Bendigo 9 – 11 Dec 2005

Drove straight down to Bendigo, about 220km and got there about lunchtime. On the way, we drove through swarms of lotuses that were consuming the wheat and barley crops. The government is undertaking an aggressive spraying campaign, before they have a chance to swarm Camped at the showground and then rode around the town. Bendigo is a city of 90,000 people and has a large shopping centre in the middle of town, with many of the buildings dating from the gold rush era. It was very enjoyable walking around the town and admiring the flowers in the botanical gardens. We were lucky to see the annual parade of about 20 trams from the local museum. They made a colourful sight as they trundled along Pall Mall. We also saw the Chinese Gardens, the Bendigo Pottery Museum and the Bendigo Art Galley. The Bendigo Pottery Museum was very interesting and had many examples of their pottery over the past 120 years. We were lucky enough to find some Bendigo pottery at the large market that was held at the showground, where we were camped.