Kinglake
Kinglake, comprising forest, farmland, a national park and a township, is located 45 km north east of Melbourne, in the Kinglake Ranges, part of the Great Dividing Range. Many areas of Kinglake overlook the Melbourne skyline to the south west and the Yarra Valley wineries to the south.
In January 2006, parts of Kinglake National Park to the north of the Kinglake township were devastated by a bushfire started by lightning during a severe thunderstorm. The blaze threatened to engulf the town, advancing to within a few hundred metres of the northern fringe. The town was saved by further thunderstorms, along with Country Fire Authority volunteers. In 2009, 98% of the national park was severely burnt by the devastating Black Saturday bushfires. Much of the town of Kinglake was destroyed and nearly a hundred lives were lost.
Kinglake National Park is a popular local attraction and is the closest national park to Melbourne. It has walking tracks for day hikes and camping grounds for overnight stays. Several popular and beautiful picnic areas are available around the perimeter of the national park. The national park includes Masons Falls, a picnic area with falls and natural flora. Layered sediment forms the valley, containing fossils from when the area was once covered by the sea. Natural fauna includes wallaby, kangaroo, wombat, possum and echidna. It also includes varieties of birds including cockatoos (Sulphur-crested, black and red-headed), king parrots, the rosella and the lyrebird.
Prior to the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, the park was renowned for being home to the tallest tree in Victoria. The specimen of Eucalyptus regnans (Mountain Ash) stood 91.6 metres (301 ft) tall in 2002 and was suspected to have originated after the 1851 Black Thursday bushfires. It was located in the Wallaby Creek closed catchment area in the north-west regions of the park.
Another pleasant nearby camping and outdoor spot is the Murrindindi Nature Reserve, running between the township of Toolangi and almost all the way to Yea. Recommended means of entrance is via the Melba Highway, 9 km south of Yea. The nature reserve allows the lighting of campfires and contains several waterfalls that can be reached by way of the moderately difficult walking tracks.
Toorourrong Reservoir is a small water supply reservoir located on the southern slopes of the Great Dividing Range. The reservoir is formed by the Toorourrong Dam across the Plenty River, and an interbasin transfer. The dam is operated by Melbourne Water and the reservoir forms part of the Melbourne water supply system. Water from the Toorourrong Reservoir flows by aqueduct to the Yan Yean Reservoir. The reservoir catchments are within the Wallaby Creek section of the Kinglake National Park.
The reservoir is formed by an earthen embankment dam across the eastern branch of the Plenty River below the junction with Jacks Creek. The system was constructed in 1883 1885 as an extension of the Yan Yean water system. Water is diverted from Wallaby and Silver Creeks, part of the Murray Darling basin on the northern side of the Great Dividing Range via the open, granite-lined Wallaby Aqueduct across the Great Dividing Range just east of Mount Disappointment, then into Jacks Creek and into the reservoir. The reservoir acts as a settling basin before the water travels 8 kilometres down the Clearwater Channel to Yan Yean.
Brief history: Gold was discovered in 1861 on Mount Slide to the east of the locality at an area which became known as Mountain Rush. A Mountain Rush Post Office opened on 7 May 1862, but closed in January 1863 as the miners moved to other locations. Kinglake township was established much later and was named after British historian Alexander William Kinglake, whose eight volume history of the Crimean War had recently been completed.
