Ballarat’s rich and colourful history is full of great stories about early pioneers and their quest for fortune in the 1800s Gold Rush, but if you talk to the locals, it’s the stories of the gold diggers that came and never really left that excite them the most. Apparently the Gold Rush settlers, and their successors over the next 50 years, were a bit of a motley crew; violent crime is a common theme from the stories of this era. As such, ghost sightings in Ballarat are pretty commonplace!
If this sort of paranormal activity tickles your fancy, there are a couple of guided ghost tours in Ballarat that you will enjoy. Eerie Tours, run by professional tour guide Nathaniel Buchanan, offers a great mix of history and mystery. This walking tour covers many historic points of interest and landmarks in Ballarat, with detailed descriptions of the buildings’ history and stories of their invisible inhabitants! There’s also a dinner and tour package available with a choice of dining venues. At just $200 for dinner and tour for a family of up to five people, it represents great value!
Ballarat Ghost Tours will take you behind the secluded walls of one of Ballarat’s most clandestine buildings, the Sacred Heart Convent. From 1881 until 1995, this magnificent building was home to the Sisters of Mercy convent and boarding school. After the school closed in 1995 the doors were locked but the building has recently reopened, allowing curious visitors to tour the chapel, kitchen, classroom, nuns’ quarters, grand staircases and haunting hallways by lamp light. Hosted by professional guides and psychic mediums from Paranormal Australia, the tours tell the stories of those who once lived (and may still roam!) in the sprawling estate.
You can make a great weekend of it by checking in at WorldMark South Pacific Club by Wyndham Ballarat and then participating in one, or both, of these spooky tours. WorldMark Resort Ballarat offers a choice of studio or studio deluxe rooms and standard or deluxe apartments. Resort facilities include gym, tennis court, heated indoor swimming pool and bike hire.
To find out more about Eerie Tours or Ballarat Ghost Tours, visit www.eerietours.com.au or www.ballaratghosts.com.au
The Wyndham Wrap 