John Gray, when we were in Ballarat in early January it was quite cold! I didn't have warm woollies with me so ended up looking in the charity shops - didn't do any good as it was summer - so ended up being cold. Even the locals kept saying 'it's not usually this cold in summer'. Heely, the Eureka Stockade site is open all year round. So is Sovereign Hill, which is a replica gold town with re-enactors in period costume. Some of my family came out from Ireland to the goldfields during the 1850's too but they went to Bendigo, about 120 km north of Ballarat. However most of central Victoria was founded on gold.
Cheers
JennieG