Visiting a mine is one of those experiences you thought would be boring, but actually ends up surprising you. In the town of Thames we visited a 150 year old gold mine that was run mostly by volunteers. The dream of finding gold was the reason this town was built and the mine was its central means of livelihood back then. They have done a good job of making this landmark a worthy trip specially if you have kids.
What is there to do? A guided tour of a 19th century tunnel, a demo of an old equipment used in the mines that was restored (a stamper battery), gold panning and a walk around the area which included a museum.
Museum
In the museum you can learn more about the history of Thames and the gold mine. The fastest way to do it is to watch the historical video shown onsite. The illustration found below shows you how deep the mine was.
I found this in the women's toilet. Shows you how far we have come when it comes to gender equality.
One of the cool stuff we did was enter the mine! This reminded me of our Cuchi Tunnel visit in Vietnam where we got yelled at for taking a lot of pictures inside. (Pinoy lang po!) The distance we walked in the mine was long enough for you to feel what it was like being a miner underground, but short enough to hold the children's attention and not get bored. It was a bit damp, there was ample light to see your steps and there were some displays of miners "working." We wore hard hats and entered single file.
To cap off the tour the stamper battery machine was turned on. They used this to sift the soil for gold. It was really noisy and we had to wear ear protection. They explained the science behind it and it was some interesting trivia about how the machine shifts the weight by tilting the surface. Gold stays on the conveyor while the other stuff like mercury and soil fall at the side.
The children also had fun panning for gold, dipping their hands in water.
This was definitely an interesting place to visit and I can recommend it to families with kids. It is a good addition for destinations to go to for children where they can learn about geology, machines and mining. The tour guides were passionate and knew their stuff. They were also good with entertaining children when giving lessons on rocks, geology and how mines worked.
Entrance Fees
Open Everyday 10AM to 4PM
Adults - $15
Children $5 (under 13)
Tour groups 20% discount
For other stuff we did in Thames check out:
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