Bonnie Doon is a rural township and locality on Brankeet Inlet, which is on the northern extremity of Lake Eildon. It is about 115 km. north-east of Melbourne. Originally called Doon, the township was on the Brankeet Creek. The name was changed to Bonnie Doon shortly before 1900, and in 1956 the town was moved to higher ground when Lake Eildon was enlarged.

 

The name “Doon” was given by an early settler, Thomas Nixon, probably after the Doon Loch in Scotland.

Selectors took up land at Bonnie Doon in the 1870s. A school was opened in 1871. Church buildings came rather later, Catholic (1885), Anglican (1899) and Presbyterian (1900). The Presbyterian church is dedicated to the memory of Queen Victoria, and is recorded as the first monument in the British Empire to be so dedicated after her death.

 

The mention of gold concerns mainly Maindample and Dry Creek, although gold was mined form time to time at Bonnie Doon. The township also had several stores and a mechanics’ institute.
In 1912 the forerunner of Lake Eildon was constructed, damming the Goulburn and Delatite Rivers. As farming expanded in north east Victoria the demand for irrigation water grew, and immediately after the second world war there was the prospect of Bonnie Doon being inundated by an enlarged water storage. Despite the loss of farm land, the enlargement by constructing a single dam wall at Eildon proceeded, and by 1953 the physical transfer of houses and buildings to higher ground near the Anglican and Presbyterian churches took place. The local population more than doubled for a few years while the dam works were under way.

 

Not all residents remained in the new town. Some adjusted to Bonnie Doon’s water-side environment, which became a venue for water sports and boating. Holiday settlements developed at Bonnie Doon and a few kilometres to the south on the bank of Lake Eildon.
Bonnie Doon is on the Maroondah Highway just west of where the Bonnie Doon Bridge crosses the Brankeet Inlet. Beside the road bridge is the railway, which ceased to be used in 1978. During a drought in 1982-3 many of the old buildings were uncovered as Lake Eildon’s water level fell.

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Some would say that Bonnie Doon was really put on the map as a result of the classic Australian movie The Castle which was released in 1997. The Australian comedy-drama film directed by Rob Sitch. It starred Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Tiriel Mora, Stephen Curry, Sophie Lee, Eric Bana (in his film debut) and Charles 'Bud' Tingwell. 

The Castle was filmed in 11 days on a budget of approximately A$750,000. The film gained widespread acclaim in Australia and New Zealand, but was not widely distributed globally. It grossed A$10,326,428 at the box office in Australia.

The film's title is based upon the English saying, repeatedly referred to in the film, "a man's home is his castle". Its humour plays on the national self image, most notably the concept of working-class Australians and their place in modern Australia.

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The movie was responsible for some classic phrases such as

• WE’RE GOING TO BONNIE DOON. WE’RE GOING TO BONNIE DOON

• HOW’S THE SERENITY? SO MUCH SERENITY

• TELL HIM HE’S DREAMIN

• DALE DUG A HOLE. TELL ’EM DALE

• SUFFER IN YOUR JOCKS!

• IT’S NOT A HOUSE. IT’S A HOME

• THIS IS GOING STRAIGHT TO THE POOL ROOM

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Bonnie Doon also has an amazing Leisure Resort located on Hutchinsons Road with beautiful lake frontage. It offers Camping, Deluxe Cabins, Motel Family Rooms, Luxury Apartment, fishing, water skiing, boating and don't forget the Serenity, So much Serenity :-)