This is a separate post, as promised, about Sovereign Hill. It is about the closest thing we have seen to Upper Canada Village while we have been away. For anyone who is not as interested in costumed historic villages as me, feel free to skip this one...
Sovereign Hill is a recreation of the town of Ballarat, Australia in its gold rush boom days of the 1850's and early 1860's. From what I could see of the fashions sported by the interpretors there, things were VERY similar to Canada in 1866. The back story of the village is the boom days, so they have a very impressive village. They have a full main street of shops as well as residences of varying income levels from a tent encampment (near the stream where the visitors can pan for gold) through modest homes. They don't seem to have much in the high end of homes (at least that you are allowed through), but they do have an old bank and a theatre. The village is built on a hill, and has two different gold mines that you can tour (one free with entrance, the other you pay extra for). The hill itself makes the physical appearance of the village interesting. You are constantly going up and down hill as you make your way around.
Like Upper Canada Village, they have a costume department which is theoretically responsible for authenticity. The village has full time and part time staff as well as up to 500 volunteers. The job of the costume department must be huge to keep that many people going. I was told by an interpretor that they have 4 full time people in costuming as well as another 3 or 4 "costume police". Apparently they can be sent home if they turn up with inappropriate hair (a purple streak was mentioned). I am not sure the police were out in force the day we were there because I noticed (1) one boy with a full costume except for the black converse sneakers, (2) a young man with dreadlocks and (3) a woman with hooped skirt and sunglasses (I am willing to concede the sunglasses if our costume department says so, but I have never heard they had them... I am absolutely positive that converse sneakers and dreadlocks were not common fashion items in the mid-1800's).
The whole village is run as a non-profit self funding proposition. There seems to be a real focus on money making. Every building had things for sale. They had school kits for sale in the school and souvenier horseshoes you can have your name punched onto in the blacksmith shop. The whole main street was full of stores which had victorianesque items for sale. The problem with this is that the lines between history and present become very blurred and the educational aspects of the whole venture are seriously compromised. There doesn't seem to be any real focus on presenting authenticity to the visitors and workers happily carry plastic handled screwdrivers in their costume pockets. In the wheel making building, they opened a modern fusebox which obviously ran the belts driving the various machines in front of us and stood there discussing it amongst themselves.
Most of the people in costume are working in the stores and the ones that were wandering around did not seem to talk to anyone outside of costume. In order to find out about the various trades and buildings, there was a schedule of presentations you could go to. You would have to plan a visit very carefully to find out about the different trades as some only had one or two demonstrations a day. I spoke to an interpretor about this and he said it made it easier so as an interpretor you didn't have to say the same thing a thousand times a day. I guess he has a point if you are a volunteer but it is really hard to find out about the place if you want to as a visitor. I know Heather (our 10 year old daughter) was frustrated. She wanted to take the extra gold mine tour. When we asked her why she wanted to so badly she said "at least that way someone will tell us about something".
I think they may have been able to get around the lack of oral interpretation if they put some written information up in the various buildings. Or maybe it is just us and the other visitors don't want a lot of information....
Having said all this, we did buy a two day ticket and return the next day to finish the village. We did really enjoy ourselves. It is well worth a visit if you are in the area. Some of the women are wearing really fancy clothes on the street, presumably because they represent the successful gold miner's families.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Continuing to catch up...
After the Dog on a Tuckerbox, we headed up to Goulburn, city of the Big Merino sheep. It is a really strange 3 storey high concrete merino sheep. You can climb up inside the sheep past displays about wool. It is obviously a MUST SEE for any spinner. We only bought 3 postcards and now we are arguing over who gets to send them to whom....
The next day, we headed for the Jenolan Caves. Apparently one of them, the Orient Cave, is rated as one of the top 10 caves in the world decorationwise. As I said in my last post, I am really glad we have been to the 5 cave systems we have visited in the order we have done them. We are getting quite fond of cave systems and they just seem to be getting better. If the kids are required to do projects when they get home, they are definitely going to do them on caves. I realized how much you learn about things when you hear it in 5 different places.
We actually spent the following morning back at the Jenolan Caves to do the self guided tour of one cave. It had an audioguide which really explained things we had been getting peicemeal as we visited the other cave systems.
That brings us up to date. We are going to spend the day trying to get ready to take off for Hong Kong and maybe do a bit of Sydney sightseeing.
The next day, we headed for the Jenolan Caves. Apparently one of them, the Orient Cave, is rated as one of the top 10 caves in the world decorationwise. As I said in my last post, I am really glad we have been to the 5 cave systems we have visited in the order we have done them. We are getting quite fond of cave systems and they just seem to be getting better. If the kids are required to do projects when they get home, they are definitely going to do them on caves. I realized how much you learn about things when you hear it in 5 different places.
We actually spent the following morning back at the Jenolan Caves to do the self guided tour of one cave. It had an audioguide which really explained things we had been getting peicemeal as we visited the other cave systems.
That brings us up to date. We are going to spend the day trying to get ready to take off for Hong Kong and maybe do a bit of Sydney sightseeing.
We are in Sydney...
We are in Sydney now getting ready to return the car in the morning. Unfortunately it looks like we have lived in it for a month (which we have) and I am hoping we can either (a) find a car wash or (b) get away with returning a car sorely in need of a vacuum cleaner. It has been wonderful to have our own transport around Australia. We had a bit of a scare last night when the fuel light went on in the middle of nowhere, but we managed to make it back to civilization on fumes. We were not far from Sydney at the Jenolan Caves. It has a REALLY windy road in and out. If we had actually run out of gas on that road we would have been really S.O.L. They actually close the road in one direction for two hours every day so the buses can come in. There is no way they could do it with oncoming traffic.
Catching up, for those of you who may care about what we are doing....
After Bendigo and "Australia's premier underground attraction"-- aka the Central Deborah Mine, we headed up to Echuca. It was going from the city of old trams to the city of old paddle steamers. In Echuca they have saved old paddle steamers from the 1800's and early 1900's and they run tours up and down the river on them. We went for a nice little ride. They kids got to try and steer. It was on the Murray river which is a really winding river. It must be 2-3 times as long as it would be as the crow flies because of all the twists and turns.
We camped about 6 km out of town at a free campground (from the Camp Australia book). It was really nice on the banks of the Murray river. Just as we were in the tents getting ready to go to sleep we heard an almighty crack and a branch fall to the ground. People from neighbouring campsites started wandering around with searchlights trying to see what had happened. I am really glad I didn't know then that it was only about 10meters from our tents. It was a branch that was probably about 8" across at the point where it had been attached to the trunk. It would have caused some serious damage to anyone's head it happened to fall on.....
After Echuca we headed toward the Kosciuszco National Park and the Yarrongabilly Caves. This was our fourth cave system of our trip so far. I am really glad we have done them in the order we have, because each on seems to be better than the last. We managed to camp overnight at another free campground just up the highway from the caves. It was a nice little place with a creek running through. The kids had a lot of fun collecting firewood before it went dark and had one of the campfires they have been dreaming about for ages. I am a little worried about the fire danger in this drought-ridden area, but there was a fire grate so it turned out OK. The news here is full of the lack of water issues facing this part of Australia.
The attractions of the next day included the "Marble Masterpiece" or just simply "the Masterpiece" as it is referred to by the locals of Gundegai. It is actually impressive. It is made up of more than 20,000 pieces of 20 different kinds of Australian marble by an Italian-trained craftsman. Just down the road is another attraction by the same artist called "dog on a tuckerbox". It is a really bizarre attraction. While we were there, we saw two groups taking pictures and one group in the wings with the mother combing her little girl's hair waiting for their turn.
Running out of time, more later
Catching up, for those of you who may care about what we are doing....
After Bendigo and "Australia's premier underground attraction"-- aka the Central Deborah Mine, we headed up to Echuca. It was going from the city of old trams to the city of old paddle steamers. In Echuca they have saved old paddle steamers from the 1800's and early 1900's and they run tours up and down the river on them. We went for a nice little ride. They kids got to try and steer. It was on the Murray river which is a really winding river. It must be 2-3 times as long as it would be as the crow flies because of all the twists and turns.
We camped about 6 km out of town at a free campground (from the Camp Australia book). It was really nice on the banks of the Murray river. Just as we were in the tents getting ready to go to sleep we heard an almighty crack and a branch fall to the ground. People from neighbouring campsites started wandering around with searchlights trying to see what had happened. I am really glad I didn't know then that it was only about 10meters from our tents. It was a branch that was probably about 8" across at the point where it had been attached to the trunk. It would have caused some serious damage to anyone's head it happened to fall on.....
After Echuca we headed toward the Kosciuszco National Park and the Yarrongabilly Caves. This was our fourth cave system of our trip so far. I am really glad we have done them in the order we have, because each on seems to be better than the last. We managed to camp overnight at another free campground just up the highway from the caves. It was a nice little place with a creek running through. The kids had a lot of fun collecting firewood before it went dark and had one of the campfires they have been dreaming about for ages. I am a little worried about the fire danger in this drought-ridden area, but there was a fire grate so it turned out OK. The news here is full of the lack of water issues facing this part of Australia.
The attractions of the next day included the "Marble Masterpiece" or just simply "the Masterpiece" as it is referred to by the locals of Gundegai. It is actually impressive. It is made up of more than 20,000 pieces of 20 different kinds of Australian marble by an Italian-trained craftsman. Just down the road is another attraction by the same artist called "dog on a tuckerbox". It is a really bizarre attraction. While we were there, we saw two groups taking pictures and one group in the wings with the mother combing her little girl's hair waiting for their turn.
Running out of time, more later
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Great Ocean Road and beyond
We left Melbourne almost a week ago and this is the first time we have found internet access. I must admit we haven't looked really hard...
We left Melbourne and took the Great Ocean Road which heads west along the coast. We enjoyed the drive but I must admit that we have seen A LOT of amazing coastline on this trip in other parts of Australia as well. The highlight of the trip was the 12 apostles. For those Canadians who have been to the Bay of Fundy, they are like the Hopewell Rocks except yellow instead of red and you can't walk down around them. Impressive nonetheless. After the 12 apostles, we headed north and ended up for two nights in the town of Ballarat. I will devote a separate post to Sovereign Hill, the living gold mining museum in Ballarat.
After Ballarat, we continued on the gold trail and stayed overnight in Bendigo. We went for a ride on the Talking Tram and then went down into the Central Deborah Goldmine. This day solved two previous dissapointments for Heather who had felt unjustly deprived of both a tram ride in Melbourne and a gold mine tour in Ballarat. Nice when you can solve all the world's problems for your child within the week, don't you think? Heather had the extra bonus of a little girl with whom she was as thick as thieves for the morning. It was actually hard to drag them apart when the families had to go separate ways. It is nice for her to have some social interaction with kids her own age because that is the one thing she is missing on this trip (besides her cat Domino of course). She has had two lucky encounters with her second cousin Craig on the gold coast and Sohkiak's son Yann in Melbourne. She enjoyed her time with both of those boys immensely.
I have to give up this computer now. Will fill in the rest another day.
We left Melbourne and took the Great Ocean Road which heads west along the coast. We enjoyed the drive but I must admit that we have seen A LOT of amazing coastline on this trip in other parts of Australia as well. The highlight of the trip was the 12 apostles. For those Canadians who have been to the Bay of Fundy, they are like the Hopewell Rocks except yellow instead of red and you can't walk down around them. Impressive nonetheless. After the 12 apostles, we headed north and ended up for two nights in the town of Ballarat. I will devote a separate post to Sovereign Hill, the living gold mining museum in Ballarat.
After Ballarat, we continued on the gold trail and stayed overnight in Bendigo. We went for a ride on the Talking Tram and then went down into the Central Deborah Goldmine. This day solved two previous dissapointments for Heather who had felt unjustly deprived of both a tram ride in Melbourne and a gold mine tour in Ballarat. Nice when you can solve all the world's problems for your child within the week, don't you think? Heather had the extra bonus of a little girl with whom she was as thick as thieves for the morning. It was actually hard to drag them apart when the families had to go separate ways. It is nice for her to have some social interaction with kids her own age because that is the one thing she is missing on this trip (besides her cat Domino of course). She has had two lucky encounters with her second cousin Craig on the gold coast and Sohkiak's son Yann in Melbourne. She enjoyed her time with both of those boys immensely.
I have to give up this computer now. Will fill in the rest another day.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
One in the Butt and away!
We finally got back on the tourist trail yesterday after a beautiful long weekend of doing absolutely nothing. We ventured out into Melbourne to Scienceworks--continuing on the science theme we picked up last week it seems. It was a nice science museum, albeit full of families with their vacationing children. They had an excellent display on "How to make a movie monster" (at least I was told it was excellent by the other three who went. They were so impressed they purchased the movie, which I will watch as my contribution).
We all went to another presentation on whether or not there is life elsewhere in the universe. The movie itself was a bit AMERICAN -- produced by NASA, narrated by Harrison Ford, but the theatre was impressive with its 360 degree ceiling/screen and comfy chairs which tilted right back for viewing purposes. After the movie they gave a little talk on the night sky. It is quite funny because all the constellations are upside down here. I had known about Orion because I had noticed that myself but everything else is standing on their heads as well -- Taurus, Gemini and the rest of the gang.
I am doing a bit of a happy dance right now. The doctor just called and Jacob is getting his sixth and FINAL rabies shot at noon today. He is taking one last jab in the butt for the gipper. I have learned a bit about health care around the world and the fact that for some things it is almost easier for the consumer to not have a beautiful health care system in place. In India and Thailand, you just show up (after purchasing your own rabies vaccine without a prescription at a pharmacy) at a hospital and have it injected for you (or if you have a brother in law handy who can speak the language, it can be done in the comfort of your own home or hotel room). Actually, it wasn't much more difficult for us here in Australia. We went to Sohkiak's family doctor and they ordered the vaccine from the health unit for us. It took a couple of days, but it will be done. I can only guess at the price it will be here. It will be considerably more than the $10/shot in India and $25/shot in Thailand, of that I am sure. I will be glad to have this saga finished and not have to keep track of when and where we will get the next installment. My advice -- don't let your children feed wild monkeys.
We will probably be wending our merry way toward Sydney (and Hong Kong) as of tomorrow.
We all went to another presentation on whether or not there is life elsewhere in the universe. The movie itself was a bit AMERICAN -- produced by NASA, narrated by Harrison Ford, but the theatre was impressive with its 360 degree ceiling/screen and comfy chairs which tilted right back for viewing purposes. After the movie they gave a little talk on the night sky. It is quite funny because all the constellations are upside down here. I had known about Orion because I had noticed that myself but everything else is standing on their heads as well -- Taurus, Gemini and the rest of the gang.
I am doing a bit of a happy dance right now. The doctor just called and Jacob is getting his sixth and FINAL rabies shot at noon today. He is taking one last jab in the butt for the gipper. I have learned a bit about health care around the world and the fact that for some things it is almost easier for the consumer to not have a beautiful health care system in place. In India and Thailand, you just show up (after purchasing your own rabies vaccine without a prescription at a pharmacy) at a hospital and have it injected for you (or if you have a brother in law handy who can speak the language, it can be done in the comfort of your own home or hotel room). Actually, it wasn't much more difficult for us here in Australia. We went to Sohkiak's family doctor and they ordered the vaccine from the health unit for us. It took a couple of days, but it will be done. I can only guess at the price it will be here. It will be considerably more than the $10/shot in India and $25/shot in Thailand, of that I am sure. I will be glad to have this saga finished and not have to keep track of when and where we will get the next installment. My advice -- don't let your children feed wild monkeys.
We will probably be wending our merry way toward Sydney (and Hong Kong) as of tomorrow.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
The Melbourne Vortex
We have managed to find a vortex in the southern hemisphere to be sucked into for the Easter weekend. We arrived at Sohkiak and Rachid's house in Melbourne on Good Friday at about 5 pm. We have been out briefly, once to the "bottle shop" (read liquor store) and once to the supermarket since we arrived. Other than that, it has been all about sitting around chatting, eating and doing various things on the computer. We had an Aussie barbeque last night which involved several kinds of sausages as well as lamb and kangaroo meat. We also barbequed eggplant, zucchini, giant mushrooms and onions. Needless to say, we are heating it all up again for supper tonight. It has been just what our family needed after two weeks in the car. We will probably try to force ourselves to make a foray into the city tomorrow, possibly to a museum or something....
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Heading inland, but continuing south...
It is school holidays here starting today and we have been warned about the lack of accomodation we will be experiencing. Last night we stayed alone in a free campground in a National Park. In the morning we were surrounded by kangaroos and a few different kinds of parroty birds. We went to an Information center in a small town the day before yesterday and were told about a free campground just down the road. We went and stayed there and were told about the Australian campers bible which shows every campsite, including hundreds of free ones all over Australia. We have been haunting every newsagent since trying to find a copy. We have paid nothing for accomodation two nights in a row. This is good for the pocketbook, but please, don't get too close to us (showers and laundry facilities DO NOT come free...).
We have been doing quite a lot of driving since Brisbane and not really all that much else. We did just stop off at the Parkes Radio Telescope. It is a huge (64 meter across) parabola which searches space for radio signals for astronomers from all over the world. It is a really impressive structure. We are trying to put a bit of science into the kid's diets to go along with the math and journals they are doing in the car (finally). They spent 6 happy hours at the science center in Brisbane. I am sure SOMETHING in those hours must have been on either the grade 5 or 7 science curriculum (hopefully both). Jacob also just begged us for a book about the great discoveries in science at the Radio Telescope, so maybe that will have something relevant....
We did go visit a cousin of Alan's called Kevin on the Gold Coast. We had met him in 17 years ago on our last big trip in Scotland. It was his son's birthday and Heather and Jacob went to the birthday party then we stayed for an Aussie barbeque. It was an excellent lamb and chicken affair. Heather got along with Craig (the 9 year old birthday boy) like a house on fire. I think she must be a bit trained up on that age of boys living next to John with no other playmates on the street all these years.
That's all for now
We have been doing quite a lot of driving since Brisbane and not really all that much else. We did just stop off at the Parkes Radio Telescope. It is a huge (64 meter across) parabola which searches space for radio signals for astronomers from all over the world. It is a really impressive structure. We are trying to put a bit of science into the kid's diets to go along with the math and journals they are doing in the car (finally). They spent 6 happy hours at the science center in Brisbane. I am sure SOMETHING in those hours must have been on either the grade 5 or 7 science curriculum (hopefully both). Jacob also just begged us for a book about the great discoveries in science at the Radio Telescope, so maybe that will have something relevant....
We did go visit a cousin of Alan's called Kevin on the Gold Coast. We had met him in 17 years ago on our last big trip in Scotland. It was his son's birthday and Heather and Jacob went to the birthday party then we stayed for an Aussie barbeque. It was an excellent lamb and chicken affair. Heather got along with Craig (the 9 year old birthday boy) like a house on fire. I think she must be a bit trained up on that age of boys living next to John with no other playmates on the street all these years.
That's all for now
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