The Ovens Park

Twenty kilometres south of Lunenburg was The Ovens Park. The seventy-three hectare site had once been known as Indian Ovens. This was probably due to a Mi’kmaq legend about a man who entered a cave in his canoe and emerged in Annapolis on the other side of Nova Scotia.

Barkerville—a historic gold rush town

The road east from Quesnel to Barkerville was deserted except for a few deer and grazing cattle. The town had been named after a miner who discovered the richest deposit of gold back in 1861, nevertheless, he died penniless. At the peak of Barkerville’s gold mining days the population swelled to 5 000—the majority of the people being Chinese. 

Other treasures of Dawson City

I toured some of the town’s old buildings, many preserved but locked. A guide led us into one of the empty hotels in immaculate condition and the bank with its high wooden counters, no longer in use, filling us with stories from the gold rush era.

The casual ambience of Dawson City

Dawson City was once a booming gold rush town. I’d visited other gold rush towns—Ballarat, Bendigo, Hill End, Barkerville, but this one oozed natural friendliness.

Airline security, or not

After reading experiences of drivers travelling the Yukon’s Demster Highway, I decided it wasn’t for me. The day before I left Inuvik, a tourist had busted his motorbike on the dirt road coming north, so I knew I’d made the right decision to fly in and out of the northern town.

A city founded on gold

North-west of Melbourne was Victoria’s Ballarat, home to over 100,000 residents. The first Europeans settled in the area in 1838, but thirteen years later after an Aborigine found a nugget of alluvial gold, Ballarat’s gold rush brought thousands of hopeful prospectors from around the world. Although the alluvial gold became scarce after several years, underground mining continued until 1918.

by the bay

On an early morning hike I past two women heading to the beach with their surfboards. Wind swept over Port Phillip Bay, but still the waves were no higher than thirty centimetres. Further ahead was Station Pier Cruise Ship Terminal where the Queen Elizabeth was docked. Cars crawled past to enter the ferry that would later sail to Devonport, a journey I’d taken in my late teens.

Melbourne’s first sea port

Since tankers couldn’t navigate the Yarra River, this maritime village was intended to be Victoria’s port and capital. Due to a shortage of fresh water, Melbourne became the state capital while Williamstown remained an important port and ship building site.

Another site to visit that’s free

Inside Melbourne’s old treasury building was a museum situated within the last free tram stop along Collins Street. For those interested in early European settlement and the gold rush era, there was room after room dedicated to this section of Victoria’s past.