The tiny Victorian town of Jeparit has been famous for two things; being the birthplace of former prime minister Sir Robert Menzies and for Lake Hindmarsh.
The lake, which is just to the north of the town of 300 people, is Victoria's largest freshwater lake.
It was reliably full of water during the 1970 and '90s and drew campers, fishers and watersport enthusiasts. But recently it has more often than not been a dust bowl.
While Menzies passed away in 1978, the lake is on the cusp of a revival.
The third consecutive La Niña that has devastated inland towns in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales further east in recent months has been good news for the lake.
It sits at the end of the Wimmera River, which begins in the highlands west of Ballarat and has carried high river levels through Horsham and Dimboola and onto the lake for more than a year.
For the first time since 2011, there is now enough water in the lake to paddle a kayak.
Nearby farmer Paul Newcombe was there when it happened.
"There's a lake there now! It's exciting to see," he said.
Mr Newcombe says it is "a big thing" for there to be water in the lake.
"Back in the '70s it was full a lot of the time," he said.
"The '74 flood filled Hindmarsh and overflowed [north to Lake] Albacutya and Wyperfeld [National Park]."
Lake's heyday could soon return
Mr Newcombe said during the 1990s Lake Hindmarsh also had water "a lot of the time" and people would converge on its shores for social gatherings and recreation.
"Every weekend you could go down there and catch up with people, and it became a real meeting place," he said.
"You could barely find a spot to park your car on Four Mile Beach at one stage — there were thousands of people camping down there.
"At one point, there were 20 professional fishermen catching redfin out of the lake and selling fillets."
Mr Newcombe says more water depth will be needed for the boat ramp to be usable.
"At the moment, it's covering most of the bottom [of the lake]," he said.
"There is not a lot of depth to it, but that could change with more rain forecast in the future.
"At Schulzes Beach on the western side, it's basically to the bottom of the concrete boat ramp now."
There are only a few campers at this stage.
Lake of gold?
Jeparit's population peaked at almost 900 people in the early 1900s and has been falling steadily since. Most of the shops on the main street are unused.
The town was without a pub between 2018 and 2020, before Rick Larkin bought the Hopetoun House Hotel and turned it into Larrikins Pub.
Since then, the nearby grandiose Hindmarsh Hotel has also started opening several times a year for gigs and special dinners.
Mr Larkin opened Larrikins one day before the first COVID lockdown in March 2020 and has spent the past two years adapting to survive, including becoming a takeaway restaurant when pandemic restrictions hit.
With that era behind the town, and the lake filling up, Mr Larkin is hopeful good times are ahead.
"It would be awesome for the town if the lake were to fill. It would bring people here for a couple of seasons," he said.
"But we would need consistent rain."
Mr Larkin said the lake filling with water was already attracting visitors.
"The pub is a lot busier now," he said.
"I went to the lake last weekend and there were lots of people just going up to look at the water coming in."
Mr Larkin says the staff shortages bedevilling much of Australia's hospitality industry is, and will continue to be, an obstacle preventing him from taking full advantage of tourists — a customer base he's never needed to serve until now.
