To get from the Murray River region to the city of Melbourne, we had to drive through what is known as the "goldfields" region of Victoria. Australia had a gold rush period at about the same time as California, and this area of the country is dotted with gold mines, with more than a few still in operation. With less than two days to spend in the goldfields region of Victoria, we chose two sites to visit: Bendigo, which offered a stand-alone tour of a working mine, and Ballarat, which boasted a living history museum about the gold rush period.
Monday the 21st of February we woke up in the town of Bendigo, a small town atop a large mine system. We had to wake up early so that we could make it to the Central Deborah Mine in time for the first tour of the day, then get on the road and make it to Ballarat with enough of a full day left. The Deborah Mine in Bendigo is actually a huge network of mines, and it was one of the most productive goldfields in Australia at the height of its prime. The Central Deborah Mine was closed as an operating mine in 1954 but reopened as a tourist attraction, including open facilities above ground, a gift shop and exhibits, and a guided tour of the top level of the mine shaft below.
So, we showed up on time for the tour, donned our sexy battery packs and mining helmets (with headlamps) and set off on an hour-long tour that barely scratched the surface of the Central Deborah Mine, let alone the entire Deborah Mine system. 
We learned how to "read" the angles in the layers of rock to locate the "reefs" of gold, how to distinguish real gold in the rock from fool's gold (real gold is dull, while pyrite sparkles), and we even got to see some (right).
We got to see quite a bit of old mining equipment, such as the classic mining carts, but we also learned about the 
the positioning of explosives and how and when the shaft walls were reinforced (cart and reinforced walls pictured near right). Chad even to use one of the hydraulic drills, complete with hearing protection... and that was the quiet one!
We also got to see the crib, where the miners stopped for meals and breaks. There was a larger one later on during the tour-- the large one is now rented out for functions and parties!-- but this one was interesting for the game board on the table. Anyone with Thornton family blood in their veins should recognize it immediately... and remember, you're looking at it in a "crib"!
Above ground, we took a quick look around the extraction and purification facility and spent a little time at the exhibits. Although the Central Deborah Mine will remain in retirement, a company had recently announced plans to reopen mining operations on the Deborah goldfields with modern equipment.
As a final farewell, we climbed the stairs to the cart track that runs from the shaft tower to the processing facility. In the photo to the right, Chad is standing on a little bridge three stories above the ground, with the shaft tower behind him.
Then, with the sun not yet marking noon, it was time to get in the car again and drive the 90 minutes to Ballarat, our second gold-mining town for the day.
Although they were both gold mining towns when they were in their prime, Ballarat is quite a different experience for visitors today. The main attraction in Ballarat is Sovereign Hill, an "outdoor" or "living history" museum meant to recreate Ballarat during the first decade after gold was discovered there in 1851.
At Sovereign Hill, we wandered up the dusty main street of a reconstructed town, sharing the thoroughfare with horse-drawn carriages and shopping in small storefronts kept by employees in period dress. All the wares for sale were made traditionally, many of them on site, from old-fashioned candy to tin cookie cutters. (We bought something of each of those.)
While there, we also got to see craftsmen at work, including a wheelwright building wagon wheels (who also made toys out of spare parts like struts, see D on the rocking horse, right) and a goldsmith pouring a A$50,000 gold bar right before our eyes (left). Other highlights were the dipped candles, the working ten-pin lanes, and the hand-embroidered linens.
Sovereign Hill offered a below-ground tour of a gold mine, too, but we figured that one a day was probably enough for us. Instead, we walked through a model of an early mine, then spent some time relaxing by the running water while D tried her hand at panning for gold.
(She didn't do so well.)
After Sovereign Hill closed, we went back to our cabin, found ourselves some dinner, went for a swim and then returned once again to the museum for the 10pm showing of the "sound-and-light spectacular" Blood on the Southern Cross. It turns out that Ballarat's other claim to fame is that it is the site of the gold miners' rebellion against Britain's taxes at the Eureka Stockade. The Eureka Stockade marked the beginning of the widespread support for Australia's becoming a republic under the British crown rather than a colony, and it was during this battle that someone first designed and raised a flag with the Southern Cross on it. (This constellation, which can only be seen in the Southern hemisphere, is the primary feature of the Australian flag today.)
Blood on the Southern Cross is a kind of re-enactment of the rebellion at Eureka Stockade, performed twice a night, six nights a week, with audiences moving around the park on trams and on foot-- and, oddly enough, there were no actual people (live or otherwise) until the last five minutes of the show.
Entertaining, but positively bizarre... and if you'd like an academic analysis of it, check out the abstract for the paper D is writing about it. If not, it's been a long day, and we finally drive into Melbourne tomorrow!