Family Fun Day at Sovereign Hill

Nige's work was having a Family Fun Day for the family Christmas party. You could choose to go to Luna Park, a Fun park down Whittlesea (not sure of the name) or Sovereign Hill. We have been wanting to take the kids to Sovereign Hill for ages but had not gotten there. We could hardley refuse this great offer as it was to cost $30 for all of us and that included a BBQ lunch. For a family of 4 it is usually about $100 just to get in).

So we had been looking forward to it for a while and even had to change our plans for Tahlia's birthday party as we had actually forgotten the date of Sovereign Hill (got it muddled up), but the days leading up the weather forecast was not good at all. First they said 17 and showers we could handle that but 2 days before we were to go it was to be 11, with gusty winds, showers and then thunder and hail in the afternoon.

But we thought we would risk it and ever so glad we did. We were on the road at 8am as it was an hour and half drive to Ballarat. It was freezing and only about 5 degrees. Very odd for late November. So the kids were in their warm weather gear and had even packet a few pairs of spare clothing for them. They were bound to get wet or dirty.

It rain most of the way there, the drizzle and then even poured and we even did comment to each other " Are we the only idiots going today"..lol However got to Ballarat by 10am (opening time of Sovereign Hill) and there was quite a few people arriving at the same time. So some more brave souls.

Was not raining in Ballarat so we just needed our warm jackets on (was about 7 degrees) and off we went exploring. The first thing to look at was the area set up for panning for gold and the little creek that ran thru the middle of Sovereign Hill. No one was trying there luck at the moment, was too cold and early to be putting their hands in icy water.

You could smell the open fires in the little cabins and huts surrounding you and they were a welcome relief and offered a quick warm up to cold little hands. Nothing better then the smell of an open fire on a cold and wet day.


Smoke from an open fire at one of the huts.


The deserted creek where you can try your luck finding some gold.

The horse and cart was already making it's way down the main st with it's first passengers on it for their joy ride. Nathan could not wait to go on the horse and cart.

We have always wanted one of those old fashioned photos taken dressed in the clothing they wore in that era. So we went to the main st to check out what was on offer. Went up and made an appointment for a photo shoot.

While we waited we thought we would have something to eat in the bakery. The smell was too hard to resist and the amount of people walking out with all the food was just too tempted. Poor Tahlia chose this time to fall over (her 2nd time) and got gravel rash between her little finger. Poor child kept falling over.

Grabbed some delicious sweets and then headed to the indoor canteen area. Talk about timing, no sooner had we gotten in there the heavens opened and it hailed and poured for the next 10 mins while we sat there and ate our jam tarts and studied the map to see where to head after our photo shoot.

The kids enjoying the day out

The rain had stopped and sun started to come out so we thought it was safe to venture out into the open again. This time it was Nate's turn to fall over and fell right onto his bottom and left and nice muddy patch on his backside. Silly mummy had even dressed him in light coloured pants too. When will mummy learn.

The girls

The photo shoot went really well, except Nate went all shy and would not dress up. But with some talking to from Nige he agreed. He is funny as he is usually the one who is outgoing and will talk to anyone. Tahlia is the shy one but she was happy to wear the "pweety wress" and the "hat". We were dressed up as a "lady & gentleman".. haha

Our family photo

They put on a lovely BBQ lunch in one of the hotels that they use for functions. Was nice to have a warm lunch. After lunch we had some face painting and both kids agreed to have their face painted. While we were waiting we were watching the lady who was doing the face painting and she was so talented. A lot of little girls had little flowers on vines, and butterflies on their face and it was shame that they were to be washed off later on. I hope there are many photos to remember their face artwork.

Nathan wanted to be a cat, and while he was getting his face done Tahlia was laughing so much at him with this "funny stuff" on his face. Through-out the rest of the day she kept pointing and touching his face and laughing and saying "meow" to him. Was very amusing.

Tahlia had to try out the face paint and she had some pretty little flowers on her face. Looked so cute.

Their work of art.

Having a giggle and sharing some love.

Next Nathan wanted to try his luck in panning for gold. I am sure he had no idea what gold was but he thought putting a pan in the creek and filling it with water and stones sounded like a lot of fun. What more could a little boy ask for. He had a ball helping daddy look, but l am not sure who had more fun Nige or Nathan.

Trying their luck at finding the big one.

Wandered around a bit more, and thought we would try the horse and cart ride, but when we got there the queue was too long and they were only letting on 6 at a time and decided we would not wait around for the ride. So the kids had a ride in a cart on their own with a imaginary horse.

Enjoying the ride (yes Tahlia is laughing and meowing at Nathan).

Beautiful girl

Seeing he missed out on the horse and cart (was rather upset about that) we said he could colour his own candle. And he jumped at the chance of that. Here is his artwork.

Next we went to watch the Gold Pour and this is where Nate learnt about more gold and understood what it now meant to "search in the creek" so when we came out he said he wanted to go on a mine tour and then "look for more gold". I am sure both Nige and Nate could have sat there all day looking but it was getting late and the place was closing in 20mins. So we went and grabbed our photo from the studio and grabbed a Giant chocolate freckle and some licorice and headed home.

The kids had a ball, Tahlia was worn out so she was soon asleep with a chocolate smile on her face, l was worn out and had a spilting headache, Nige had a slight headache and all and l mean ALL the way home Nathan talked and talked about gold, gold and more gold. I think he enjoyed his day out.

I got home and went straight to bed and Nathan was still going on about his day. I am most certain that when he went to bed he was dreaming about gold.