Bonnie Doon is a town in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is located on the

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

, in the

Shire of Mansfield The Shire of Mansfield is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and in Augus ...

. Bonnie Doon is 168 kilometres north-east of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

via the Melba Highway. At the 2021 census, Bonnie Doon township had a population of 666.

History

The township was established subsequent to

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

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

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. 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 is a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with a controlled spillway, located on the Goulburn River between the regional towns of and within Lake Eildon National Park, in the Alpine region of Victoria, Australia. The dam's pur ...

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 or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, 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 rail corr ...

, 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

Sport & Recreation

The Bonnie Doon Football Club was established in 1885 and they initially played in the Mansfield District Football Association in 1901 and won the 1901 premiership. Bonnie Doon FC won six football premierships between 1900 and 1952 in a number of different football associations. Bonnie Doon FC played in the Waranga North East Football Association from 1953 to 1964 and played in nine consecutive grand finals between 1956 and 1964, winning five premierships. Bonnie Doon FNC then played in the Benalla & District Football League between 1965 and 2009, winning seven senior football premierships and were also runner up fifteen times during this period. As of 2010, Bonnie Doon FNC have played in the Ovens & King Football League fielding senior and reserves football teams, plus A, B, B Reserve, C Grade and Under 15 netball teams.

Lake Eildon

The Eildon Dam is a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and earth-fill

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

with a controlled spillway, located on the

Goulburn River The Goulburn River, a major inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the Alpine, Northern Country/North Central, and Southern Riverina regions of the Australian state of Victor ...

between the regional towns of and within

Lake Eildon National Park The Lake Eildon National Park is a national park in the Central Highlands region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is set in the northern foothills of the Central Highlands, approximately northeast of Melbourne and abuts the shores ...

, in the Alpine region of

. The dam's purpose is for the

supply Supply or supplies may refer to: *The amount of a resource that is available **Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers **Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission *Supply, as ...

potable water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

, and the generation of

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

. The impounded

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

is called Lake Eildon. The first cut of ground was done by Mr Bain and Mr MacLean from Scotland. Bonnie Doon is one of the main access points for visitors to Lake Eildon. File:Lake_Eildon_view_to_south_2012.JPG, Lake Eildon & 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 (state) Shire of Mansfield