Friday, July 13, 2007

FRIDAY'S HISTORY LESSON: BENDIGO, PART 1.






This morning we drove to Woodend Train Station to catch the V/Line Train to Bendigo. Not before we travelled up top of Mt Macedon to have a look if there was any snow. Nope, the weather was not quite cool enough. But, we were driving up so high that we were inside the white clouds. The gardens of the houses on the Mount are spectacular. Buds are beginning to appear..a sign of Spring to come.


















Woodend Station...Platform 1. The opening of the railway line linking Melbourne to Woodend took place in 1861.





Melbourne bound.









Atop the footbridge looking Bendigo bound.







Our train is approaching.












We arrive at Bendigo and walk down to take the talking tram tour. The tram runs along the main thoroughfare of Bendigo. As it goes along a narration plays for the passengers about the history of Bendigo.









Monument to those men that have fallen who served their country and came from Bendigo and its surrounds.









Rosalind Park Bendigo. The glass conservatorium you see pictured was erected in 1897. It is home to many a flower show. Namely the Chrysanthemum Association display on an annual basis. It is empty at the moment yet still lovely to view.









This is the gateway to the History of Chinese settlement in Bendigo. Back when the Chinese first came to Australia chasing the Gold Rush that had hit this region, the people got off the ships in Adelaide in South Australia and walked all the way to Bendigo. They have a remarkable place in the history of Bendigo's mining, and are still to this day a large part of the town's Culture. Beyond this entrance is the Golden Dragon Museum. It houses the famous Sun Loog Dragon, the longest imperial dragon in the World. During the Easter Fair in Bendigo, Sun Loog makes an its annual appearance. This is an image of the Bendigo Steam Tram. C. 1892. When these were in use, they used alot of water and were, for the most part, very noisy for passengers. It is said that the noise alarmed many people taking the tram, whether it was to work in the mines, to go to the station or to go to church on a Sunday. Needless to say, they were phased out.









There are up to 40 tram cars in the depot being worked on or waiting to be repaired back to their original condition. Being that it takes time and of course money, this is something that will take a good deal of years to accomplish. One of the tram cars they had there was in a very bad state. It had been found out back of an old ladie's place, thought to have been used as a storage shed or chook shed.






A picture of Sarah with her Great Grandad. He was very excited to see us all up in Bendigo.









An image of the Gas Works in Bendigo.It was built in 1859 and was in operation for over 100 years. It is the largest coal gas producing plant with horizontal retorts left in Australia. Bendigo had gas lighting as early as 1861. These gas works closed in 1973 due to the arrival of natural gas.









Due to the influx of people to this area during the peak of the Goldrush there was a problem. People had machines set up all along the Bendigo Creek, as many as 1200 at one time. These sorted the rock and dirt out and hopefully showed some glistening of gold. The by product of this, being that water was needed and a point of drainage also needed, was lurky muddy water. In order to combat this, the council of the time lined the canal with concrete, rocks and wooden sides. Which can be seen in the image above. Right now, the water level is low due to the drought. Yes, there has been some rain in this area, but not enough to fill any reservoir or this canal





Anyhow, there is much more to this tour, and much more to Bendigo..stay tuned for next week's Part 2 of Bendigo History.

17 comments:

Steph said...

Finally, a place I've actually been.
Nice post Cazzie, you're doing wonders for Vic tourism ;)

Anonymous said...

I have a question... will there be a test one day on this?? :) :) Open book please.

One day... one day I'll get there and whatever you do, don't close this blog... I'll be coming to find your Friday lessons so I know where to go and what to see.

S.

poody said...

Bendigo I like the sound of it anyways.

Anonymous said...

What a fun trip. GreatGranddad is beaming!

It never occurred to me that you guys had a gold rush as well.

Crabby said...

I'd love to take that tour. Actually I'd love to go anywhere at this point. We're kind of stuck close to home because Bob has his own business.
Sarah is soooo cute! GreatGranddad is pretty cute too. You have a nice family, Caz.

rosemary said...

Boy, if you ever decide to chenge jobs a travel agency would love to have you.....and no blood.

Anonymous said...

Nice lesson, but what I really loved was the picture of Sarah with her Great Grandad!

G-Man said...

Your Mass transit system looks great, ours sucks!!
Your Family always has lots of fun. Such a wonderful Mum you are!!

Anonymous said...

That is the concrete drain behind the town hall etc? While an irregular creek bank might have been nicer, I did not mind the concrete drain with the formal gardens and symmetrical buildings and the the little bridges.

Lucy said...

A picture of Sarah with her Great Grandad is very very nice. It makes me happy.

Deadman said...

Some forward-thinking individuals foresaw the problems of erosion during the California gold rush and outlawed the use of water cannons used for gold mining in creeks and rivers as early as the 1800's.

Must have been the predecessors of today's Leftyloon fruits and nuts that inhabit our state.

LOL

eric1313 said...

Thanks for the history lessons, Cazzie! I've learned so much about Oz for you and many others in your country. You are some of the most lively practicioners of English I've known. And I'm an English major, I know it.

Anonymous said...

Bendigo is awesome, the people and the history... It is hard to imagine the steam TRAM! that is really an odd concept.

Bendigo is annother shining example of multi culturalism, high levels of chinese imigrants coming through, bringing new skills. WE would have been lost without that experience.

Been a long time since i was out that way, i got a hot chocolate in town and burnt a few taste buds off....

captain corky said...

It's very cool that Sarah is spending time with her great grandpa.

Pat said...

As someone who has wanted to see the world since before I can even remember - I can't tell you how much I look forward to your Friday History Posts (even if I can't get to them on Fridays!). Of course, I like all your other posts too ... which all combines to make me a most frequent stalker! (kidding!) LOL! (^_^)

Cazzie!!! said...

I am being lazy right now, I have read everyone's comments here and I am wrapped you all enjoyed Bendigo just as I did. This coming Friday I will put forward the next part of our Bendigo trip. It includes a ride deep into the Earth. 61metres deep :)

Viv said...

I got married in that conservatory! A really hot day in March 2002. Bendigo is a beautiful city. Glad you enjoyed it so much.