An old redgum forest flooded became a treasured holiday destination on the Victoria-NSW border.
Lake Mulwala straddles the twin towns of Yarrawonga and Mulwala, drawing visitors for fishing, jet skiing, kayaking and its epic sunsets.
In this crowd-sourced unofficial history, Drive listeners remember the Murray Cod, sinking houseboats, and the ghost gums…
Truly it is the place to be…one listener remembers in 1987 when at a "best friends 21st we partied so hard we sank a BBQ boat called 'Sheer Bliss' on Lake Mulwala - what a weekend!"
Billy from MacLeod has many "memories of Lake Mulwala. Been holidaying there since 1980. Caught plenty of redfin, watched heaps of boat races (best was the Miss Bud Hydroplane), played many rounds of golf & water-skied for endless kilometres around the lake. Always been a home away from home for us."
Billy's not alone in his family fun at Lake Mulwala - Kaye in Craigieburn remembers their family camping "at Yarrawonga every Christmas and Easter for many years. My dad played golf regularly in Mulwala. The 7th tee (I think) is close to the river and he always had a look down the river before he tee'd off, it is a beautiful view. This is where we spread his ashes on the 1st anniversary of his passing. Our holidays were always special there and remember all of them with a very warm heart."
Jane has heaps of memories of "many fun/exciting weekends at a large interstate sailing regatta which was held on the long weekend which used to include Anzac Day at the Lake. Dozens of people travelled there annually from around Victoria as well as NSW & SA, sometimes even from Queensland. There wasn't always a lot of wind but there was great competition on the water and great socialising off the water, be it at breakfast, lunch, dinner or sometimes waiting for the wind to blow. There were often beautiful sunny days which were usually several degrees warmer than Melbourne.
Damian agrees it's a pretty picturesque place - "a great place to take photographs, especially at dusk, but in my opinion a rotten place to go water-skiing!" A controvesial opinion Damian!
David disagrees - he learned how to water ski there, and "remembers then telling my parents (in the U.K) that I skied all the way from Victoria into NSW!"
Speaking of the water, Prue remembers a rare moment "seeing it empty when they drained it!"
But back to when it's full and lively, Kevin "lived in Mulwala for 10 years - would swim in the lake every morning for most of my time there. 6am rain, hail, -3c in the middle of winter to dodging speedboats in summer! A big part of my life."
And that's just some of your Unofficial History of Lake Mulwala.
Drive with Raf Epstein wants to uncover in to the 'real' history of iconic Melbourne spots by hearing your stories. If you have a great suggestion of a location for us to delve in to, email us.