Ballarat, Victoria...

I've written about our visit to Bendigo, but we also spent 2 nights in Ballarat, another old gold mining town. Ballarat was the scene of a big rebellion by the gold miners against the government and its mining licence fees. This event took place in 1854 and the miners had erected a 'fortress' out of bits and pieces known as the Eureka Stockade, from behind which they fought off the government's troopers. Sadly the miners were defeated but this event is part of Australia's proud history and has been referred to as the start of Democracy in this country and has even been described as the beginning of an Australian Identity. 

The last time DH and I were in Ballarat, a large new building (M.A.D.E.) was being erected on the site of the rebellion. That was in 2012, and that building is now well and truly completed. The letters in M.A.D.E. stand for Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka. 

Before we walked through the Museum, we met up with a fellow blogger Vireya, for a coffee and a catch up. And I didn't get a photo of Vireya 🙄! 

It was too dark in the museum to take photos and flash photography wasn't allowed. I loved the various exhibits and learned a lot about this part of Australian history. There were large touch screens which made learning fun and very informative. Visitors could learn about the social and economic conditions of the time and the effects on the population of high levels of immigrants. I hadn't known that there were quite a few women on the goldfields and lots of children. I always imagined it was just men roughing it in the terrible conditions. Another fact I had never considered was that many of the Indigenous people became miners too. 

There was also a display of gold jewellery from the1800s...there was so much and it was very ornate and ostentatious. Apparently success and power of people were judged by a show of wealth. 😒

My absolute favourite exhibit was the Power of Words which featured famous speeches. While the speeches played, the names of techniques used in the oratory are listed and projected on the wall of the exhibit as they are used by the speaker. As you can guess, Martin Luther King Jnr's speech is one, as is Paul Keating's 'Redfern' speech and Churchill's speech to the British public to name just 3.

I spent quite a bit of time walking around the grounds looking at the artworks which were fascinating. 

The Eureka Circle...

Even the children's playground, built in the style of a fort, had some 'redcoats' ( soldiers)...

The grounds are beautiful...I enjoyed watching these ducks on the small lake...

Long view...

It was bitterly cold the morning we were there, so I didn't spend too much time wandering around the grounds...which was a pity. 

This museum is a wonderful asset to the city of Ballarat.