There's Cold in Them There Hills

Our last day in Melbourne the boys and I took a ninety minute train ride to Sovereign Hill, a replica of an 1850's mining town during the Australian gold rush. It was to be a cold day so we layered what we had, but we weren't prepared for how chilly it was when we disembarked the train in Ballarat, one of the coldest cities in Victoria. People were wearing hats and gloves when we got there, so we could only hope that the sun would be shining. It did peek out of the clouds a couple of times, but not for long.
We kept warm by tramping up and down the mucky roads of the quaint town We stopped by the blacksmith shop, a tinsmith's, a foundry, candle works and a wheelwright's workshop. We visited the Chinese camp and took a mine tour. We tried our hand at panning for gold, but came up empty handed. We took a ride in a stagecoach pulled by a team of horses, huddling together for warmth. It looked as if it was beginning to snow, but I think it was just very fine, misty rain. I think was enjoyed most was our hand at nine pins in an old time bowling alley. By the end of the day we were all cold and tired, and so we napped on the train ride back to Melbourne.