Bendigo is a major regional city in the State of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and is approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) north west of the state capital Melbourne. Bendigo is a vibrant contemporary regional centre, boasting beautiful streets created from one of the world's greatest gold rushes. Every visit will reveal new surprises and experiences. With the gusto of a gold-seeking miner, the people who live here are creating fascinating products, services and stories that add to the richness of the region's boom time past. It is an ever-changing feast to be explored. Nearby Heathcote has not missed the beat with artisans of food, wine and art flocking to be part of the action. Wide streets lined by opulent buildings are now interwoven with intriguing laneways and arcades that are home to a new breed of innovators who again delve deep to create a vibrant energy across the city. Modern day Bendigo has sublime food, wine and shopping experiences against a stunning heritage backdrop. Bendigo's action-packed events calendar is a mix of long-standing traditions, food and wine events, car rallies, sporting excellence and a great sense of fun. Since the gold boom times of 1871, the local Chinese community have come together to add Chinese dragons, regalia and startling crackers to Australia's longest continuous festival -- the Bendigo Easter Festival. A magnificent gold rush put Bendigo on the map more than 150 years ago. Tents came first and then with the wealth from the gold came elaborately designed homes, public buildings and monuments that are still used today. Once people came from around the world to prospect for gold and forge a new beginning. Today a similar exuberance has again put Bendigo on the map as an innovative city. Recent success stories include the expansion of Bendigo Bank, Jimmy Possum and Fernwood Fitness across Australia. An exciting energy has reshaped the towns and villages of Central Victoria. Every corner you turn in Bendigo reveals another living treasure; another vivid reminder of the city's glorious and heady past -- whether it is the outrageous opulence of a boomtown hotel, or the simple piety of a wooden church. The best 19th century cities combine grant scale and fine detail and there are few better than Bendigo. Many of Victoria's cities and towns owe their origins to the gold rushes of the 19th century and Bendigo is one of them. Gold was no temporary lure to this city located right in the centre of Victoria -- its attractions were more than just skin deep. In fact there was very little gold on the surface at all. Most of it was far underground in rich quartz reefs stretching out over 3,600 hectares around the city. The gold rush began in 1851 when the first diggers rushed to the Bendigo fields and continued until 1954 when the last winch on the city's last gold mine raised its last bucket of ore. In recent years mining for gold has re-commenced deep under Bendigo and continues today. During the city's first golden century, Bendigo became a melting pot with its own unique ethnic character -- the Irish at St Killians, the Cornish at Long Gully and the Germans at Ironbark Gully. These groups were just some of the many communities that helped to build Bendigo. German architects W C Vahland and Robert Getzschmann, along with Bendigo born William Beebe, were responsible for many of the city's finest buildings. One of the most enduring and distinctive contributions was made by the Chinese. Bendigo's Chinese heritage is well represented to this day, with the Historic Joss House and the Golden Dragon Museum and Classical Chinese Gardens. The influence of the gold rush can be felt in the very fabric of the city. Bendigo owes its broad and regular boulevards to the ambitious town plan prepared in 1854. Other streets follow the paths beaten by fossickers as they followed gullies and leads in search of gold. The city's ostentatious public buildings and gardens attest to the flamboyance of the gold rush era. So do the richly decorated privates homes. http://www.bendigotourism.com Unravel Travel TV http://www.unraveltravel.eu Unravel Travel TV on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/Unra... Unravel Travel TV Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Unra... Unravel Travel TV Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/un... Unravel Travel TV Website http://www.unraveltravel.eu Unravel Travel TV Snapchat traveltv #UnravelTravelTV #UnravelTravel

• published: 10 Aug 2013
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