So what is a Bunyip? possible explanation.

According to the mythological accounts, the bunyip was a malevolent water spirit. Should anyone enter its swamp or river they would be attacked and devoured. The bunyip had a loud, terrifying cry and the aborigines would abandon any water source where this was strange sound had been heard. The Aboriginal stories said that some Bunyips are covered with feathers while others have scales. Some say that Bunyips have long shaggy coats and a dog’s head and others that it has a long neck ,or looks like a crocodile.

In 1846, a peculiar animal skull apparently resembling that of a Bunyip was discovered from the banks of Murrumbidgee River in New South Wales. It was put on display in the Australian Museum in Sydney and many people came to see it. The idea of the Bunyip being a real animal was brought to the public’s notice and people reported that they had heard strange sounds from the lagoons during the night and some even said that they saw a shape lurking in the waters.

One of the sightings that were reported in the Sydney Morning Herald was that by George Hobler. He said that one of the herdsmen saw a Bunyip while he was looking for his cows on a flooded area in South Wales. The creature was described as being as big as a calf, with a thick darkish brown coloured fur . It had two large tusks and an elongated neck with large ears and a pointed head. It also had a very large tail.

Then in the early 1900’s there were more :

Ginninderra Falls,- A strange animal the size of a 3-month-old calf seen basking on a sandbank near water's edge. The creature wriggled into the water and disappeared from view.

Queanbeyan River,-John Gale while out duck shooting saw a big dog-like amphibian "which plunged beneath the water on seeing him approach".

Balranald, N.S.W. -Teamster frightened by bunyip "with teeth like a cross-cut saw" which came out of the lagoon and bellowed at him.

A rash of sightings occurred in 1932 during the development of hydro-electric plants in Tasmania at the Great Lake,in the Waddaman Dam.

There are several theories about what the bunyip is. One is that it was a Diprotodon, an Ice-Age marsupial that co-existed with the early Aborigines before becoming extinct. Another theory is that Bunyips are seals, or crocodiles, though seals are not normally seen so far inland.. An explanation was also put forward that many tramps and vagrants took to the road during the depression, and may have been living near bodies of water to survive, perpetuating the myth of the Bunyip. They would rise from the river or swamp covered with leaves or weed to keep cool and hide from prying eyes. The resultant apparition would look like a monster.The original stories mean that a bunyip could be more than one type of creature and it was a generic name for anything frigthening or not understood.

Then there is the following reports:

1978-9 Hawkesbury River, N.S.W. 1978-9 Reports of a plesiosaurus-type creature swimming in the river not far from Sydney. Aboriginal cave paintings of this water beast have been found and it is known to the aboriginal natives as Mirreeulla.

Saturday, 12 November 2005

Possible Bunyip sighting - Vic

The operators of a trout farm are offering a $1000 reward to anyone who catches Melbourne's own Loch Ness monster. A giant eel, believed to be around four metres long with a head the size of a football has been spotted at the trout farm at Warburton.

It is believed the eel washed into the farm's ponds during this month's record breaking storms. Farm manager Gary Wales says efforts to catch the giant creature have so far been unsuccessful. "We don't want it harmed, this things probably 30-years-old, and he's come here probably by mistake and he's found himself a good little home and plenty of food," he said. "We hope to catch him alive and take him to the Melbourne Aquarium."

He says he has never heard of such a large eel before."No. Maybe it's Nessy, Nessy's offspring maybe, who knows, but no, it's a big eel."

Source: http://www.yowiehunters.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=228&Itemid=62

So could bunyips be large eels, certainly seems the more likely explanation.