Doors are opened at 10am and greeted by friendly staff dressed in their 1850s style outfits, handing out programs to visitors and directing where to need to go.
To get your money’s worth of Sovereign Hill, please read the program (that also has a map with it) and plan your day wisely so you will not miss out on all the fun tours and demonstrations they have on offer and of course the history that comes with it.
Once you walk through their gift shop and out into the open, it is like time has moved back and placed you into the 1850s. The first thing we did was to walk around, absorb our surroundings and take lots of photos of the place, that eventually led us next to a cabin labeled ‘Gold Mine Tours’… why not?
There are three tours to choose from, we purchased family tickets (2 adults and 2 children) for $20 to do ‘Journey Through the Labyrinth of Gold’ – it is a must do on the list. It is a fully guided tour where you board the mine tram and travel underground, like miners did back then in darkness, however it is softly lit once you have arrived at your destination.
The tour guide was thorough and knowledgeable, explained the history and the dangers miners endured during the 1850s, you also get to see the machinery they once used. ‘Red Hill Mine Tour’ was free and equally amazing. It is self-guided but you are guided by voices through speakers with their stories guiding you where to head to next, you are in for a real treat but I do not want to spoil the surprise.
There are stacks of demonstrations to see that will fill your day – some demonstrations are a once-off. We started with ‘Musket Firing’ where a man is dressed as a police, giving a brief history of their responsibilities and their ‘double-dealings’, display of their firearms as well as firing the musket – very entertaining and informative.
Do not miss out on ‘Sweet Making’ demonstration, it is worth your time. You actually get to see the confectioner making their traditional famous hardboiled lollies, using the processes into making their sweets with the equipment they once used and still using.
What blew us away and horrified us most was the secret ingredients they used to add colouring to their sweets in the 1800s – I won’t spoil it by sharing what they used, you just have to go there and find out for yourself. At the end of the demonstration, each one of us were rewarded with a warm hardboiled lolly that was made in front of us for free, in this case it was Raspberry Drops… yum.
‘Candle Making’ was an interesting demonstration to watch, it was fascinating how time consuming it is to make candles and watching the candlemaker / chandler in action. At the end of the demonstration, you have the option to purchase a candle and do your own candle dipping to take home.
‘Gold Pour’ was a magical demonstration to watch, you will see melted gold poured into a mould and minutes later, formed into a gold ingot.
But do not miss ‘Redcoat Soldiers’, this is a one-off spectacular demonstration to watch. We also squeezed in ‘Blacksmith’ demonstration, beating red hot metal and shape it into hooks, what was popular there was to purchase horseshoes at $7 each and watch your name being imprinted on the horseshoe and take it home as a unique souvenir.
Unfortunately, we could not do everything that was on our program because we did not have enough time. Had I known this, I would have purchased a two-day pass, I strongly recommend a two-day pass to give you the opportunity to see and do everything that is on offer.
And yes, there are plenty toilet facilities, food / drinks and an outstanding souvenir shop on site. Doors are closed at 5pm and 5.30pm during daylight savings.
You can also visit ‘The Gold Museum’ that is located across the road from Sovereign Hill, inclusive with your day-pass tickets.
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