Sovereign Hill - August 2000

This was the culmination of a great deal of planning and organisation undertaken by our ACSL Tony Willims (Bagherra).  It involved the organisation of the Cubs as active tickets sellers in the Great Scout Raffle and the annual Formula Bike event, where the Cubs raised money to assist in paying for the weekend away.

The pack left the Group's Scout Hall at 9:00AM on Saturday morning for the 1 ¹/₂ hour trip to Ballarat in the Victorian Gold Fields.  By 11:00AM all members of the travelling group had arrived and the Leaders had commenced room allocation in the Sovereign Hill Lodge.  The Lodge is part of the Government Compound at Sovereign Hill and is modelled on the separated Soldier/Police barracks of the 1850's.  Thankfully the accomodation is far more modern and comfortable than what the foot soldiers of the 40 Foot Regiment would have endured.

As soon as the gear was stowed away, beds made up and Cubs assembled, it was time for a quick bite of lunch and to get the weekend sixes made up and allocated to leaders.  Each of the leaders or adult members were briefed on the planned activities for the day and the times that they were to be held.  The Cubs and siblings were assigned to their individual leaders and instructions where the group was to reassemble were pasted out.  Then it was into the Diggings!

For those who are reading this that are unaware of what Sovereign Hill really entails I suggest that you have a quick look at the Sovereign Hill page.  After having read what is in store for vistors there you may be tempted to go and have some fun yourself.

The group spent the next 2 days exploring

• National School with School Head Mistress, ink wells, Copperplate scripts and straight back seats.
• The Sovereign Hill Quartz Gold Mine and tour
• The steam driven quartz crushing battery
• Running up to the top of the mine head (20 metres high)
• Watching a real molten gold pour into an ingot (fantasic!)
• Panning for (and finding!!!) your own gold
• Buying old fashioned toys
• Trying our hand at turning some pots on the potters wheel, and buying some of the finished product that was made before our eyes
• Watching the black-smith at work
• Riding in the Cobb & Co coach around the town
• Watching some excellent street/period theatre
• Playing Bagatelle and skittles (9 pins)
• Speaking to people who live the 1850's
• Lots of shopping including
  • Clothing of all types
  • Jewellery and beautiful watches
  • Jams, preserves, sweets, breads, bagels, food!
  • Gold, bronze, stainless steel, cast iron, carbon steel products
  • Pottery and ceramics
  • Toys
  • Souvenirs
  • Nick-nacks
• Having a meal in the Napier Hotal, and of course
• Watching Blood on the Southern Cross the amazing sound and light show

Every person who attended the weekend said that they had a wonderful time, many are now planning a return trip to bring the rest of their families along.

Some quotes from the Cubs...

"Blood on the Southern Cross was fantastic and panning for gold (and finding some) was great."	Alexander. (8)
"The best things were the firing of the muskets which were very loud and watching Blood on the Southern Cross"	Joshua L. (9)
"Watching them pour the melted gold, Blood on the Southern Cross and going down the mine were the best things."	Joshua B. (10)

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