Lake Wendouree

(This is one of those images that looks better bigger, on the black background, I think!)

I just love this lake and wish I lived in Ballarat just so that I could photograph it in all seasons, not just winter! I only ever seem to come once a year, for the South Street bands competition (my daughter's band won!) but today I made sure I had enough time for a short walk along part of the shore. There are so many birds! Not bad for a lake that completely dried up in the drought a few years ago.

Lake Wendouree is an artificial lake, made by damning the outlet stream of the original swamp in the 1860s, during the gold rush era. The name actually means "go away" in the local aboriginal language (which is what a local woman told the surveyor when he asked the name of the swamp...).

Here's an amusing photo (not mine) of the lake in drier times (though I wish they'd taken the time to fix that wonky horizon... )