Like many lakeside communities, Bonnie Doon, the town made famous by Australian movie ‘The Castle’, has been enjoying a remarkable revival over recent months.
Healthy rains have put Victoria’s Lake Eildon at over 80% capacity and now grey nomads and other tourists are flooding back into the area and the caravan parks are often filled to capacity.
It’s a startling reminder that this year’s unusually wet weather has brought benefits as well as disasters.
Whereas not so long ago the lake was as dry as bone (the level was at 6 per cent in May 2007) and cattle grazed there, now water reaches nearly to the treeline, birdlife has returned and tourists lap it all up.
“It’s given the town a new lease on life. People are out and about enjoying the lake. People are certainly feeling more confident, it’s really lifted spirits,” Bonnie Doon resident Paul Sladdin told the ABC. “The local businesses had a boom time over the recent summer with all the caravan parks being full and the local auto marine business putting on more people.”
Kathy Octigan, co-owner of the Bonnie Doon Caravan Park, said that at the height of the drought the water was 10 kilometres from her home. But today it’s much closer.
”It’s less than a minute’s walk from the back door of my house,” she told the ABC. ”It is just lovely. It’s made a huge difference to spring and summer bookings just gone, and the coming spring and summer bookings this year.”
The lake generally reaches its peak around September-October. A full lake holds a massive 3,334,158 megalitres, making it six times the size of Sydney Harbour.
David Roff, chief executive of Mansfield Shire, said a full Lake Eildon generated a lot of economic activity. ”It’s a real good driver,” he said.
