Central Deborah Gold Mine — Attraction in Bendigo

There is no doubt that this place is good and interesting, but I have to share a bad experience what we faced in this place.My family (with two kids one 7 years old and other one 3.5 years old) visited this place on 25/01/2022 .we have nearly three hours drive from our home. We reached there around 10 am . A lady at front desk was really helpful and friendly, unfortunately ticket for the underground tour was only available for last trip at 3pm.Under ground tour allowed for kids above 3 years, So We booked ticket for all of us and gone to visit other place of Bendigo. Returned to this place around 2:30 pm . We all were very excited especially my 7 year old son for first time underground mine tours. As advised We waited at assembly point .About 3pm Tour guide Nathan came and started his talk to the visitors. This time my 3.5 years old son picked stone from the ground suddenly Nathan shouted at him and said , if kids thrown stones it may end up on the head of the people who is already in the underground tour.My son was very scare of him and nearly crying then my son started to talk to me and I tried to settled him , but again tour guide Nathan shouted at me and said if your son talking anymore / not behaving well , I won’t take you guys for the underground tour. It was shock and very disappointing situations, never expect that kind of attitude . I didn’t understand what Nathan expecting from a 3.5 years old kids.we just walked out of that place , another lady came and apologised .we couldn’t enjoy holidays due to this rude attitude, I have two question to the management,

1. as Nathan said if kids playing with stone at assembly point and any minute chance there stone end up on the head of the visitors who is in the underground tour, it is dangerous hazard and serious safety issue. It needs to review and fixed it ASAP.

2. what is Nathan’s problem If kids talking to their parents. If he is unable to talk to visitors loud enough why can’t he use portable microphone.

There is solution for every problem, but result of above behaviour was loss of money , time , stress and most importantly my kids took few days to recover from this shock.Hope management will take accountability of above behaviour from a staff and will try not to happen...

It was really good. Quite a few interactive things for the kids, as well as being able to go up the tower and do a self-guided tour around the place. We didn't do any of the other tours as they were sold out. I recommend you book in advance during school holidays! It was great to see all the old artefacts and find out about the people who worked at that mine. The gift shop had some cute little bits and pieces and do hot drinks. The service was really good and everyone was happy. Recommended for a great historical experience for young and old.

Edit: We came back two years later to do the 1.5hr underground mine tour. It was informative and interesting. The only negative thing was that it's a bit redundant to show the welcome video which says make sure you go to the toilet, but then you ask for the toilet straight away and you're told it's too late. Make sure you have enclosed shoes or you won't be allowed to do the tour. It is cool down there so you may want to take a jumper. There were a few children and most seemed to enjoy it. Tall people will probably need to duck in parts. We booked ahead, and we're glad of this. Tours filled up quickly due to rain and this being a good wet...

We had a 7th birthday party at the mine today. Rebecca went above and beyond to accomodate and organise us for a private mine tour for the kids and function room hire for the cake and nibbles afterwards. We were even asked how we would like the tables and chairs set up prior to our arrival. The front desk staff were warm and welcoming and offered to store our food for us before the party commenced. Nathan our tour guide was exceptional. Before the tour even started he was helping us set up and blew up all the balloons for us. He was patient with the kids and had them all engaging with lots of questions for an hour underground. No kid lost interest and he even added in some life lessons in a catchy way for the kids to remember. The function room was spacious and we weren’t pushed out when our time was up. We were provided with tea, coffee, bottled water and condiments which we weren’t expecting as we didn’t host their party package advertised. We are so happy we chose the mine for a little party and every kid left saying ‘this is the best party I’ve ever been to!’ Thanks for hospitality and fantastic staff! Can...