter.com/Sovereignhill

I would like to thank Sovereign Hill for hosting our visit and stay and as always I would never endorse or recommend a service or product that I didn’t honestly enjoy!