The Goldfields National Parks
Victoria (VIC)

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In Ballarat a Scotsman, Thomas Stoddart, donated 12 Italian marble statues. You can see them scattered through the Botanic Gardens. Also located here is The Flight from Pompeii as is the Robert Burns statue, one of Ballarat's landmarks. The stately streetscape of Pall Mall in Bendigo is introduced by the delightful ornamentation of the Alexandra Fountain, named after Alexandra, the Princess of Wales.

When tiny Malmsbury was surveyed in 1863, nine hectares were set aside for Botanical Gardens. The town received thousands of plants and seedlings propagated for distribution to State gardens by the famous botanist - Baron Ferdinand Von Mueller - the man responsible for establishing Melbourne's grand Botanic Gardens. They contain the best example of only four known specimens of the strawberry tree in cultivation in Victoria.

Nearby, at Kyneton, are the Kyneton Botanical gardens where you can see a Chilean Wine Palm, so rare it has a National Trust classification. These gardens also have a delightful collection of oak trees.

Other gardens that will delight you in the area include the Phillip Gardens, Maryborough which features a central lake that was once a dam. St Arnaud has the Queen Mary gardens, Ararat the Alexandra Gardens and Eaglehawk the Canterbury Gardens.

But the most splendid gardens in the region can be seen at Ballarat and Castlemaine.

You will see a statutory pavilion in Ballarat's botanical gardens which was built a century ago to house a collection given to the city.

Imposing trees and perfect lawns covering 40 hectares surround Lake Wendouree. Many of the trees you'll see are over 120 years old and feature on the National Trust's Register of Significant Trees. The gardens are famous for their begonias and the town hosts an annual begonia festival. Another attraction of this festival is the splendid floral carpet made from over 100,000 fresh flowers.

At the Castlemaine Gardens you can see one of the oldest known cultivated trees in Victoria - an English oak, planted by His Royal Highness Prince Alfred in 1867.