Bonnie Doon is a town in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is located on the

Maroondah Highway Maroondah Highway (also known as Whitehorse Road from Deepdene, Victoria, Deepdene to Mitcham, Victoria, Mitcham) is a major east–west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and a highway connecting the north-eastern fringes of Mel ...

, in the

Shire of Mansfield The Mansfield Shire is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018, had a population of 8,979. It includes the towns of Mansfield, Mai ...

. Bonnie Doon is 168 kilometres north-east from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. At the 2016 census, Bonnie Doon township had a population of 570.

History

The township was established subsequent to

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

discoveries in the area. It was originally named Doon after the town of that name in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The Post Office opened on 1 October 1866 and was renamed Bonnie Doon in 1891 coinciding with the arrival of the railway. Much of the original town of Bonnie Doon was flooded by the construction of

Lake Eildon The Eildon Dam or Eildon Weir, a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with a controlled spillway across the Goulburn River, is located between the regional towns of and within Lake Eildon National Park, in the Alpine region of Victoria, Australi ...

in the 1950s. The township was relocated; some buildings were picked up and moved, whilst others were able to remain in their original site, such as the churches.

Tourism

Lake Eildon makes Bonnie Doon a minor tourist town for water activities, and the surrounds of Bonnie Doon, which has a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

, are somewhat popular for weekend holidaymakers. This popularity was satirised in the Australian comedy, '' The Castle'', with popular quotes such as "How's the serenity?" and its catch-phrase song "We're going to Bonnie Doon". Bonnie Doon main

Lake

File:Lake_Eildon_view_to_south_2012.JPG, Lake Eildon and bridge, Bonnie Doon File:Lake_near_Bonnie_Doon_Hotel_Motel.JPG, Lake Eildon near Maroondah Hwy.

References

External links

Bonnie Doon CommunityGreat Victorian Rail TrailGoulburn River High Country Rail Trail
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in Central Hume Shire of Mansfield