June marks Central Deborah Gold Mine's 25th year of running underground mine tours in Bendigo. In celebration of this milestone, an exciting new tour was today launched that promises to take the adventure tourism market in Australia by storm.
The new tour – called Nine Levels of Darkness – drops participants 228m below the surface and will officially make Bendigo home to the deepest underground mine tour in Australia.
Bendigo's Mayor, Cr Rod Fyffe, officially announced the opening of the tour at a launch held underground at Central Deborah Gold Mine.
"In recent years Bendigo has significantly improved its profile as a tourism destination and the introduction of new international quality products such as Nine Levels of Darkness will significantly enhance the offering for our visitors. This builds on the strong economic benefits that tourism brings to our region" said Cr Fyffe.
Aimed at the adventure seeker market, this physically demanding tour is guaranteed to take participants out of their comfort zones as they drop 228 metres underground in the original miner's cage to try their hand at being a gold miner from the 1940s. Participants will kit up in a full miner's outfit and will be put to the test by their Shift Boss as they experience all different aspects of olden day mining.
"The experience is guaranteed to be deep, dark and dirty, but the main emphasis is of course on having fun and doing something that you simply can't do anywhere else," said Karl Penrose, Central Deborah Gold Mine Manager.
"It is fantastic to be celebrating 25 years of underground tours at Central Deborah Gold Mine and the launch of this tour reinforces our mission statement, which is to make Bendigo's history come to life," said Lloyd Cameron, Chairman of The Bendigo Trust which oversees management of the mine.
"Central Deborah is nationally recognised as a significant heritage site and we believe that the only way to keep the story of gold in Australia alive is by offering authentic experiences which serve to remind this generation of the role that gold mining played in the building of this nation," Lloyd continued.
Not only is Central Deborah significant at a local level, operating during the gold rush from 1939-1954, but it also captures an important facet of our national identity given that much of Australia's development is inextricably linked to our successful mining sector. With 25 years of experience developing underground tours, you can be assured that Nine Levels of Darkness is an experience that will soon become a "bucket list" item.
Nine Levels of Darkness Basics:
Tour Times: 10:00am daily
Duration: 4.5 hours
Cost: $275 per person
Numbers: Minimum of 3 people per tour and a maximum of 6
Age Limits: Participants need to be over 15 years of age
Bookings: Bookings Essential. Book online or directly
For more information please visit www.central-deborah.com or call (03) 5443 8255.