Today we explored Sovereign Hill, despite some concern it would be akin to a theme park, it surprised us as it was more like a living museum where buildings, people and information provided an entertaining education into all aspects of daily life in the gold fields. Many of the period characters we encountered were friendly and only too obliging to explain the life, which they portrayed. An entire town, mine operation and diggings was recreated with respective characters. From banks, bakers, chemist, haberdashery, sweet store, blacksmith, foundry, church, school with students (local students learning old ways of teaching), saddlers and much more. Information was well researched and many instances the volunteers performing trades, such as black smith, livestock handler, gardener etc were preserving skills and knowledge that would otherwise have been long discarded. We had an enjoyable day of learning. If you are travelling through Ballarat this is a must visit venue, run by a non government organisation it’s a credit to all those involved and a real asset to the city.