After 34 years in the Antipodes, I finally got around to visiting Sovereign Hill during a recent holiday in Victoria. I guess I've become a bit skeptical over the years and wasn't expecting much at Sovereign Hill but I came away after a full day wandering around in the mid-30s heat completely amazed by what the team has achieved there. The whole heritage area is set out like an old gold mining town and virtually none of it was originally in-situ. However, having said that, the degree of adherence to historical methods and construction is quite mind-boggling. I certainly can't think of anywhere else in Australia where you can see wood-fed Cornish boilers driving winders, beam pumps, compressors and a set of Californian stamps.
http://www.sovereignhill.com.au/ 
http://www.sovereignhill.com.au/media/uploads/fin-article-tjs-alk-hc-amended.pdf 
If you're in the Melbourne area this really is a must-see.

On that note I'll close and wish all at AditNow, particularly Simon and the regular contributors, a very Merry Christmas and a safe and enjoyable New Year. 🙂

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I am afraid that I have a completely different opinion. Almost nothing is genuine, although it may have been built by traditional methods. Basically it is just there to milk the tourists, and it is not cheap. It compares most unfavourably in my opinion to the mining museum at Caphouse Colliery in the UK, which admittedly has the somewhat unfair advantage of being free. I took some Australians there and they agreed.

As for the gold panning on site, it is seeded with gold particles every few weeks. You can do real gold panning in many places, sometimes at very low cost.

All the steam machinery is genuine and it's a very rare sight to see boilers actually fired up and driving steam equipment. I quote from their web-site 'Sovereign Hill is administered by The Sovereign Hill Museums Association - a not-for-profit, community-based, cultural tourism organisation.' It cost me A$52.50 which is about 24 quid and I spent about 6 hours there, reasonable value in my book. Sure, I could pick lots of holes in it but I'm there to enjoy myself not find fault.

We all have different opinions, whatever floats your boat. Have an enjoyable Christmas.

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