Bendigo area what's it like to live there ?

[Taurean]

I grew up in Bendigo Most of my extended family still lives there and so do some of my closest friends.

It's a great family town with plenty to do and it's apparently very beautiful again now thanks to all the rain. It has been in drought pretty much since I left 12 years ago so I haven't seen it green and lush for quite some time!

I grew up in Strathdale which is a nice family suburb about 7 mins east from the CBD. The next suburb out, Strathfieldsaye, has a lot of young families (a few of my friends live there) and a great primary school. It's a bit more rural too so you can get a bit of land if you want or there is a relatively new estate with new houses on normal sized blocks too - lots of kids around

I went to Kennington Primary School which was gorgeous but moved location many years ago so I'm not sure what it's like these days. It always had a brilliant reputation though. I went to Flora Hill Secondary College (public) which was a great school as well. Both Flora Hill primary and secondary had excellent reputations so would be worth investigating.

My cousins and a few work friends went to Catholic College for secondary schooling so that's a great choice for a catholic school.

Sorry I can't give you more recent info on the schools. Strathfieldsaye Primary does sound lovely though and my friends kids love it.

There are plenty of nice suburbs in Bendigo, it just depends what sort of house you want really (ie modern or old, rural or normal) and whether you're after big schools or small ones. Feel free to PM. There are a few suburbs I'd recommend to steer clear of but won't state them in here

Bendigo is a lovely little town though and there is a lot to do and see due to it's central (Victorian) location. 1.5 hrs to Melbourne (easy on the train!), 45 minutes to Echuca on the beautiful Murray River, Lake Eppalock (which is finally full again!) is only 20-25 minutes from town and the list goes on. It's seven days a week shopping too and has a good assortment for a country town. It has two major shopping centers plus the Mall.

HTH