For a lover of history Bendigo is a 'must see' destination, heartland of the Australian gold rush in the 19th century and the traditional land of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. It is wonderfully multi-cultural (in spite of planned events for this coming weekend indicating otherwise) and has one of Australia's most vibrant Chinese cultural centres, impressively documented at the Golden Dragon Museum.
Of course, as you might have guessed, it also has a couple of excellent second hand bookstores which I managed to spend a couple of hours, and a few dollars in....
As you arrive into town from the south, if you're travelling up from Melbourne, look out for Bendigo Book Mark Two at 24 High Street. It's right on your left, as you hit the CBD, on the corner, so keep your eyes peeled! It looks great from the outside...
But looks even better from the inside!!
From which I was able to find over a dozen additions to my growing collection of Penguin paperbacks! Prices are very reasonable and the range of material available is excellent! The owners are also very friendly, They even asked me to mind the shop while a delivery came to the back door!
Next I zipped through town (about three minutes...) to a bookstore I'd visited before, a few years back and that had stuck in my mind because it simply looked great. 'Book Now' at 1 Farmers Lane is owned and run by Jill and Garry Murray, lovely and friendly, as seems to be the norm with bookstore proprietors... they are situated in a former 19th century wine and spirits merchants that oozes charm....
Which also has the ever-sexy-in-a-bookshop benefit of a mezzanine floor!!!
With around 50'000 titles on offer, including a decent sized selection of Chinese titles, you're bound to find something there to take home as a souvenir of your visit to Bendigo. I picked up four additions for the BLM private library at very reasonable prices!
So if you find yourself in the heart of country Victoria, please don't judge Bendigo on what you might see on the local news over the next couple of days. Places are defined by those who choose to stay in them and become a part of the community, not those who choose to vent their anger on the streets as a vocal hate driven minority.
Go to Bendigo!
Stevie at BLM
No comments:
Post a Comment