Parks Victoria and Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) remain focused on reopening Buchan Munji (Buchan Caves Reserve) as soon as safe and possible following the devastating Boxing Day floods. 

The joint managers of the reserve understand its importance to locals and businesses. With final engineering reports being received this week, we’ll soon be able to update the community and visitors on how and when the reserve will reopen.

Given the importance of tours to the regional economy, planning is also progressing well on how to safely return visitors to the caves.

The Boxing Day flash flood had a devastating impact on the reserve, when more than 60 millimeters of rain fell in just 30 minutes. The flood affected a number of areas within the caves, with the Royal Cave entrance particularly affected.

Buildings and bridges were also inundated, with large volumes of debris and silt spread throughout the reserve.

The road network was severely damaged, with 700 metres of asphalt surface stripped away by floodwaters. Most roads remain unsafe for public access due to the damage to edges and barriers, railings, retaining walls, road surface and embankments. 

In a critical step for the recovery process, all services such as power, water, sewerage and telecommunications are now operational. 

We’ll soon receive detailed engineering reports on the bridges, roads and caves, which will enable the finalisation of a re-opening plan.

When re-opened, the reserve will still have visible signs of the flooding. Initially, it’s expected that there will be a need for traffic to be managed, and cave tours may need to be modified.

Parks Victoria and GLaWAC are looking forward to updating the community soon on a timeline for reopening, and welcoming visitors again to Buchan Munji (Buchan Caves Reserve).