Ararat

Revisit the gold rush in Ararat, an attractive old gold mining town and the only one in Australia to be founded by Chinese.

Discover the region's culture and history
Check out the Gum San Chinese Heritage Museum for an insight into the lives of Chinese immigrants to Victoria during the gold rush. For a chilling experience, tred the halls of J Ward, an imposing bluestone jail that was home to Victoria's criminally insane from 1859 to 1991. Or for something a little more on the creative side, stop by the Ararat Regional Art Gallery, which houses one of two major contemporary fibre and textile art collections in regional Australia.