Bendigo Part 2

This is I am afraid folks a veeeryyy!!! long post so be warned. We had some sunshine today...YAY! Bendigo has a Vintage talking Tramway and work shop tour which we opted to take a ride on this morning...

We got the opportunity to see Buildings, majestic...

The heritage Shamrock Hotel which hosted many famous Artists and guests...to the more humble..

Just look at that lace ironwork and it was quite restrained compared to others. We really enjoyed the tour and a learnt a great deal about the town. It is a real credit to all the workers and volunteers.
One of my Yoga sisters is of Chinese heritage and comes from this neck of the woods and told me about the Golden Dragon Museum in which her family is represented so I was keen to visit. This is the entrance to the towns' Chinese Precinct

Then on to the Museum.

The museum houses "Loong" the oldest surviving (5 clawed) imperial Dragon in the world today. He first appeared in 1901 to welcome the Duke & Duchess of York to Melbourne by the Victorian Chinese for the opening of the Nations first parliment. He is 29 metres long although originally was 60 metres long. His replacement "Sun Loong" is also present in the musuem. It is an amazing place documenting the Chinese contribution to the town and areas around Bendigo and I did find my friends ancestors which I can't wait to talk to her about. The second gallery is full of amazing artefacts....the silk embroidery was exquisite.

There were many pieces of beautifully carved pieces of furniture, screens, pots and the piece that blew us away was this chariot carved entirely from Serpentine Jade completewith very tall jade axes. Around the roof line hung a myriad of jade beads. The whole thing weighed 2.2 tons. Absolutely stunning!

The photo does not do it justice as flash photography is forbidden but it was the most gorgeous green (naturally) lol. We had a wonderful lunch after our visit and then ventured out into the Chinese garden and temple.

There were ornamental cherry trees just budding. It must be a picture in Spring.

The temple was beautiful and we lit Joss sticks to give thanks for our family and also my friends ancestors without whom I wouldn't have met such a sweet person.

Outside, still within the precinct there are some amazing sculptures and I just loved these two.

It has flower heads atop steel stems...this one of course reminds me of a Lotus flower...

There is a lovely park nearby. I think it is called Rosalind Park, apologies if I am wrong. We decided to walk off our delicious Lemon Chicken and Beef and Vegetable stirfry we had eaten for lunch. Although none of the plants were in bloom some did grace us with their beauty...

and this gorgeous gal...

Atop a hill in the park we discovered this amazing sculpture entiltled "Peter stares into the vast unknown" The Artist is Matt Calvert and it is made from steel and laminated toughed glass.

Being a "Peter Rabbit" fan just had to have a shot of him...this is a close up of what he is made of. Amazing!

Gary espied some sort of mining structure...We found out you could climb to the top which we did and it is known as the Poppet Head Lookout. You can see the whole surrounding area with a 360 degrees outlook. Around the bottom are mosiacs created by all different members of the community. There a large ones and lots of little ones..a couple caught my eye.

and being a 'frosty friendly' type of person couldn't resist this little fellow.

The overall effect of the mosaics is really wonderful.

On the way down the hill we found this lovely fountain.

Behind the park is a beautiful building which turned out to be a school and Gary was really struck by the fact that it was Camp Hill state school....he did his schooling at the Brisbane school of the same name...

His school however does not look this grand. As we made our way back to the car remarking how such a seemingly simple little walk had produced such lovely and interesting things and vistas we came upon a set of gates with this plaque...

So being a "good Mother" ( my kids may tell you differently lol) we ventured into a beautiful lush little pocket of almost tropical feeling gardens complete with a little waterfall...

It was so tranquil...

and such a sweet unexpected little discovery....a real gem. Perfect finish to a lovely day.
So folks we are two very tired but happy tourists tonight and the consensus of opinion is "Bendigo" you are a grand little old town....we love you!

Blessings Michelle xxx