Ava m

My Mysterious life on the gold fields

By Ava Miorada

Hello I am hunter and this is my personal diary. I have spent my teenage and child years as an orphan never knowing who my parents where were I came from or why they left me the man that owns the orphanage told me truth, he told me my parents had wanted a boy and I had a sister that they kept I was happy he told me the truth but now I wish I never asked. Now I know about the Victorian gold rush and I don’t ever want to live on the street again.

1851 February Day 1 Its my first day hear I have my license so I will not be going to court any time soon. I think I will start mining tomorrow. I just figured out I have to share a cabin 4 people and there's only three bedrooms and no couch also there's no toilets and no blankets I hope I'm sharing a cabin with nice people. O goodness this is absolutely horrible I'm sharing a cabin with four men that are incredibly rude. I think I might buy a tent but I don’t have enough money, what else could ever go wrong.

1851 February Day 2 It is now day two on the goldfields I saw a lady that looked a bit like me walking with her husband and daughter it made me think of my mother I wonder what she would be doing with her husband and my sister I think I should start mining now I want to get enough money to pay for a new license before the next license hunt, sometimes when I walk past men they ask me were my husband is or tell me I shouldn’t be alone because its dangerous its quit offensive that know one believes I can be a miner just because I'm a girl

1851 February Day 3 Today I saw that lady again but this time she stared at me how strange this time she was only with her husband then he gave her a nudge and she turned around I over heard her husband say “look what you have done now she's suspicious” and she replied with “I know you wanted a boy but that doesn’t mean we should of abandoned her” and then he said “how do you even know its her!” the strange lady said back “a mother knows her child at first look” then she walked away stubbornly and her husband walked in the other direction I decided to follow her, then I had a small flashback I didn’t know what it meant but that lady I just saw looked familiar. Then I stopped following her.

1851 February Day 4 Almost everyone in Ballarat believes that I will never find gold and that I will go to jail during a license hunt how rude can people be I don’t understand why just because I'm a girl I cant find gold it frustrates me so much and the men I share a bark cabin with aren't helping at all, the people I share a cabin with told me that they were going to buy a tent because I was so annoying.

1851 February Day 5 I saw the strange lady's kid today she starred at me for about ten minutes and then she walked up to me and told me I looked familiar I told her she looked familiar as well there's just something about her family I don’t understand I can sense the cruelness of her father when he speaks and the kindness of her mother, I asked the girl what her name was she said my name is Annabelle then she asked me what my name was I told her I didn’t know because I was from the orphanage and she said I have a feeling your name is Alyssa I looked at her with confusion and she said “follow me I have a secret to tell you” but then her mum came and said come on Annabelle and left, what secret I wonder and then I started to mine for gold again

1851 February Day 6 oh my I have found the biggest golden nugget I went to the bank and they told me it was worth 50 shillings! Oh you should of seen my face more importantly then men around me I have a felling they will start believing that woman can find gold as well and If they don’t ill just have to prove them wrong again.