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Ok, we're finally back home again, after another huge day out at Sovereign Hill and dinner with Tristan, Meegan, Jade and Jasmine (Jo's brothers family who have recently relocated to Melbourne... crazy people!!). Sorry it's late again, but it wouldn't have felt right telling family we need to leave, cause I've got loyal, dedicated readers at home waiting for the next installment... (One anyway, but no need to mention that!!). Actually, I do feel a little rejuvenated following everyones messages and comments today, so I thought I'd go all out and tell you EVERYTHING that happened today!! Was that a groan of weariness and boredom, or a gesture of excitement and anticipation? I shall assume the latter and proceed with all haste...
A cracker day when we woke up, still chilly, but bright blue sky, not a cloud to be seen and clear sunshine. Definitely the best that Victoria has offered us over the last 4 days so far. (Pouring cats and dogs again now, as I write this, but don't let that get in the way of a good story). We've worked out that in this climate, you need to have a good heater, and we don't, so we're off to the shops early, to get one. We nabbed one of those brand new Dyson heat/cool fans, they're the ducks guts apparently, and it's going now, and its great! Our next stop in the Grampians will be sooo much more comfortable.
We met Tristan, Meegan and family at Sovereign Hill at 10, and started our day by gold panning in the creek. Now, this is true, every year Sovereign Hill puts gold flakes in the creek to be found by those visitors prepared to have a go at finding it. You get to keep what you find, or sell it back to Sovereign Hill at the going rate. We had a go, and WE FOUND GOLD!! Heaps of it!! Enough that we had to go and by little sample bottles for the kids to put it in, so they'd have a souvenir!! It's actually quite addictive, and when you find some, no matter how insignificant, you want to keep looking for more... But, we had other things we wanted to do, so we took our new found riches and moved on. We next did the Red Hill Mine Tour, which is a self guided tour, through a replica mine, underground, which showed you how they operated. Quite dark, enclosed spaces, spooky sounds and noises, and very low levels of light. It was really well done, and very realistic, and had the kids quite convinced they were in danger... When we got out, we went and saw another lolly making demonstration (the girls loved it), and again, bought way too many lollies, (and again, I refused to do a jewellery making demonstration), and decided to grab an early lunch before the crowds did. Surprisingly, there was fewer people there today, (Saturday), than there was on Friday, but the school groups were missing. It wasn't hustle bustle and crowded, there was plenty of room for everyone to enjoy everything. Again, after lunch we saw the Redcoat Soldiers shoot their guns in the main street, and again, believe it or not, another little boy burst into tears from the shock! It's a very funny reaction (when it's someone else's kid), and made us all laugh again. (By 'us all', I mean 'me'). We did candle making, which was really exciting, cause we got to... make candles... and keep them... ? Ok, it doesn't sound too exciting when you just say it like that, but wait till you see the pictures, then you'll see what I mean... It's gripping stuff!! After that thrilling activity, we needed to settle the kids down a bit, so we went on a horse and carriage ride through town. What little kid, particularly girls, doesn't love a horsey ride? Tristan's two girls had a great time, and loved every minute, but my two boys were a little more stoic and reserved, they're more used to go karts and roller coasters, so a ride in an 1850's carriage pulled by 4 horses along a dirt road isn't gonna float their boat too quickly... It was fun!! The best part of the day happened when we went to see the gold smelting again. At each show, after the blacksmith has poured the superheated liquid gold into the ingot mould, they put it into a trough of water to cool it, and then get a volunteer from the audience to hold it, and feel the weight of the bar. Keep in mind, it's 3kg of pure gold worth $160,000. Well, todays volunteer was Jeremy. His hand was first up, and he was in the front row, so the guy called him out to hold the gold. Jeremy puts one hand out to take it, and the guy suggests he uses two hands, as it's quite heavy, and you wouldn't want to drop it on your foot. As soon as it's in his grasp, Jeremy pretends to make a run for the door, and steal the ingot . The look on the guys face was hilarious... He didn't know what to do, other than make a run at chasing Jeremy and a grab for his collar, until he relises Jeremy is only pretending, and the audience is all having a laugh, and that he's been taken for a ride... It was quite literally 'gold'... He goes behind his desk, opens a drawer and pulls out an old single shot pistol and stands there looking at Jeremy, daring him to try it again... I call out "Go on, shoot him!!" He has a laugh, but quickly recovers his gold bar and returns it to the safe... It was a very funny sequence of events, and demonstrated to us how quickly Jeremy is growing up and developing confidence within himself in a public arena.
It has been a wonderful day, spent in a wonderful place with wonderful people. Our nieces are growing up too quickly, and we get to spend so little time with them, that we cherish those short moments available to us, and try to get to know them and forge a bond and make some memories, (so they remember us), as quickly as possible... Going somewhere like this, doing gold panning, candle making, horsey rides and lolly making has given us the opportunity to create some beautiful, lasting memories that wouldn't be possible under normal circumstances, so that the next time we see them, when they're older and we're not sure how to communicate with them, we can pinch their cheeks and smile and say "Remember when you were this big and we went...?"
Bloody hell, that sounded like my Grandma!!
Some not so good thoughts... We have to pack up and move on tomorrow, and it's belting down rain tonight! At least we'll be warm...
- comments
Michelle Barrois Welcome Tristan to" Crazy People" State!!!!! Thank god you brought a Dyson Pete & I camped in the Grampians (this time of yr) next morning we were scraping ice off our camper lolGlad the weather cleared the last few days & with family you had GOLDEN memories forever In Those Hills :)
Fairlie Yeah... Another great read.... Pictures would be awesome at this point Pete.... Just sayin'