Marong

Fourteen kilometres west along the Calder Highway from Bendigo, Marong enjoys the best of both worlds - comfortable access to the golden city's abundant charms and the tranquillity of a pleasant country town. And, of course, Bendigo and the surrounding district have plenty to offer the visitor... peerless colonial and Victorian architecture; the famous Central Deborah Gold Mine; historic Bendigo Pottery; the fabulous Gold Dragon Museum and its attendant examples of Chinese culture; gourmet restaurants and interesting wineries; the Castlemaine Market precinct; peaceful gardens; and the incomparable streetscapes of old gold mining towns such as Maldon, Dunolly and Inglewood. Marong is also at the centre of a regional wine trail that includes Chateau Leamon and Balgownie Estate a few kilometres to the east at Maiden Gully, the local, Sandhurst Ridge on the outskirts of town and Connor Park to the north-east. And just a short drive north-east lies Whipstick State Park where black wallaby and eastern grey kangaroos browse at dawn and dusk on the fringes of walking tracks that trail through the mallee dominated bush. Whipstick is at its brilliant best in spring when the wildflowers burst into colour. Jewel in the wildflower crown is the whirakee wattle which is grows only in the Bendigo region.