Sovereign Hill, Ballarat

Sovereign Hill was an amazing outdoor museum experience. It helped me to better understand the history of Australia and how gold played and important part. We were lucky 🍀 with the weather. It was amazing to walk through the big museum, trying to find gold with the kids. The staff members were all dressed in traditional clothing and they were all very welcoming and kind. We very much enjoyed the tour to the big gold nugget. Yet, the kids enjoyed also to see the animals and waking through the old houses 🏡. A fantastic weekend trip from Melbourne, definitely worth it.

Although the buildings were made in the 1970s, they are all well looked after. The staff dressed up in that era and responded like they were still in the era made the experience realistic. I agreed with earlier comment that the comment from the diggers tour guide felt a bit political but she maybe doing what she was told to do and say. After reading someone else's comment about New York bakery, we went to Hope Bakery. Their pies and desserts were very nice. Their apple crumble was the best we had ever had. We decided to pay extra for the "Trapped" guides tour. We really enjoyed the experience going under ground as it made it felt realistic. The tour guide was the descendent of one of the victims and it made the tour felt extra special as he had the real connection to the story. The shops were also reasonably priced. The activities such as gold panning, bowling and candle decorating were also enjoyable. Lots of free demonstrations throughout the day, which made the whole day went by so fast. We really enjoyed our first experience at Sovereign Hill. Highly recommended for everyone.