The Two Reported Monsters of Lake Dulverton

There appear to be two types of unknown creature at Lake Dulverton in Tasmania. One is a lake monster the other a type of bigfoot- the Yowie.

The first documented sighting of the lake creature was on January 4 2002, when the guests and manager of an Oatland teahouse said they saw a “Nessie.”. The lake had been dry for a period of 14 years, and the report was taken tongue-in-cheek by locals and thought to be a tourism publicity stunt.

Further report:

Tasmanian Lake Monster15-Jan-2002

The Tasmanian Mercury newspaper says their own Loch Ness monster has mysteriously reappeared in the middle of Lake Dulverton. People are pointing fingers everywhere, says Tony Cawthorn, of the Friends of Lake Dulverton. But its a mystery how she got there.

Local businessman Albert Darkin went down to the lake after customers talked about seeing a hump-backed monster in the water and says, It’s a Nessie alright.

A visitor to the lake says, I think I saw her move. Years ago, the lake was a popular place for rowing, swimming, fishing, sailing and water-skiing. But in the 1980s, there wasn’t enough rain to prevent evaporation. The lake dried up and became an eyesore, and it has stayed that way for 14 years. In the 1990s, the town decided to revive the lake, and locals helped build a dam wall and lay a pipe to pump in water. The lake slowly returned to life. There’s suspicion that rumors of the local Nessie were created to bring tourists back to the area. But Cawthorn says tourists were coming back before the Nessie sightings. People are really coming back, for windsurfing, kayaking, and just to enjoy, he says. source: http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=1163

Before this a couple say they had a frightening encounter with a strange hominid type creature in 1987. After finding they had a flat tyre Bill Johnstone and his friend Stella Donohue set up a tent for the night near the lake. They were awakened around 2 am by a screeching noise. Donohue unzipped the tent and went outside to see a creature in the water. It had a tiny head, too small for it's body and its fur was a shiny silver colour in the moonlight. She thought it was about 8 feet tall. Then she screamed for Bill and he raced out with a flashlight. At this time the creature was racing towards them. They grabbed the keys and ran to the car and then took off. They later reported the incident to the police. A local taxi driver came forward and said that two boats had vanished on the lake and the wreckage was never found

Friday the 2nd of January 1987.

Source: "News Newspaper" - Perth, supplied by the Australian Press Cuttings

Text: A Melbourne couple claim to have seen a Monster during a Tasmanian holiday. Bill Johnstone and Stella Donohue, of Kew, told the Launceston Examiner Newspaper that they encountered "a strange thing" at a secluded lake. The incident occurred on Friday when a punctured tyre forced the couple to spend the night on the shores of Lake Dulverton at Oatlands in Tasmania's Midlands. The had pitched their tent and retired for the night, but were woken about two o'clock by bird like noises round their tent.

Stella Donohue unzipped the tent flap and saw the creature. "It was about two metres tall", she said. "It looked silvery and something like an Ape."

Well the nessie sighting may well have been a publicity stunt but the Yowie sighting is interesting. The silvery colour of the fur may simply have been due to it been wet and then caught in the moonlight. Moon light can make things appear differently. I couldn’t find any other sightings -which doesn’t mean they weren’t any, just they weren’t reported. If anyone has any further information on either of these “monsters” at Lake Dulverton, please post in the comments section.