Bendigo - Central Deborah Gold Mine

We hadn't planned any of the trip. My travelling partner was interested in the Chinese Museum, so we ended up there first. But the rest of the itinerary was picked out by flicking through brochures pilfered from the Castlemaine information booth.

Partly because it was close by the Chinese Museum and partly because it looked so cool in the brochures, we next landed at what turned out to be my favourite part of the trip: the Central Deborah Gold Mine.

Legend has it that the mine is named Deborah after the mistress of a bankrupt English lord. See here for the tale of love and tragic loss.

We took the Underground Adventure Tour - 85 metres underground. We would have gone on the deepest tour but it turned out that you have to book that one the day before.

We were all kitted out with overalls, helmets with earmuffs, rubber boots, gloves, and a headlamp.

We went down in this rickety old elevator...

... and down a series of narrow ladders...

... until 85 metres!

We plan to go again some time and book ahead for the Nine Levels of Darkness tour that goes down 225 metres under the ground.