Blood on the Southern Cross

Pretty impressive title, no? Too bad its not metaphorical, but what I am actually going to blog about. The light and sound show presented nightly at Sovereign Hill, that is. If you still don’t follow, the show is called Blood on the Southern Cross. With me so far? Good.  The show tells of the Eureka Rebellion. For more details on the rebellion, please feel free to consult wikipedia.

Just briefly though, the rebellion happened in the spring and early summer of 1854, that is to say October-December of said year. It started with what the Ballarat miners saw as an unjust system, firstly of having to pay for gold digging licenses, secondly for being fined and beaten by police for not having said licenses, and so on. Many other grievances were added,the most important of which was the lack of political representation and the demand for manhood suffrage.

The demand for these escalated into an armed conflict against the Crown’s soldiers, which lead to the death of many. The leaders of the Rebellion were put on trial for High Treason, but all were acquitted by a jury of all charges. The Eureka Rebellion, and their rallying point, the Flag of the Southern Cross is one of the symbols of Australian spirit.

The show was quite magnificent, and something definitely worth seeing. I will not go into much detail about it, because I do not wish to ruin it, and because it would do it no justice, whatsoever. If you are planning to visit Ballarat/Sovereign Hill,  make sure you check out the show. Oh, and get a t-shirt. I missed my chance.