Rosalea

The Peel Rd., becomes the Sofala Rd., at Wattle Flat. Wattle Flat sits atop a plateau and gets its name from the native Silver Wattles (Acacia dealbata) In 1851 gold was discovered at Sofala just down the road on the Turon River and turned Wattle Flat and Sofala into mining towns accommodating a reported 40,000 miners. Today one can explore the Heritage Reserves and see among the trees mine pits still dangerous due to unknown depths, these reserves offer wonderful examples of native trees; shrubs and flowers with different blooms at each season: some native orchids so small a blink and the're missed. The plateau was mostly stripped of timber to build and feed steam engines to crush the rock as hand mining became too troublesome, although mining continued into the twentieth century, gold can still be panned or puddled but with a small gain. Historically the miners moved on or followed the gold to Hill End and Victoria's gold fields taking with them a dislike that they were being gouged by the Colonial Government, perhaps feeding later resentment of onerous conditions for the vote and representation in the Government. The quiet and peaceful nature of Wattle Flat can bely its importance historically and nowadays its conservation of native woodlands and herbaceous plants.