Castlemaine is a former gold mining town, located between the cities of Ballarat and Bendigo and situated in a valley at the junction of three creeks. Years after prosperous gold mining days passed, Castlemaine established itself as a town with a thriving agricultural, arts and tourism industry.
We visited the Botanical Gardens to check out the autumn colours. Established in 1860 , the 25 hectare Castlemaine Botanical Gardens are one of Victoria's oldest regional botanic gardens. Reflecting the prosperity of Castlemaine during the gold rush era, the gardens feature an impressive collection of native and exotic trees, an ornamental lake called Joanna Lake, fountain, band rotunda, manicured lawns, picnic areas and a children's playground. In autumn the gardens are full of colour and a wonderful sight to take in with the reflectioins in Lake Joanna making it even more dramatic.
While in Castlemaine we also visited Newstead to see the work of a local sculpture Roger McKindley. Situated at the Loddon River Ford at Newstead, Antares Iron Art Garden is an established art and sculpture garden created by Roger McKindley. A qualified landscape gardener of many years’ experience, a stoneworker and self-taught artist and sculptor, Roger has created beautiful Art Gardens wherever he has lived over the last 20 years. Found objects of bone, stone, wood, glass and iron, are sited creatively in the space where he lives and works, to form unique and entrancing patterns and images. The whole space is a kind of installation, where visitors are free to roam and explore – finding themselves by turns entertained, beguiled, uplifted and moved. Thanks for sharing your home with us Roger we loved it!
#castlemaine,maldon&surrounds #rogermckindley
