Sovereign Hill, Ballarat – Winter Wonderlights – Christmas in July (near Melbourne)

Sovereign Hill, Ballarat – Winter Wonderlights

If there’s one thing I miss about living in Europe it’s the festive atmosphere and snow at the end of the year. Here in Australia, Christmas is just not the same. It’s nice, but it’s not really Christmas if you get what I mean. I really really miss the snow, and I also miss the Christmas markets, and roasted chestnuts and giant Christmas trees and twinkling lights… We can’t have that in Australia because Christmas happens in summer here!

So we have a funny little tradition/festival called “Christmas in July“. In Sydney there are festivities in the Blue Mountains/Katoomba area (where it can and does – only very rarely – snow) but here in Melbourne I didn’t know where to go for such an event.. Enter Sovereign Hill!

I’m always lamenting the fact that tourist attractions are constantly closing down in Sydney and NSW. When I was a kid growing up there there was a place (opened in 1975) called “Old Sydney Town” 1 hour north of Sydney near Gosford where you could go panning for gold. I never got to go before they closed down in 2003. Sovereign Hill (opened in 1970) is Victoria’s version of Old Sydney Town and it’s even bigger and better! And is still going strong 🙂

Since Hubby and I moved to Melbourne in late 2017 we’ve been taking road trips to all the little towns all around Melbourne and because of these trips I’ve learnt far more about the history of our country that I ever did in primary school (or maybe that it was so long ago I can’t remember most of the stuff I learnt hahaha)…

I was fascinated with the history of Bendigo when we visited there and now we were about to find out all about the gold rush era in Ballarat, at Sovereign Hill. You can imagine my excitement when Sovereign Hill invited hubby and I to spend a day or two at this lovely and fun place. Sovereign Hill features over 60 buildings set in a faithful recreation of what the town/area looked like in first ten years after the discovery of gold there in 1851. The buildings reminded me of Main Street, Disneyland. It is basically an open air museum and theme park in one! In calling it a theme park though, there aren’t that many rides if that’s what you’re after but I didn’t mind that one bit. There is more than enough to keep you occupied no matter your age or interests.

We stayed in the Mercure Ballarat which wasn’t far away and enabled us to arrive right when they opened. It is advisable to go straight to the Gold Mine Tour area as these tours book out fast and can only be booked onsite (and incur a separate cost). Hubby and I wandered through pretty leisurely but headed towards the mine tour area to get our tickets. We then had to wait about 20 minutes. By about 11-11.30am it was starting to get very crowded and busy so I would try to arrive before this time. There were three tours to choose from and we chose the standard one, “Labyrinth of Gold“.

This was seriously the highlight our our visit to Sovereign Hill and we actually planned to go back the next day to take one of the other tours (but ran out of time because we visited the Gold Museum instead). The child in me loved taking a real life mine cart into the depths of the mine to explore… It immediately reminded me of the old computer game, Donkey Kong Country in the Mine Cart Carnage level. It was totally exactly like that! (well, without the bananas and exploding barrels haha).

The tour guide was wonderful and knowledgeable and we learnt so many facts about the gold rush era that took place in this area, such as what hard work it was for the miners who risked their health (but it was oh so rewarding financially). I won’t give too much away, you’ll just have to take a tour for yourself and trust me, you’ll want to go back again! 🙂

It was really interesting for me to learn about the Chinese who came to Ballarat during this era in search of gold… Having grown up taking the stinky, foul-tasting concoctions of Chinese herbal medicine, it was also really interesting for me to learn that Chinese medicine was practiced in Australia as early as then (1851 onwards).

After wandering through the old buildings and getting a taste of life in Australia back in yesteryear, the sun set very quickly and soon it was time for all the twinkling lights to turn on! Time to follow “Sir Ginger“, the Gingerbread man down the Main Street of Sovereign Hill. (Yep, just like at Disneyland, the main street here is also called Main Street).

We had such a great time last year and it’s on once again this year!

All your Christmases will come at once with the return of Sovereign Hill’s Christmas in July: Winter Wonderlights, from Saturday 29 June until Sunday 21 July, 2019.

During the day you can can enjoy fun-filled pantomimes and theatre performances, join in Christmas themed arts and crafts, stock up on traditional Christmas decorations, sample the Winter Wonderlights lemon meringue drops, and try to catch the cheeky Gingerbread man, Sir Ginger. Faux snow (yes, it’s not real but it may as well be, because it’s downright freezing) will fall at regular intervals over the Victorian-style buildings and the smell of Christmas treats will fill the air as visitors are swept up in the excitement of a special European-style Christmas.

By night, listen to live music, and watch on as Sovereign Hill is transformed with an incredible new light projection show and covered in a sea of twinkling lights. More than 95,000 visitors enjoyed the three-week event in 2018, and with large crowds expected again this year Winter Wonderlight-goers are encouraged to pre-book at www.winterwonderlights.com.au to avoid missing out, with tickets on sale now.
Winter Wonderlights At A Glance:

• More than 15kms of fairy lights will add a magical touch to Sovereign Hill’s gardens,
  including a NEW light tunnel.
• Find Sir Ginger getting up to mischief on Main Street.
• Watch flames erupt from the Sovereign Hill chimney.
• Dance in the faux snow.
• Let the European street market tempt you.
• Over 25 buildings will come alive with large-scale light projections, the largest light
  projection spectacle ever staged in one site anywhere in Australia.
• The Winter Wonderlights will commence each evening as the sun sets.

Visitors coming to experience Winter Wonderlights this year can also book tickets to see Sovereign Hill’s new sound and light show Aura, which will run each evening following the Winter Wonderlights show. Set under the stars, and featuring hundreds of stunning projections to create an immersive storytelling experience, Aura is the perfect compliment to the Winter Wonderlights show.

Cost: Adults $64.00,
 Children (5-15) $34.40, Concession $51.20,

Family $175.00-195.00 and Single Family $120.00-$145.00.

Win!

Thanks to Sovereign Hill I’m giving away 2 family passes worth $157.00 each on my instagram account @chamellephoto. It’s very easy to enter. Go check it out.

Thanks to all those who entered the giveaway. The Winners were @swetakamat and @natflint77.