Indre Kisonas
Here we have the picture-perfect lake in a mineral spring and spa haven in the Goldfields of Victoria. The native trees blend with the turning colours of the majestic European trees where families picnic on its shores and dogs and kids frolic in little boats under the clear blue skies.
Heavenly, isn’t it? Apparently not! There are ghosts of drowned miners and vortices under the serene surface of this deceptive lake. It’s a killer and kids beware! Do not go swimming in Daylesford Lake!
Now, where there is smoke there is fire, but it doesn’t mean you have to believe in ghosts. Mothers would have warned their children of swimming in the lake to keep them safe. It is after all a large body of water and kids tend to take risks. Back before the lake was made, and yes, it is a manmade lake, the town was overrun by miners of many nationalities, earth was dug up, turned, sluiced and left, streets and tracks were muddy. Houses and huts for miners used much timber and quickly the forests were denuded.
In 1893 campaigning began to beautify Daylesford which was becoming a mineral spa town. As gold ran out the healing mineral spring waters of Daylesford was looked at for a new industry. The proposal for beautification involved the damming of Wombat Creek. Lake Daylesford covered the unsightly scarring left from years of mining as well as a Chinese settlement. The acclaimed American architect, Walter Burley Griffin, who design our nation’s capital, Canberra, designed the landscaping and proposed the native vegetation along the western side which is still there today.
Where Lake Daylesford is now, Chinese market gardens that helped feed the town, along with a Joss house no longer remain. There is smoke in the old wives tale saying dead Chinese miners inhabit the lake. Perhaps they still do but the reason for drownings occurring in the lake is not from ghosts or vortices caused by flooded mines but the cold, frigid waters.
Lake Daylesford is 9 m (30 ft) deep. People have succumbed. When the body experiences cold water (<15°) it can go into cold water shock. Tolerances vary between people which is why you see keen swimmers surviving the winter waters of the Lake and those like me, who barely brave Queensland waters in summer. Cold water shock can lead to hypothermia which inhibits the functioning of organs.
In any situation, pay attention to any warning signs, bodily or erected by council. Be mindful of your strengths and weaknesses as this may include a poor swimming constitution. Enjoy the tranquillity of the beautiful Lake as it truly became the jewel in the Goldfields as those original campaigners in 1893 hoped.
Walk the shores and taste the mineral water from the many old pumps. Most importantly, don’t go talking to any drowned miners that lure you to the murky vortexed depths of our beautiful Lake Daylesford.
Indre Kisonas is a Daylesford resident and the owner and principal designer of iok design. She specialises in colour & interior design.
