Lake Bolac, Victoria

Lake Bolac
Victoria

Main street of Lake Bolac
Lake Bolac
Coordinates 37°42′0″S 142°51′0″E / 37.70000°S 142.85000°ECoordinates: 37°42′0″S 142°51′0″E / 37.70000°S 142.85000°E
Population 470 (2006 census)[1]
Postcode(s) 3351
Location
  • 217 km (135 mi) W of Melbourne
  • 91 km (57 mi) W of Ballarat
  • 50 km (31 mi) S of Ararat
  • 47 km (29 mi) W of Skipton
  • 48 km (30 mi) E of Dunkeld
LGA(s) Rural City of Ararat
State electorate(s) Lowan
Federal Division(s) Wannon

Lake Bolac is a town in the Western District region of Victoria, Australia, in the Rural City of Ararat, 91 km west of Ballarat.[2] At the 2006 census, Lake Bolac and the surrounding area had a population of 470.[1] The town is on the shores of Lake Bolac, a freshwater lake popular with anglers. The Glenelg Highway passes through the town. Lake Bolac Post Office opened on 1 November 1864.[3]

Lake Bolac has a Prep to year 12 school. There is a caravan park on the lake that is popular in summer with holidaying families.

The football team is combined with nearby town Wickliffe known as the Magpies and plays in the Mininera & District Football League.

Golfers play at the course of the Lake Bolac Golf Club on Mortlake Road.[4]

Aboriginal inhabitants

George Augustus Robinson recorded in 1841 that 800 Aborigines had gathered at Lake Bolac - 'Lake Boloke' - to feast on plentiful eels, when "...local tribes numbered only sixty individuals".[5]

2006 Tornado

At roughly 11pm on January 19, 2006, Lake Bolac was hit by what has been described as a "mini-twister". Power lines were torn down, several buildings suffered mild to severe damage, more than 100 trees were uprooted, and eight grain silos were either damaged or destroyed. A ute's windscreen was smashed by a falling tree at the caravan park, and a grain silo was lifted off the ground and was found 3 km away. It is estimated 400 residents lost power due to the tornado. The damage bill was estimated at two million dollars.[6]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Bolac, Victoria.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Lake Bolac (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
  2. ↑ "Great Circle Distance between LAKE+BOLAC and BALLARAT". Geoscience Australia. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  3. ↑ Premier Postal History, Post Office List, retrieved 2008-04-11
  4. ↑ Golf Select, Lake Bolac, retrieved 2009-05-11
  5. ↑ Vivienne Rae-Ellis (1988) Black Robinson: Protectors of Aborigines, University of Melbourne Press, Melbourne, p.244
  6. ↑ The Ballarat Courier (2006-01-21), Two million dollars worth of damage, retrieved 2010-01-16