Life of the Seven Dwarfs

Mid Sem break passed in a blink of an eye. How did you spend yours?

I thought my mid semester break was pretty well spent :) Had a very adventurous, fun-filled and fulfilling 4 days 3 nights trip.

Left Frankston Station with Mr.Navigator at around 8am to Southern Cross Station last Saturday and took the 9:08am train down to Ballarat and straight on to a coach to Sovereign Hill.

Sovereign Hill Gold Mine is set on a former goldming site, a place where you can just step back in time and experience Australia's goldrush days. An award wining outdoor museum recreates in fascinating detail the hustle and bustle of life back in the 1850s. Though the entrance fee is pretty pricey (Adults: $41, Concessions: $32.80 and Children <5-15>: $18.70), I thought it was worth a visit at least.

Thank GOD that the weather was pretty good that day. It wasn't too hot nor was it too cold; a chilling sunny day. 1st thing we did when we arrived at Sovereign Hill Gold Mines - Check into our stay. Stayed 1 night in the Youth Hostel Accommodation (YHA) which is in the Gold Mines itself, so it was pretty convenient.

That's where Soyanbutterfly slept :)

Dropped our bags and off we go, exploring the gold mines. I must say, this place is really well done, the effort put into this Gold Mine just leaves me speechless. *Big thumbs UP!* And the activities they have are just so informative and interesting. Mr. Navigator and I really enjoyed ourselves SO much.

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This is a picture of the town. Really gives you that olden days cowboy feeling.

I felt so under-dressed in this mining town. LOL

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You can even take a horse ride around the whole town.

Like I said earlier, the effort they put into this is just... WOAH! Everyone dressed up in their costumes, walking around entertaining visitors. How could I just let their hard work go to waste? Just had to snap some photos with them.

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This man was really entertaining, singing and playing his instruments all day long. Hope he's paid well.

In Sovereign Hill Gold Mine, I promise you, you will never be bored! There are tons of activities for you to enjoy and explore! But be sure to grab yourself a map for directions and the timing of each activity.

So after chucking our bags in our rooms, the 1st thing we did was try panning for gold at the Gold Panning stream. It was filled with tourists and visitors of course. Who would pass the chance of finding gold?

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There's even this Chinese Camp site there which shows the goldfields life as it was for Chinese miners.

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This camp site reminds me of Mulan when she entered the army camp site.

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The funny thing about the picture above is that, all the notices pasted on the Chinese building walls are all in Chinese like it's suppose to be, till you see this very notice with the word 'Advertiser' on it.

Of course, we can't say no to camwhoring :)

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The picture above showcases how medicinal shops once looked like. The pounding utensils, herbal storages and my favourite - Cooking area. (Did you spot anything that shouldn't exist back in those days?) *Hint - clockwise, 2nd picture.*

This is just a food stall back in those days.

When I saw this, I thought to myself, how blessed am I to be part of the my generation. I just can't imagine that people were actually able to sleep on that bed! And we complain having to sleep on the floor =.='

Church back in those days.

Just a short introduction to Sovereign Hill Gold Mine.

Stay tune for the next post which will be about the activities we experienced. :)