Day 7: Sovereign Hills Mine Town

 Today's adventure was a lot of fun and very interactive! While there were many that were sad about the deep sea fishing, we all agreed that this was a great replacement! It was quite a rainy and cold day today, so jackets were needed.  Some of us *cough* me *cough* didn't bring any along, so we had to keep on the move to stay warm haha 

It was a bit of a drive from Melbourne (about 2 hours one way) so we loaded up and headed out.  The road signs are different here, but definitely self-explanatory. For instance, we have deer crossing signs, they have Kangaroo and Koala crossing signs.  They can be quite dangerous to hit (more than just a bump and dent). They also have "Power Nap stations" where you can pull off and catch a snooze so you're not driving tired (if the sign says we need a Power Nap, then we must comply LOL)!

Sovereign Hills: this little town was a replica of the "old west" here.  The employees/actors wore period appropriate clothing and walked among the crowds, chatting with everyone and staying in character the whole time.  My theater loving kids were in heaven LOL They had marches of the military through the streets as well, so you could see how that might look. 

They had old store fronts and shops where you could go in and look at trinkets from the time periods and even purchase replicas to take home.  They had old games and toys from the era - a peg with a cup on top with a string and ball attached where you have to try and catch the ball in the cup, Chinese checkers peg boards, marbles, jump ropes, etc. There were leather working shops, and candy shops, and so many fun things to look at! 

This scale was broken so you could choose what weight you wanted it to show - my kids had fun with that one LOL

They had presentations of what. life was like in the "old west" times, and what the immigrations were like back then.  The Asian culture dates back to this time frame, when many would come here to help mine for gold, but were unfairly taxed just for being Chinese (there are records of this, and its just sad to realize this is part of history...we live and learn). 

They had a stream in the middle of the town where you could pan for gold - they let you keep what you find.  Chris took some of the kids over there toward the end of the day and they struck it rich!  

The rest of us went back up by the shops to the theater and saw a hilarious magic show, and then a couple of our crew rode the carriage ride around the town. We also had lunch here and there was a HUGE interactive playground the kids could run around in.  There was a life size chess game (we didn't get a picture of that one, sorry), sculptures the kids could climb on and play around, and a pond to run around. 

This was such a fun and interactive trip that I'm glad we were able to go on, and made the disappointment of the cancelled deep sea fishing trip ease greatly!