Deadwood without Swearengen
Sovereign Hill in Ballarat is a recreation of a gold rush town in the 1850s. Authentic-looking structures, actors in period dress, carts drawn by those bigfoot Clydesdales clomping down the street, the smell of horse manure.
No gunfights on the street, but at 4 pm some Redcoats march to the minefields, proudly announce a victory in the Crimean War—they’ve taken Sebastopol—and fire their muskets.
I love this stuff! But I am a huge fan of HBO’s Deadwood.
They even had a dress and hat shop selling retro gear. I’d already tried on every hat in Melbourne, so I went inside and looked around. There was an old and dusty bowler, size XL that nearly fit my head! Nearly. The hat situation looks hopeless. I may have to settle for one of these.
There were dozens of schoolchildren roaming the fake town on their field trip. I was in the girls’ bathroom—with modern plumbing, thankfully—when a bunch of them came in. One of them, she must’ve been around ten, pushed open a stall door then cried, “Ewww!”
“What happened?” her classmates said, crowding round her.
“There’s a tampon thing floating in the toilet!” she screamed. “I’m going to be sick.”
Then the schoolchildren lined up to look at the artifact in the toilet and go “Ewww.” Field trip!
May 5th, 2010 at 09:52
Are you going to Bendigo? That’s another interesting town as well. Also, Daylesford… It’s the spa capital of the country. Don’t know if you’d be into all that though.
Glad you’re enjoying Victoria. Are you only visiting Melbourne? If you had a lot more time, you could go do the Great Ocean Road trip. Port Fairy is a really nice place.
The much ballyhoed laneways and graffiti art in Melbourne is okay…There’s a hat store in Collingwood which might be worth seeking. (Trilby Mo Hatters?
119A Johnston St, Collingwood VIC 3066). Fed Square might be worth a visit for you. It has the Australian Center for the Moving Image.
May 5th, 2010 at 17:58
are you by any chance dropping by sydney? i’m a fan…i want a once-in-a-lifetime autograph on all my TWISTED books! :)