Ballarat, Victoria - Center of Gold Mining

West of Melbourne the land turns somewhat drier. Prickly Pear cactus grows head high in the more arid areas, and the land rolls away to a range of low mountains. Stubby wiregrass grows anywhere there is a small amount of moisture and proliferates in the lower cuts and marshes. The land is better for ranching: sheep, cattle, horses or rabbits, than it is for growing crops. In some areas, erosion has exposed the gray and white slate and limestone rocks on the surface. Stands of eucalyptus gather in groups around low ponds and gullies or otherwise grow anywhere they can find a foothold in any soil that provides a small amount of moisture.

Firs and pines grow beside eucalyptus along the higher elevations but are scarcer in the lowlands. As you approach Ballarat, the land rises in a series of rolling hills and low mountains. The soil turns to brown and is excellent for growing hay and pasture grasses.

The train station in Ballarat is a long walk from anywhere. At least that’s the impression we got after getting directions from the stationmaster to the Best Western on Barkley Avenue. The stationmaster sent us on a long detour by mapping out things on our path that weren’t there: from streets to even a McDonald’s Restaurant. I didn’t think anyone could misplace a McDonalds! Luckily, we passed a tractor dealer who steered us back on the right path, unfortunately we retraced almost half the distance we had walked before we found the actual location of McDonalds. From there it was a mere two blocks farther.

Ballarat is, and was, the center of gold production in Australia. It may also have been where my ancestor, Herman Koester,  as a 15 or 16 year old boy ended up in the 1850’s mining for gold. This is the reason we came to Ballarat: to get a flavor of the area and what it may have been like during the mid nineteenth century. To assist with that, we visited a recreated site of the 1850’s called Sovereign Hill in which the original city was reconstructed over the top of one of the early corporation gold mines in the area. During our visit, cold though it was at Sovereign Hill, (It was like a cold, rainy, Florida winter day. (40 degrees, gusty winds, and rain)

We watched a wheelwright construct a wagon wheel from the basic components of wood and metal. His is the only shop in the world that still creates wheels the way it was done in the mid nineteenth century. Following this, we took a tour into the mine, going down 100 feet below the surface. Independent miners were able to mine the quartz rock, from which they recovered gold after crushing it, from a depth of up to 300 feet. Below that they hit the area’s water table and could go no further because they had no way to pump out the water. Corporation mines invested in steam equipment capable of pumping out enough water to allow them to tunnel down to 1100 feet.

Independent miners, and corporations as well, left some of the gold bearing rock where they were digging to hold up the ceiling. The timbers and trees that were also placed in the mines were simply to warn the miners that a cave-in was coming by the loud creaks and groans they would issue as the ground was collapsing above. It didn’t always provide enough time for them to escape, but it was the best warning system they had at the time.

In the mines around Ballarat, from each ton of quartz rock brought to the surface, the miners could expect to get ½ ounce of gold. Although, at times nuggets, such as the Welcome Nugget, could weigh up to 1200 ounces, they were rare and few miners could count on finding such a windfall. A regular miner working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day for the corporation made about $5.00 a week. (Which was a high wage job for the time and men flocked to the gold fields to get one, leaving Melbourne with a labor shortage.) Their day began when they came down the elevator and reached the first level of the mine. Their 12 hour day ended at the same place. If the elevator wasn’t operating, they had to climb out, which may take over an hour. (This was considered their own time and they weren’t paid for it.)

Ballerat has about 75,000 people living there today. Their downtown area is a mixture of small shops, public buildings, hotels, and banks, with a strip of parkland in the middle of Sturt Street which is also home to a band-shell, statues, and fountains.

There is a city bus but we (Cindy would say I) decided not to use which resulted in us walking about 15 miles in the two days we were there, many times in the rain. The weather was cool to cold and rainy, most of the time we were there.

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Being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6