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Monday, November 20, 2006

Bonnie Doon

Seeing as how I always seem to be writing about Bonnie Doon, where we go to frequently, I thought I might share some information about the place !!!

Bonnie Doon is a small town situated in North East Victoria on the edge of Lake Eildon. It is most well known these days as a holiday/weekend destination for waterskiiers, fisherman and boat enthusiasts.

It has a small population, but in holiday periods the population swells to several times its normal size. There are three caravan/camping parks in and around the town and one Hotel which is situated on the waters edge.

The area of Bonnie Doon was first passed through by white man in 1824 by the explorers Hume and Hovell. It was first settled in 1834 and the township originated in the 1860's. The town was originally called Doon but the name was later changed, in 1891, to Bonnie Doon. The discovery of gold in the area caused a immense growth of the town, and from this emerged a strong farming community. There was once quite a few Hotels and other shops as well as a butter factory.
In 1955 Lake Eildon was enlarged to store more water for irrigation and unfortunately Bonnie Doon township was going to be submerged. The town relocated nearby further up a hill where it currently stands today. This involved moving the highway and railway and the building of new bridges. Many residents moved elsewhere rather than rebuild in Bonnie Doon.

After the enlargement of the lake, the potential for tourism became apparent and a caravan park was built. Then boat ramps, picnic areas, hotels and motels were built to cater for waterskiers.

Today the Bonnie Doon area contains 3 caravan/camping grounds, 3 Motels, 1 Hotel, numerous housing estates dotted around the lake and is growing in popularity all the time.

Map of Victoria ... Bonnie Doon is to the left of the words High Country, sort of underneath Benalla !!

Map of Australia ... Victoria is the Southern-most state on mainland Australia ... Tasmania, however, is further south, though not connected to the mainland.

The caravan / holiday park where we always go, and have been going since early 1996 when we bought our caravan there, is about 9km out of Bonnie Doon, on the shores of Lake Eildon (well, when there is water there, anyway !!). For those of you who were wondering what I am always talking about when I say we go to our caravan at Bonnie Doon, here are some pictures. This one is from the front of our site ... it is actually a big, old (1970s era) caravan, with an aluminium annexe (on a concrete slab) connected to it. It is all roofed over, and we have added a big decking area out front.

This one is looking from the back ... you can actually see the old caravan there !!

Inside the caravan ... looking from the front towards the back ... our bedroom !! (The kitchen is to the right of the photo !!)

Inside the caravan again, looking from the bedroom to the front.

Looking from the stairs of the caravan, into the annexe, out the front door !!

Looking from the front door, across the lounge, at the caravan door (Hubby lined the outer caravan wall with pine panelling, so the caravan cannot be seen from inside the annexe ... looks really cosy !). We have stacks of photos on the wells. The wall on the right backs onto the bathroom, and there is a hallway down toward the right, along the caravan wall.

A peek into our bathroom (the loo is to the left, beside the vanity unit, behind the shower).

Chicky's bedroom, and storage space (always a mess !!) ... there is a double bed, and above a single, with a couple spare mattresses, also.

So there you go. That's our home away from home at Bonnie Doon. (Apologies for some of the photos ... Blogger decided to cut off the bottoms of them ... don't know why !!)

We had a wonderful weekend up there, this last weekend. The park was very quiet, but we had a productive weekend, doing some long overdue spring cleaning. It's incredible the amount of stuff that can be accumulated over the years. I had a huge cleanout of my pantry ... gosh, the amount of food that was past it's use-by date ... so wasteful !! So, we are now all ready to take up more junk at Christmas, to spend a wonderful couple of weeks of well-earned R&R.

Now, back to the typing, and the business of Christmas shopping !!

Have a great week all, and I hope to be by to visit within the next day or so.

Take care,

MEOW

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Meow ~ Thanks for the geography lesson and the Bonnie Doon info. It all looks very nice and now we can picture you when you go on holidays.
Thanks for your comments and I did enjoy the morning out at the Market
with my son. The weather sure is weird Heaters last week, and Coolers this week. I am most disheartened about the way my posts get altered, after I have typed them nicely in color etc. So I may have a break for a while. Take care, Love, Merle.

Greeneyes said...

Meow
Your Boonie Doon info is great and I love the pics , I can now picture what you are talikng about , you must have some awesome times up there ! I really like the patio part , must be heaven , you are such a lucky kitty ,all those adventures and this too !!!! SWEEEEEET!
Love and Hugs
Greeneyes

Anonymous said...

great blog!

Jeanette said...

Hi Meow
Thanks for the Lesson on Bonnie Doone and a lovely relaxing holiday destination. Your caravan looks lovely and spacious and homely. Take care have fun

Anonymous said...

Do you know, Meow, I think I may have been to Bonnie Doon, but it was about 35 years ago so it's a bit vague in my memory.

As for your holiday home - a caravan that's morphed into a cosy permanent dwelling! Looks very nice, it does. It's certainly original!!

Thanks for sharing.

Dick said...

Thanks for sharing the photos. It will be easier for us to understand where you go for your weekends so often now. And I would be glad to send you some of our excess rain if only there were a way to do so!

Anonymous said...

A good tour of Bonnie Doon and your holiday home Meow, I spent about 5 years in a similar setup when I started my new life.

Anonymous said...

Nice place - I'll bet you have some wonderful times together there.

I love hearing the history of your area. My grandfather left England when he was 17, sailed to Townsville and worked his way around for 12 years before making his way to BC, via, Hong Kong, Japan and Los Angeles. He arrived in BC about 1900!

And what an adventurer he was - he kept a diary of his travels of which I have the first half (the other half went missing :( and it is absolutely amazing! He was the original blogger and my inspiration!

I learned a great deal about the country and living conditions from his writing. Luckily things have changed a LOT! My husband and I spent a 3 week holiday in Sidney, Gunnedah and Cairns in 1992 and loved it all.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful life and photos!

Anonymous said...

Bonnie Doon sounds wonderful, meow. I can't but help think of "Brigadoon" when I read that name! It sounds just like a place I would adore. Thanks for sharing Bonnie Doon with us. :)

Rachel said...

Bonnie Doon sounds like a lovely place. Certainly a lovely name!

Love your caravan. It looks very cozy and comfy!! A great place to relax.

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Daybyday ... it is usually very, very hot up there. We don't put up lights on the outside of our home, but many people do. I put up heaps of decorations inside, though.

Merle ... thank you. I just wanted to show everyone what I meant when I say "we're going to our van at Bonnie Doon".

Greeneyes ... thank you. We have had some amazing times up there. It is always a lot of fun, we have so many friends there. Chicky is always out and about. It is also very relaxing ... no pressure, no deadlines, no nothing if we want !!

East of Oregon ... thanks.

Jeanette ... thank you.

Puss-In-Boots ... *giggle* ... Bonnie Doon is one of those places where if you blink you may miss it !! It is a lovely town, and when the water is up, under the bridge, it is quite spectacular. At the moment, it is very, very dry, but still lovely.

Dick ... thank you. Yes, that extra rain would be wonderful. If only !!

Debs ... *giggle* ... we always say that exact same thing when we are arriving in Bonnie Doon township, and we actually pass the house used in the movie "The Castle".

Peter ... it's a lot of fun having somewhere to go, where you just need to chuck some food and clothes into the car, and away you go. Everything else is up there.

Heather ... thank you. What a wonderful story about your grandfather. Family history is so interesting.

Lee ... thank you, and you are welcome.

Rachel ... thank you. Yep, Bonnie Doon is a lovely name ... sounds restful.

Susie ... I'll have to look up the meaning behind the name change, and get back to ya !!

Tab ... thank you. You are so right, it is a home away from home. It has been wonderful these past 10 years having it to go to anytime we want.

Take care, friends, and have a great week.
Meow xx

Anonymous said...

I am sure someone already told you that there is a winery in California called, Bonnie Doon. If not, there!
Here, we are getting ready for Thanksgiving. We are driving wednesday afternoon from Las Vegas to San Francisco, CA. A good 10-12 hour drive. I will be stopping somewhere in between to spend the night and make it to Frisco by 12:00PM-Thursday.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Anonymous said...

Finally Blogger has let me into the comments bit of your blog. Either that or it's my computer lol!

Anyhoo, thanks for the history of Bonnie Doon and you've got a really homely caravan.

Hope you are having a good week and get lots of your Christmas shopping done. I don't want to even have to think about that yet.

Meow (aka Connie) said...

CiscoKid ... mmmm, a winery called Bonnie Doon. Must look that up !! Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving. Drive carefully.

Clare ... thanks. It is a cozy caravan, if a bit over-crowded with stuff !! It works for us, that's the main thing !! Don't know if I'll get a chance to do much Christmas shopping ... don't really want to think about it, either.

Take care, Meow

Cazz said...

Hi Meow,

I have been to Bonnie Doon, but many years ago. Love the caravan set up, nice place to relax, unwind and had a few "drinks" with mates. My sister Donna, had a similar setup at the Cottonwood Caravan Park at Echuca, was a great fun spot to visit.

Christmas shopping... ewwwww.. dont even want to think about it!!

Cazz

Devil Mood said...

Wow...Australia amazes me everytime, it's so huge lol
It seems like a great place to spend weekends. And Bonnie Doon is such a great name ahha :)

Gwen said...

Hi Meow...Great spot Bonnie Doon,
it is a nice spot for a holiday.
When I think about it speaking
[Geographically] Whew that was a big word.You could have popped in for a cuppa,it would have been closer for you than for me to accept your offer when i was in Melb.
Stay well...

Anonymous said...

Morning Meow,

Thanks for the tour, even though camping is not my thing. I would go crazy cooped up in a space that small.

Hope all is well with you. Just got back from holiday ourselves.

Anonymous said...

Hi again Meow ~ Thank you so much for your words of encouragement and your nice words. I put a post on tonight, it lost the colour, but it is readable
So we will see how it goes. Thanks for
the link as well, that was so nice of yu Connie. Take care, Love, Merle.

Unknown said...

Bonnie Doon appears to be a good place to escape and holiday. Thanks for adding to my knowledge of the world!

Saur♥Kraut said...

Daybyday4-2day had a good question: what is your Christmas like? Is it like ours? In Florida it's often warm.

Thanks for letting us know about Bonnie Doon. Very interesting! I love your little nest!

Anonymous said...

first: GRATULERE MED DAGEN!!

now that's done - your caravan looks great! I always wanted a holiday home - a home away from home..

Right now I'm envious of your summer too - It's cold and wet here. Not really winter and not really fall. I want winter!! (or summer - not the inbetween part...)

Oh perhaps I should translate - I said happy birthday in Norwegian first... I hope you had a great birthday!

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Cazz ... thanks. It seems to be similar in many holiday parks around the country. Just a simple home away from home, really !!

Devil Mood ... thanks. It is a huge country ... I think it would take more than a lifetime to see it all.

Gwen ... thank you. Don't worry, I might just take you up on that offer one day !!

Brian ... hope your holiday went well.

Merle ... hope you stick with it all, I know Blogger can be evil ... I've taken to just shrugging it off. I have tried changing to Beta (my dashboard offers the change-over), but it won't let me ... looks like I'm staying here !!

Nick ... Bonnie Doon is a great place to take a holiday. Very relaxing ... very serene !!

Saur ... I guess our Christmas is pretty much like yours, only it is Summer rather than Winter. I must do a post on it ... what do you think ??

Nerdine ... thank you, I had a nice birthday. We just got through a couple of high 30s (95F plus)days ... too warm, too much too soon !!

Take care, friends ... Meow

Carole Burant said...

I love learning new things about other countries:-) Bonnie Doon certainly looks like a fabulous place to have a caravan and you sure have it all set up nice and cozy! Now wonder you love spending time there:-) xoxo

Anonymous said...

Very cool, to share your getaway with you and learn some things about Australia.

Jo said...

Hi Meow,

thankyou for sharing your holiday with us, looks like you had a lovely time.

have a great week.

Anonymous said...

First of all Happy Birthday late so sorry :( I don't get on the computer much at home and get's been down at the office...Hope it great puuurrfect!

Looks like you guys have great trips!

Dr. Deb said...

Oh, how I loved this post, Meow!!!
I must come and visit one day.

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Pea ... yep, it sure is nice to have somewhere where we can just throw our clothes and some food in the car, and go at a moment's notice. Only a 2 hour drive ... bearable.

Rhea ... thank you, and welcome.

Littlejen ... thank you, and you are welcome.

Connie ... thanks. You are so right, it is perfect to just go and sit and breathe !!! And relax !!

Daybyday ... I figured that ... it was a big one, wan't it !!

Dawn ... thank you, no problem. It was a great birthday, thanks.

Dr. Deb ... ooooh, do come and visit, that would be lovely.

Take care, all, and enjoy the remainder of your week ... Meow

Anonymous said...

Looks like a marvelous get away! How wonderful to have a place of your own away from home!
Happy Belated Birthday to you!!!!

SnowWhite said...

what a cute holiday home, it look really cosy too.
Very nice
xx
shona

Gattina said...

I really liked your post, it makes me travel even though I am sitting behind my computer. I have never been to Australia, my son yes. Your caravan looks very comfy and big !

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Ooopseedaisie, Slap Me Happy, Gattina ... thank you. It's wonderful to share our holidays with you all.
Take care, Meow

Geoffrey said...

It cannot really have success, I suppose so.
2 | get it | get it