Life on the diggings was rough, hard, exhausting and frustrating. The license fees for being able to claim a spot on the diggings and being able to dig were more money than the value of gold that most people find in a 5.5 squared piece of land (which is how much land you are able to claim with the licence). The diggers thought that the government was being unfair, because the Australian squatters (people who settle outside the government boundaries) got to just pick a massive space of land however big they wanted and they would get that after paying £10. The diggers on the other hand they got to find a small piece of land as big as a classroom but had to pay £18.

On December 1854 was the Eureka Stockade some people say that “The Eureka Stockade is greedy men who can’t be bothered to pay a small fee for the licence” but some people think “The Eureka Stockade is innocent men who are fighting for there right to have a fair life”. The Stockade was a rebellion against the laws of the gold licences. The Stockade had men in it ready armed for a fight with the police. On Sunday, the lords day, the police knew that the diggers wouldn’t think that they would fight on lords day so they picked that day to do a surprise attack. 25 miners, 5 police and 1 woman got killed in the 15 minutes that the fight lasted.

The racism on the gold fields was also horrific. The government made a law called The White people rule. That rule meant that the white Australians could still abuse the Chinese with out getting told off.  One time, the white Australians were so mad that the Chinese diggers were finding more gold than them, that they stormed into the Chinese camp ripping the tents apart and killing some of the Chinese diggers!

At Soverign Hill which is a replica of Ballarat Victoria, I had to show resilience because it was freezing and I had to wear a 1850’s costume which felt like the wrong clothing for that weather. The thing that got me through that treacherous weather was the lovely egg and bacon breakfast, muffins for recess, and knowing you get to just walk around the whole of Soverign hill in groups of three and do some shopping.

The school program at Soverign hill was spectacular. We got to experience nearly the exact same life as the people from the real 1850’s. The girls got to sew and the boys got to draw. The girls had to clasp there hands together one on top of the other in a ying and yang pose and the boys had to clamp there hands on there wrists. It was interesting.

In class at Sovereign Hill because we were at the Wesleyan school we had to recite a saying by John Wesley and it went like this: 

Do all the good you can. 

By all the means you can. 

In all the ways you can. 

In all the places you can.

At all the times you can. 

To all the people you can. 

As long as ever you can.

It was fun and we had to emphasise all the the words in bold.

Soverign Hill is a magnificent replica of Ballarat in 1850. It has realistic costumes and fantastic architecture which fits perfectly with all the sketches from the 1850’s. Even in the shops, the staff said shillings and pounds even though you had to pay in cents and dollars. Sovereign Hill had mineshafts, schools, shops, everything and even better it looked exactly like it would in the 1850s. I think if I had to rate Soverign hill then I would rate it 8 1/2 out of 10 which is amazing for an educational school trip!