Sovereign Hill Overnight Experience

To complement their studies of the multifaceted Victorian Gold Rush, The Year 9 Australian History class along with Miss Plummer, Ms. Windmill and Mr Ryan took a step back into our colonial past by visiting Sovereign Hill in Ballarat for an overnight experience.

Throughout the course of our stay we were kept busy by a range of educational workshops that involved a private walking tour of the facilities to get an up close and personal look at the social and cultural experiences of the time. In addition to this, we also witnessed the night ‘Aura’ sound and light show, gold pouring demonstration, two mining tours, gold panning in the creeks and more. Some students also made the most of their limited free time by going candle dipping, taking a horse and carriage ride but most importantly buying their weight’s worth in the famous raspberry drops.

Student Reflections

I most enjoyed the food, especially the naan bread we had with our butter chicken and the cooked hash browns, bacon and eggs in the morning - it was such a nice treat to have on such a cold morning. I really enjoyed going in the mines, we went down in a cart in the complete darkness not knowing how long it was going to last, or how far down we were going. Going down into the darkness added to the experience of what the miners would have gone through all those years ago, we then learnt about their tragic story which unfortunately was just one of many during that time. The night show ‘Aura’ was one of my favourite parts. We went on a bus to the back of Sovereign Hill to watch a live action movie of the events of the Gold Rush and the Eureka Rebellion and Stockade in 1854 - it was really engaging and mesmerised everyone - Holly Verlin (9 Plummer)

I most enjoyed the horse and cart ride I took with my friends during our free time. It was great being able to spend time with my mates outside of the classroom - the TV’s in the rooms were an added bonus we weren’t expecting. From the learning experiences the cave mine tour where we went underground in the dark was my favourite. I especially loved the layout of the delivery, it was through reflections on the water where we didn’t just hear about the events but got to see it reflected in the water next to us. The gold pouring was also really engaging, it’s crazy to think it was real gold and that it actually got to 1064 degrees celsius in order to melt. - Edan Benton (9 Plummer)

The most memorable parts of Sovereign Hill was what went on outside of the classroom, spending time with my friends and seeing what everyone got up to in the olden days as we explored all the corners of the place, seeing not just about the Gold Rush but how they lived, by seeing all the characters walking around and the houses with old furniture and decorations. The gold mines were interesting and helpful to help with my assessments, it was helpful to learn multiple perspectives of the Gold Rush and how it impacted different people in society differently. - Toby Hallam (9 Robinson)

The best part of Sovereign Hill was the night show ‘Aura,’ it was really cool to see what we had learnt in class played out right in front of us, it made me think deeper into what we learnt. The atmosphere of Sovereign Hill itself was magical, then to hear about the purpose of why it was built that way was interesting. The appeal came from the look of the buildings but more so from the people who were walking around in character, it made me feel like I was actually there. I enjoyed having the freedom to walk around with my friends and spend time with them outside of our education workshops and tours. Alex and I went candle dipping with Ms. Windmill, it was really fascinating to see how the colours all mixed and it was all creative and self-guided - we could do exactly what we wanted! On the first day we went shopping as soon as we could and bought souvenirs to remember our trip. Lil O’Meara (9 O’Brien)

My favourite part of staying overnight at Sovereign Hill was the night time activities. I especially liked the night Aura show - the water effects and the lights, even the sound effects and fire really brought it to life. Throughout the day I really enjoyed the gold pouring, it was made amazing by the fact that it was real gold, which they had to lock up in a safe afterwards but also because and done in the authentic way like how they would have melted gold 150 years ago. In our free time it was nice to be able to spend time wandering around with my friends and given the trust and independence from the teachers to do so, we went bowling, candle making and I also spent about $30 just on raspberry drops. - Judd Hughes (9 Robinson)

Miss. Rachael Plummer | 9 Australian History