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A tourism boom in one of Victoria's most remote towns is helping local businesses thrive, but some residents say there aren't enough amenities to cope with the hordes of visitors who flock there on weekends and public holidays.
Only 105 people actually live in the picturesque village of Dargo, nestled in the state's High Country more than an hour's drive from the nearest town.
But as the weekend approaches, a mix of hunters, four-wheel drive enthusiasts, campers, caravan owners and dirt-bike riders descend on the town's general store and pub.
On some long weekends, thousands of tourists can be vying for space at the area's five campsites, according to Dargo Hotel owner Helen Hall.
And while that's great for business, it does come with challenges for the tiny township.
Megan Lee, who works as a bush nurse in Dargo, describes the influx as a "massive explosion" of people.
"It becomes difficult to park at the store, becomes difficult to park at the hotel. And there's just a buzz," she said.
Visitors arrive in waves from mid-September until the High Plains Road closes for winter after the long weekend in June, with the summer school holidays and Easter long weekend particularly busy.
Ms Hall said she had up to 17 staff on the books during the peak season to provide food and accommodation for visitors.
"We do probably around 1,500 covers of meals a week and we have 100 [accommodation] beds. Weekends [are] our peak time. Last night was a full house, tonight is a full house," Ms Hall said.
"Without tourism, there would be no Dargo, without a doubt."
Tourists keen 'to get away'
The domestic tourism spend across regional Victoria was up 39 per cent in 2023 compared to pre-pandemic levels.
"Every part of Victoria — as we define it from a visitor economy perspective — is up on where it was pre-pandemic," Visit Victoria chief executive Brendan McClements said.
"[Domestic tourism spend in] areas like Geelong and the Bellarine are up 72 per cent, Gippsland 42 per cent up, Phillip Island 59 per cent up, High Country 52 per cent up."
In 2023, the number of domestic visitors in regional Victoria remained slightly below pre-pandemic levels, at 92 per cent of the year ending December 2019.
But visitors are staying in regional areas for longer and spending more money.
Mr McClements said most of the visitors to regional Victoria came from Melbourne and this reflected many people's "desire to disconnect" from their hectic lives.
"Camping, four-wheel driving will be part of that," he said.
"That's one of the global trends that has emerged as we've come out of the last few years — people have a real interest in getting away from things."
Dargo infrastructure concerns
Ms Hall, whose family has lived in Dargo for four generations, believes the town's future lies in harnessing the tourism demand.
But she's concerned local infrastructure hasn't kept pace with the sudden boom in visitors to the region.
"[The boom] has really been over just a few years and we all know infrastructure takes a long time to plan and to get up to speed," she said.
Ms Hall said the town really needed a designated disposal point for waste from caravans, because some visitors dumped their waste in the portaloos she provided for tourists camping behind the hotel.
"Our public toilets, they get waste put in there [too] because there is nothing local," she said.
A spokesperson for the Wellington Shire Council said in a statement it did not provide sanitary dump stations for campers.
"However, [it] does support communities that wish to install a public dump point, with the understanding that the community will be responsible for seeking funding and for ongoing maintenance," the spokesperson said.
They said caravan owners should dispose of their waste at the nearest designated dump points, in Maffra, Heyfield, Coongulla, Stratford, Sale, Dinner Plain and Bairnsdale.
Those locations are all more than an hour's drive from Dargo.
Phone network 'goes down'
Ms Hall said the sudden influx of tourists meant Dargo's phone network cut out several times each year, as demand soared.
"The whole network goes down. You have no phone, you have no mobile service, you have no WiFi, you have absolutely nothing," she said.
"There's always that [fear], 'What if something went wrong?'.
"That's probably one of the things about living in Dargo … you're an hour, at least, from any assistance … you've got to look after your own back."
Telstra regional general manager Jenny Gray said the company designed and managed its network to plan for peaks and troughs in demand.
"We have two mobile sites that service the Dargo area and we're investigating how we can enhance and optimise coverage and capacity," she said.
The Gippsland region, which includes Dargo, has been hit by numerous extreme weather events in the past six months, including multiple floods and fires.
"Council is more concerned than ever that immediate investment is needed to maintain resilient energy and telecommunications networks locally," the council spokesperson said.
Ms Gray said Telstra was looking at ways to improve its network resilience.
A changing community
Dargo museum caretaker Brian Madigan said that in its heyday, the town was home to several industries.
"There was a mill working down where the tavern is. They employed about 16 people at the mill and the wives and families were there," he said.
But when logging was phased out in the region in the 1980s, families moved out and the school closed.
Dargo was once also home to a "fairly vibrant" walnut industry, but Mr Madigan said it was difficult for local farmers to compete with cheap imports.
"The rural industry was fizzling out. There wasn't enough money in a farm for the kids to survive there as well — they had to go to Melbourne and other places," he said.
"Once they got down to the Big Smoke they didn't want to come back to the bush, there was no fun or nightlife here for 'em."
Mr McClements said despite the boom in regional tourism, he was mindful of financial pressures on travellers.
"They're staying a little bit longer and spending a little bit more, but we need to be conscious of the dynamics that are in the market at the moment with cost of living and other things," he said.
"We're very aware that we need to be constantly seeking to help people make that choice of moving into different parts of the state."
Mr Madigan said residents had mixed feelings about the impact of tourism on the Dargo community.
"There was a friendliness that went with the remoteness," he said.
"We had to be reliant on one another and help one another. That bred a good community, and I hope that stays a few years yet."