What lies beneath Lake Jindabyne?

The Canberra Times

Beneath Lake Jindabyne’s surface lies the submerged town of old Jindabyne, including the ruins of the Truss Bridge. Tim the Yowie Man dives into the mysteries to uncover the secrets of this aquatic time capsule.

Transcript

00:00Lake Jindabyne is currently only about half full, the lowest it's been for many years.

00:07The water level is so low that parts of the old town, flooded in 1967 as part of the snowy hydro scheme,

00:14are beginning to emerge, including these steps to the former Catholic church that stood atop a hill in old Jindabyne

00:22until it was demolished ahead of the filling of the lake.

00:26Now there's a long-standing story that the church spire was left standing, but as you can see, that's just a myth.

00:35All that's left is some rubble and these steps.

00:39So what else lurks under the water of Lake Jindabyne?

00:44According to cave diver Sean Elliott, quite a lot.

00:47And he should know, for he's undertaken over 10 dives into the lake's murky depths.

00:53One of Sean's favourite dive sites is the former truss bridge that carried traffic across the snowy river for over 70 years,

01:01or at least what's left of the bridge.

01:05With the old town moved to higher ground and the lake filling, in June 1967, just before the bridge was submerged,

01:11the army blew it up as part of a training exercise.

01:16The explosion left three platypus stunned, which were rescued and luckily relocated by a local.

01:23Today, on the bottom of the lake, if you know where to look, like Sean does,

01:27you can still see the splintered remains or ruins of that bridge.

01:34Sean and his diving mates have also logged several dives on old homesteads,

01:39including Sunnybrae, where they looked down old chimneys,

01:42peeked through its open windows and swam through the former kitchen.

01:47Check out that old Canberra-branded wood stove.

01:50It really is another world down there, a former town submerged forever in an aquatic time capsule.

02:00Who knows what else may emerge if water levels continue to recede.

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