The Eureka Center in Ballarat, Australia

The birth of democracy in Australia began on the 3rd of December in 1854. What lead up to this was the discovery of gold in Ballarat in 1850, and the subsequent oppression of the diggers by the country’s administration. These men reached the breaking point that day, and at dawn began a rebellion. Thirty men died, but the result was the overthrow of tyranny. The Eureka Center stands at the site of this bloodbath.

Eureka is Greek and means I have found it. In English it usually means that what has been found is gold. Thus the name of this visitor’s center. It is a number of rooms filled with informational placards, dioramas, speakers, and pictures... all telling the story of the battle for freedom. As you move from room to room, the story unfolds very dramatically. Toward the end of the path there is a movie theatre showing a short film about the whole battle twice hourly.

Every year on December 3^rd they make it free to enter, and also hold full-dress recreations of the actual battle out behind the main building. This is a sight worth planning vacations around. The people involved in this know their stuff and have a put a lot of planning and effort into this reproduction. It is very moving.

Australian bikers hold a Eureka Rally every year here so you may want to leave your car at your hotel and take a taxi in to the center. The place really gets to hopping on that day. The streets surrounding the Eureka Center are filled with cars and bikes.

There is a small café inside also in case you get hungry from all the walking and ogling. They carry things like tea, coffee and other refreshments, along with light snacks.

The gift shop is a little disappointing. It is small and hasn’t got as many options as I would personally like, but then I am a tourist schlock freak. They do have t-shirts, caps, pencils, little jars of gold, bumper stickers, and things like that. The prices are a little on the hefty side, but not terribly so. We paid $6au for one of those tiny jars of gold. That translates to around $4.75us.

What I liked best about the Eureka Center, aside from the live battle reproduction, was seeing all of the original documents surrounding the birth of Australian democracy. While I live in Sweden now, I was born in the US and lived there for 49 years. Americans are keen on telling themselves they are the only free country in the world. They are so far from right it’s pathetic but, politics aside; it is just very cool to get a sense of the history of the countries I visit. Australia is teeming with interesting history, and the Eureka Center is one of the best places to get a feel for that.