Everyone loves a treasure hunt. I regularly go on a ‘treasure hunt’ to find the chocolates hidden by my mother in the kitchen! Recently I played a ‘real’ treasure hunt when I visited the Old Mill in South Perth.
The Old Mill is also known as Shenton’s Mill and it was constructed in 1835 replacing the original timber-framed mill of 1833 near the Swan River. It ceased its operations in 1859. The Old Mill was restored in 1957 as a museum and is a National Trust classified site now.
I have seen the Old Mill on the roadside during my visit to Perth Zoo. I wanted to see it up close and so went there with my family. It was really interesting to see the old technology of grinding corn.
When we visited there, the volunteer at the site gave us a treasure hunt map to encourage us to find the objects of interest around the Old Mill property. We could climb inside the mill to the top floor were we could see the Swan River at a distance. There was also a cottage near the tower, transformed into a museum, displaying artifacts from the 19th century/early 20th century.
One of the objects to be found during the treasure hunt was a swan emblem. Finally, we found it on the Centenary Plaque of 1929.
After identifying all the objects on the treasure hunt sheet, we got a DIY 3D Ferry Tram that we could built ourselves. The tram is a mini replica of the real Ferry Tram that is on display in south Perth. It is among the first trams built at WAGT’s Midland Workshops in 1900’s.
It was really fun to make the DIY tram with my sister and also visit the Old Mill.