By Gum, it was good!

The Ararat tourist information officer recommended the Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre and had given us two discounted adult entry vouchers.

When we presented our vouchers to the museum cashier, she used her calculator to work out the best deal for us - which happened to be the usual family rate of $28.50. Given how much we enjoyed our visit, the entry fee was an absolute bargain!

Ararat is the only Australian town to have been founded by the Chinese. We watched a short video of hardships faced by those miners during their voyage from China and their long walk from Robe in South Australia to the Victorian goldfields.

Erin, Vaughan and Nick spent a lot of time panning for their fortune - and brought home a vial with a few gold specks for their combined efforts!

While they were so engrossed, I moved off to view the courthouse videos and look at the other displays.

Nick, Vaughan and I later tried our hand at calligraphy.

Nick did his name but as Vaughan and I weren't on the name list, Vaughan wrote "ox" and I wrote Erin a "happy birthday" message. At least that's what it's meant to say! I also wrote "congratulations for getting rich" very neatly for Nick, just in case!