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At this tourist attraction you take a steam
train ride and gather some gold by panning and learn about life in the old Gold Rush days
by exploring the towns and large number of exhibits.
Settlement
Studies
This is a
living museum where students see the tools industries transportation,
culture and dwellings that supported the Nineteenth
Century gold rush town. We all gain an appreciation of the
differences in technology and life styles we enjoy today and are left to
wonder were the world will be in another short centaury. We compare this with other
old
settlements. Displays lead to interests in:- banking, administration,
school teaching, fire protection, hotels, churches, entertainment,
carpentry, milling, Household appliances, furniture, shopping, hospital, photography,
gold extraction, steam trains, hydro mechanical power, food, printing,
shipping, clothing, which all contributed to the welfare and survival of the
settlers.
Transportation Studies
Here we familiarise ourselves with Steam trains and horse drawn coaches.
We see here the services that were needed to maintain and house these once
main forms of transportation.
Other vehicles on display
include:- fire engine, tractor, traction engine.
MORE
Steam Train
Ride
We take a short ride in an old working steam train through the rainforest to
an old goldmine. On the way we see a sawmill.
Tourism
Studies
As this is a man-made attraction you gain insights into the items that
attract tourists and the services a good tourist attraction needs. When this
is a maim study
KANES
will arrange for a meeting with the museum manager to enlarge on these
aspect and answer prepared questions.
School
You can take a lesson or just visit a real 1880's school
where slates, chalk, and nibs were the
writing medium and where the cane was the feared punishment for failing to
comply.
Gold
Panning
We take a short lesson then experience panning for gold ourselves. (Gold we
find we keep)
Sluicing
We see a sluicing system that were used extensively in this area, and still
is today. guides explain the principles and processes involved. We learn to
recognise the evidence of this process in other derelict landscapes.
Hospital
View the latest medical technology of yesterday-
Iron lung, first x-ray machine, gynaecology instruments, operating theatre
and
ward.
Bank
See the office equipment, ledgers and gold scales
all to ensure there was some form of accounting for the work and the
administration. Can you see how these evolved into today's systems and
equipment. Can you imagine what banks may be like in another 100
years?
Buildings
All exhibits are displayed in genuine buildings
that were used in the golden times. They
are all maintained and set out as they were in the 1880s. Even the staff
wear period clothing as they go about their duties as they would in the old
days to enable you to gain a real feel for life in those times.
Gold mines - tunnels &
sluices
Workable displays enable you to understand the simple sciences behind
these gold extraction methods
Water powered
motors
See working examples of powerful movement
taken from rivers enabling miners and manufactures to drive various machines
for their industries.
Jail
Every town has one and no one
wants to know.
Dress
up for photo session
What better way can you learn of the fashion and clothing
from the past than to dress up with your friends and take a photo to
commemorate the event.
Iron
workshop
We learn how this important and expensive metal was prepared
for its roll in the Victorian industries
and communities.
Carpenter's
workshop
Here trees were converted into so many essentials.
The tools used are on display. Often these were largely made of wood
themselves.
Printing
workshop
Communications for their world came from here.
See the machines that prepared the news for the miners their service
providers and their families in each community
Camera shop
Only professionals had the equipment
and the chemicals to record the important events of the communities. See
them here.
Chinese dwellings
Encounter the differences between goldfield cultures.
By looking further you will discover a world of racial segregation:
different work ethics, different motivation, huge cultural and religious
variations and a chasm of mistrust between them.
Stables &
Blacksmiths shop.
See where the real transport and power came from.
Learn how the horses played such a critical roll in the success of the
remote mining settlements.
Saw mill
A visit here will let you into the secrets
management, organisation and work ethics of this demanding industry.
Mills played a vital roll in growing settlements. Milling towns thrived
around these factories and many still exist.
See more on the Milling Industries
Bar
See how technology and entertainment have changed.
Can you make a judgment on the
attraction values between modern and old-time bars?
Public Water
Well
Imagine life without taps.
The daily task was to go to the well, pump the water into your bucket and
carry it back to your house. Imagine the arguments this chore would create
in your home? Then you have to make a fire to heat the water for bathing and
laundry.
Home
appliances
You can set you tasks to hunt out items
such as a stove, a floor cleaner, a washing machine, a bread maker, a butter
maker, are there others?
Toilets
Some were just a hole in the ground and others used large cans
under the seats. All were smelly and in a shelter well away from the house.
Town administration office
Community leaders meet here to
discuss items to improve the the life of the people. Paintings,
furniture, decorations and equipment
on display help you imagine life as a community leader.
Church
The centre of religious gatherings
where people heard the word of their God
and became aware of the ways they should treat and work with others within
their communities and families.
"One favourite was the old schoolyard, where Mr G
conducted a impromptu lesson which was full of yelling, line writing and waving a cane
around. Definitely hilarious, but I’m sure that we’re all happy that they
don’t use canes any more. And nibs! The results were mostly disastrous for the
students who tried, except for L.P, who has a Calligraphy set at home. We were all
jealous."
"Yes, we all
actually found some authentic Gold! "
"We all enjoyed
locking each other up in the shackles and the stocks, and taking pictures."
Today many of the old
towns and industries have been lost - swallowed up by the forest and time.
LINK
Shantytown
New Zealand
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