Our trip to Bendigo

Wednesday, the 27.01.2016 we decided spontaneously to book a hotel room in Bendigo, a city known for the gold rush and though we hit the road. The weather was great even they announced rain the next day.

The hotel was very nice and in the evening we had the pool to ourselves although there was enough space for more people. Anyway before we went swimming we enjoyed diner at the hotel restaurant. Overall I can say it is a family friendly hotel as there were a lot of families but still manageable. If you ever need recommendations for a hotel in Bendigo let me know.

The next day we decided to be tourists and discover the city, the weather wasn't great when we started but in the afternoon it was sunny and hot and very ideal for sightseeing. Though we stopped more or less in the center and did some walking. We discovered St. Kilian's Church, the oldest church in the Southern Hemisphere apparently. Further on we visited the Golden Dragon Museum, a museum which is dedicated to the history and culture of the Chinese people who immigrated to the region containing furniture, clothing and much more. Next door you'll find the Chinese Gardens and a temple. Volunteers help out in the museum and the gardens to keep it clean and in good condition.

We visited the Botanical Gardens, not as big as in Melbourne but still very nice. I discovered a tree and thought there were fruits hanging down the tree but with a closer look I realized those were bats, huge bats. In Germany they're much smaller and I thought they were sleeping in dark places like caves but it was in the middle of the day, very impressive. In the middle of the park you'll get to a highschool and a little Rainforest park which is a tribute to all the good mothers.

As we continued we had a drink in the Shamrock Hotel, a grand 19th century hotel which has been in Bendigo for more than 100 years. The Shamrock began life in 1854, as a small hotel known as The Exchange Hotel, servicing miners during the Victorian gold rush. It was restored in 1981 and Prince Charles and Diana were officially visiting the hotel in 1983. It remains one of Bendigo's most popular venue for functions and photography, particularly wedding receptions.

After refreshing ourselves we crossed the street to get some more information from the information office what else we could do as a tourist. We bought a package to do a visit to the Gold Mine and take the Talking Tram Tour. We made our way to the Deborah Gold Mine where we had to wear protection helmets and torch light on our helmet. We went down to 61 m and they explained us that the Central Deborah Gold Mine operated from 1939-1954 and during that time employed 357 male miners who successfully extracted almost one ton of gold (929 kg) from the ground, which would be worth about $46 million in today's prices. There is even a room down there where people celebrate weddings, birthdays or other functions, knowing everything around is dark only the torch light is on. The Underground Adventure Tour on Level 3 was later launched in 1998 and in 2011 Central Deborah Gold Mine became the home of Australia's deepest underground mine tour with the launch of Nine Levels of Darkness, allowing visitors access to Level 9 of the mine, 228 meters underground.

After this dark adventure we got on the Talking Tram Tour which tells you about the history and interesting places in Bendigo. We stopped at the depot to have a look at the other Trams and the ones that will be restored. Earlier at the Gold Mine shop I spotted a book about a cat named Bernie who lives in the depot between the Trams and when we were walking outside we spotted her. The Lady in the shop told us that she even has a fan club and receives postcards, crazy.

Our day ended by visiting the Sacred Heart Cathedral, a cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sandhurst and seat of the Bishop of Sandhurst. The Sacred Heart Cathedral is one of Australia's largest churches and the second tallest after St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne. Inside you'll see a wooden ceiling which I haven't seen before but it looks impressive and beautiful. The Sacred Heart Cathedral is 75 meters long and has a ceiling height of 24 meters. The main spire is 87 meters high.