Life in the land down under: Wonthaggi State Coal Mine visit

Wonthaggi State Coal Mine Historic Site

Wonthaggi State Coal Mine Visitor Centre under renovation since last time I was there

My first work trip since returning to work at Parks Victoria was to the Wonthaggi State Coal Mine The State Coal Mine is in the town of Wonthaggi, 130 km south-east of Melbourne. A historic mine site managed by Parks Victoria with the help of local volunteers. I tagged along for a visit to the mine with my heritage branch colleague Catherine, as last time I was here on my way to Phillip Island I stopped for a visit but it was a cold rainy day so we didn't take a tour.

Well, it rained again this day but I still had a great personal tour from a volunteer who was amazing as he had grown up in Wonthaggi and lived in the tent city before a community was built for the miners. I felt really lucky to receive this tour while Catherine was teaching volunteers how to wrap artefacts for storage. The mine site's collection is kept on site, a best practice with regard to collections in Australia based on the principles of the Burra Charter.

The authentic mine site gives visitors the opportunity to experience the primitive conditions of black coal mining in Victoria during the 1900's. The mine remains just as it was in its working days. Tools and equipment are still in place, as if the miners have just walked away. Seams of 130 million year old coal glisten under dim lighting, while empty skips stand idle to rust in the silent tunnels.

Unfortunately I did not get to go underground due to the heavy rains and safety risk but the tour, and interpration panels and objects gave me a really good sense of what life was like underground for the boys and men that worked there and what life was like for the women who kept things running and in order above ground.

Frank - volunteer tour guide from the Friends of the State Coal Mine. He was a wonderful tour guide full of knowledge and anectdotes as he worked in the mines as a child and his father was a miner. I learned many great things about coal mining and life in Wonthaggi when it was a properous mining town and community. He told me many great stories and was a fascinating story teller.