Lake Wendouree is an artificially-created and maintained shallow urban lake located in the suburb of the same name in the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The name Wendouree comes from a local aboriginal word wendaaree which means 'go away': a story is told that when settler William Cross Yuille asked a local indigenous woman what the name of the swamp was, that was her reply.
Lake Wendouree is one of the smallest of a complex of natural wetlands which includes nearby Lake Burrumbeet and Lake Learmonth on the plains of the Central Highlands.
The swamp was dammed following the Victorian gold rush in 1851 and since the 1860s it has been a popular recreational lake for Ballarat's citizens. Lake Wendouree now holds significant historical, environmental and recreational values to the Ballarat community. The lake hosted the rowing and canoeing events during the 1956 Olympic Games.
During its history, the shallow lake has dried up during drought conditions, the most recent an extended period between 2006 and 2011.
Read more about Lake Wendouree: Wildlife, Transport, Recreation
Famous quotes containing the word lake:
“A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. The fluviatile trees next the shore are the slender eyelashes which fringe it, and the wooded hills and cliffs around are its overhanging brows.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)