5th Lap - DiggingThe Gold Digging past ( Central Victoria ) part 2

  

THE FIFTH LAP

Digging The Gold Digging Past (ii)

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Photo Album:  Digging the Gold Digging Past (ii)

A short 30Km drive after leaving Maldon, we went right into the mid-afternoon traffic of the city of Bendigo, which once, was one of the major centers during in the mid-1800s gold rush period.  

Bendigo was the richest city in the World, just about 150 years ago.  With her twin sister, Ballarat, both are surrounded by some the highest yielding gold fields in the mid-1800s gold rush era.

At one stage, 1 in 5 people were from China working these gold fields, most of them hailed from Taishan, Guangdong, which happens to be my ancestral home town, although as far as I know, none of my direct ancestors of the last 5 generations are involved.  My Great Grandfather was an engineer after learning his trade in a Scottish ship yard in Hong Kong, and we know, his father was under his care.

The other major gold field region is the Victorian Highlands, north of the Gippsland region which we passed through between the northeastern border with NSW and Melbourne. Although I had passed Bendigo umpteenth times. but never stopped to explore.  This time we must!

The post office is always a good starting point when exploring a British colonial outpost. It was always the central point ( the mile zero point ) of administration under the British system as far as I have observed around the World. And we found the Bendigo Visitor Center, where we were able to get plenty of information for local points-of-interests.  ( As an aside, the Spanish colonial mile zero point, was the Cathedral ! ) 

After picking up a sheet of suggested routes for seeing historical buildings, we went straight to a nearby gold mine, which offers underground tours, before it closes for the day.

At Deborah Central Gold Mine, a working mine between 1939 - 1954, our group was met with a guide who briefed firstly about the danger and safety issues when walking underneath etc., plus the usual dislaimers.  We then had to put on safety gears which included a hard hat with a mounted lamp on the top.

Soon we found ourselves descending 60 meters through an elevator. This depth is only just scratching the surface of the ultimate depth of this mine, which is over 400 meters.  Just for comparison, I think it was 1978 or so, I was escorted down the deepest mine in Australia, the Mount Isa Mine, to a depth of 1,300 meters through a network of elevators and rail cars.  It was hot and humid, a very harsh working condition. It was a courtesy visit organized by the mine manager before the two of us finalised the installation of our spectrometer above ground.  Central Deborah Mine at 60 meter is not much different from ground level, especially there are no work going on.

Here is the 3D map of the mine, which shows at 60 meters depth, we weren't even scratching the top level.

    This is some of the wall reinforcement rock bolts that are employed to maintain structural integrity, and they also serve as monitors of any slip or movement of the rocks.

I remember visiting a disused silver mine just outside of Silverton, near Broken Hills, there were a labyrinth of wood columns and arches which support the mine tunnels, as well as monitoring the movement by listening for any creaking sounds. That was 1800 technology.

And where is the Gold, we asked....and here we are....Just like when I visited an old Diamond mine in Namibia, don't pick anything, same here!!

These are the hole drilling machines for laying explosives......

Then the explosives are inserted......

After the ensuing blasting, the rocks are collected with rail cars for transporting to the surface for processing...

What we'd seen here, is quite a bit more modern than some of the single person mine I'd seen on the Victorian Highland gold fields, of which there were still a very small number in operation 10 years ago, gradually phased out as the leases were running out.  Even more primitive gold digging were happening in that pioneering gold rush period, each miner bought a license from the government for a square plot, a few meters big, and just use simple equipment to hand dig.

We spent half a day, walking around historic central Bendigo unplanned, marveling at the juxtaposing of historic and contemporary buildings in this small city, with a population ( Greater Bendigo ) of 126,000 (circa 2023).

 

The OLD & the contemporary...........

And the inclusive flag poles arrangement which is the prevalent practice for government buildings as a sign of respect for the First Nation ( aboriginal ) people.

 

And the local historic schools, primary, senior secondary and technical college, which are still alive and kicking strongly, in their modern forms.

The one of many places of worship.

Within a stone throw from the center of town, was another mine shaft, now offers panoramic views.

The Victorian era Post Office building.

A somewhat Euro Styled building, the old Bendigo Law Courts, which was designed by a Public Works Architect in the late 1800s.

Now comes the old gaol....presently a Performance Art Theatre.

 

Of course, the unmissable pubs...

Not very far from the center....this heritage and cultural point of interest is another long subject....to come...

.....read more

Grief:  possible parking ticket for leaving Sandi over for 4 hours in the post office parking lot.

Next:    Digging the Gold Digging Past (iii)

Previous:  Digging The Gold Digging Past (i)