I went to Ballarat for the food and struck gold

People used to go to the gold-rush town to learn about it’s rich history. Today, it’s vibrant foodie scene is telling a fresh story.

Lauren Bourke, head of collections at the Australian Centre for Gold Rush Collections in Ballarat, snaps on plastic gloves and pulls open a drawer in the back storage room. 

Carefully, she picks up a brooch crafted more than a century ago from gold discovered right here when the region drew prospectors from around the world.

We follow her through three cavernous rooms that hold the 150,000-piece collection, thrilled to have access to an expert to answer our questions. We inspect an ornate, intricately stitched doe-leather saddle made by master craftsman and royal saddler William Purdue in 1895. We peek in the windows of a working model train made by a group of apprentices from the Phoenix Foundry in Ballarat in the 1850s. Even the curtains and carriage furniture are perfect replicas. These items demonstrate the connection between rare trades and how the gold rush provided an opportunity for skilled craftspeople to break out of the English class system and progress up the social scale using trades and skills and innovation.

Also in the collection are a number of Jimmy Possum chairs, made out of discarded pieces of wood. These 19th-century pieces are significant in terms of Australian colonial design; no nails are used to support their interlocking components.

Bourke spends much of the tour discussing the ways history is preserved and artefacts interpreted, particularly the Indigenous contributions to the centre, which is part of Ballarat’s famous open-air gold rush museum, Sovereign Hill.

Today, the narrative of Ballarat’s history is more nuanced.

When I was a primary school kid on an excursion there, the history books made it seem that the area was unpopulated before the gold rush. Today, the narrative of Ballarat’s history is more nuanced. As a society, we no longer accept that museums are entitled to the works and belongings of Indigenous people from historical times. This collection is more inclusive of First Nations’ voices and honours First Nations’ history as much as it does the multicultural immigration of the gold rush era. These days, the centre is commissioning new works to respect First Nations people and their contributions. An excellent example is the exquisite emu feather belt by local artist Tammy Gilson, one of the first objects on display in the Collections tour.

Later, at the Hotel Vera, we spy an eel basket trap by Gilson, suspended from the ceiling. The hotel’s art collection is sophisticated and encompasses ancient traditional works and contemporary pieces. Porcelain works by Neville French sit on marble podiums in my bedroom and paintings by a range of Australian artists (Tonee Messiah, Ember Fairbairn, Julia Powles) grace the walls. In the Babae dining area, with the hotel’s co-owner David Cook-Doulton, we analyse a painting by Heather B Swann about the female-dominated textile industry and its enslavement of women. The luxurious, design-led hotel is an ode to Cook-Doulton’s grandmother, Vera, and to the gold rush town itself.

The luxurious, design-led hotel is an ode to Cook-Doulton’s grandmother, Vera, and to the gold rush town itself. Picture: Supplied.

I’ve discovered another compelling reason to visit this central Victorian city. The region is so rich with volcanic soil that it produces abundant excellent produce and wine. The surrounding area is bursting with cheesemakers, sheep and cattle farms, olive groves, truffières and, of course, vineyards, predominantly employing sustainable growing methods.

What impressed me most about the region is its true feeling of community. On a recent visit with a friend, every operator I spoke with recommended the next one. There’s a collective attitude that a rising tide lifts all boats in Ballarat. When we visit the Market Hotel in the industrial suburb of Delacombe for an afternoon drink, the pub’s owner encourages us to head out to Buninyong to check out the newly reopened Buninyong Hotel. There, the publican Simon Coghlan tells us to enjoy our dinner when we leave his booked-out pub dining room and head across the road to The Shared Table. Chef and owner, Dianne Ray, visits us at the table and tells us how she started the local farmers’ market before this venture and was inspired to showcase the range of amazing fresh produce the locals had to offer via her menu.

At Black Cat Truffles the feast continues with a set menu stuffed with local produce. Picture: Supplied.

I order a Bended Knee chardonnay and the waitress praises my choice; it’s made in Buninyong and the winemaker is sharing a meal with friends at the next table. When the waitress slides a plate of baked green-lipped mussels before us, we are delighted by the freshness of the locally made butter dotted on top of the crumbed shellfish. The sweet, rich lamb falls off the rib bone. The calamari is salty and flavoured with cumin, Moroccan-style. Every bite in Ballarat is a reminder of the rich volcanic soil that surrounds the city.

At Black Cat Truffles the feast continues with a set menu stuffed with local produce, at Grainery Lane we indulge in cocktails made from gin distilled in Ballarat, and at Eastern Peake Vineyard a wine tasting reveals the range of mineral flavours that a well-planted vineyard can give rise to.

At Grainery Lane we indulge in cocktails made from gin distilled in Ballarat. Picture: Supplied.

Once, visitors to Ballarat made a beeline for the museums, art galleries and Sovereign Hill to learn about the history of the gold rush. The modern flavours of Ballarat are telling a fresh story and old meets new in a brilliantly unexpected way. Dig a little deeper and you will discover that the gold you find is not in the ground, it’s in the experiences you have with those you love and whose company you enjoy.

How to get to Ballarat, Victoria

Ballarat is about an hour’s drive from Melbourne Airport. For those without a vehicle, V/Line Trains leave Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station hourly.

Where to stay in Ballarat, Victoria 

Rooms at Hotel Vera are from $329 a night.

At Eastern Peake Vineyard a wine tasting reveals the range of mineral flavours that a well-planted vineyard can give rise to. Picture: Matt Dunne/Supplied.

Travellers’ tips for visiting Ballarat, Victoria

Go behind the scenes by booking a tour at the Australian Centre for Gold Rush Collections at Sovereign Hill. Time a visit to Sovereign Hill for July 4-27 and you’ll see the historic streetscapes illuminated for the annual Winter Wonderlights festival. If you’re north of Ballarat and heading along the Sunraysia Highway, stop in for a glass of vino at Summerfield Winery.  

The writer was a guest of Visit Ballarat.

Originally published as I went to Ballarat for the food and struck gold