‘EUREKA!!’ cried these Ascham students as they tried their luck on the goldfields of Sovereign Hill. Two of our Year 5 students, Julia and Grace, wrote this article about their wonderful trip south to Ballarat…
On Wednesday 24 August, girls in Year 5 journeyed to Ballarat by plane for an exciting three days of learning about the Gold Rush and the Eureka Stockade. As we landed in Victoria, the crew of the plane wished us a wonderful time on camp over the loudspeaker!
Our first stop was the Eureka Centre where we learnt about the Eureka rebellion. We were involved in many activities, such as exploring old artefacts, learning about some significant people from the Eureka stockade and we even saw the real Eureka flag!
As we arrived at the motel that afternoon, we were so excited to find out who was in our rooms. We had a delicious dinner and rugged up in our warmest clothes. That evening we went to the Aura Sound and Light show, which included a 3D video detailing how gold was formed in Space, an Indigenous Dreamtime story and an engaging re-enactment of the key events of the Gold Rush that led up to the Eureka Stockade.
The next day, which was the favourite of many, we went to Sovereign Hill and participated in many fun activities. We all went gold panning and some people were even lucky enough to find small specks of gold. We saw a gold pour demonstration, went into a real mine shaft, saw the Chinese mining camp and shopping. In the evening, although we were exhausted from a big day out, everyone participated joyfully in a fun trivia night.
On our final day in Ballarat, we visited the Art Gallery where we made an old-fashioned journal and saw many beautiful artworks depicting the Ballarat area before, during and after the Gold Rush. That afternoon we travelled back to Melbourne where we caught our flight back home to Sydney.
Everyone really loved this amazing once in a lifetime tour of Ballarat, and we would love to thank our teachers for making this happen. We cannot wait to learn more about the Eureka Stockade and Gold Rush and we are so excited to play the Gold Rush game!
Julia and Grace | Year 5
