On Boxing Day Leon Holt was waiting for the water to go down at Donaldson Park, where the day before people were kayaking on the floodwater.
"We woke up Christmas morning and everything was cut off and flooded," the ground's curator said.
The wild eastern Australian weather over Christmas delivered Wedderburn in north central Victoria 155mm of rain over two days, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
While Mr Holt and others with responsibility for it discussed pumping the water off the grass, they concluded it wouldn't be any quicker than letting the table drains clear it.
So it was just a matter of waiting, and the level had gone down substantially already.
"We don't know what's in it and under it - it could be rubbish, broken glass or big holes," the groundsman said.
Despite semi-regular flood events at Wedderburn - four in the past decade - this week was the first time since 1973 that the footy ground had "got wet".
Donaldson Park is in a low-lying part of town that turns into a drainage valley in heavy rain. Flash floods on Christmas Day surged down Waitchie and Chapel streets, heading for the spreading Nardoo Creek, which had cut the town in half.
In contrast to its surroundings, the sportsground itself is raised, and its elevation usually stops it going under.
But this year's natural event - in which a reported seven inches of rain fell in seven hours - meant all bets were off, according to Mr Holt.
There has been significant water damage to the hockey shed and the trotting track would need a complete overhaul, he said.
Local authorities faced a challenge ahead, not least in establishing who would pick up the bill for repairs, the groundsman said.
There were already questions around the cost of disposing of excavated soil containing naturally occurring arsenic from the site, he said.
Flood event forces wedding cancellation
Wedderburn's Haiden Mellford and Jennie Schultze were set for a summer wedding in the garden they had lovingly landscaped.
For Mr Mellford, who fell off a roof two-and-a-half years ago and broke his neck, working in the garden has been a major part of rehabilitation.
After 25 years together, the pair had decided they would tie the knot in coming weeks at their home.
"We did a lot of hard work in the garden; it was beautiful," Ms Schultze said.
But when floodwater raged through the Calder Highway property on Christmas Day, it uprooted plants and trashed garden fences, furniture and features.
And as Ms Schultze worked in chest-high water to try to clear debris from the wire gate fronting the property so as to let the water flow out, her engagement ring slipped from her finger and was lost.
Haiden also suffered minor injuries from being dragged by the water.
The floodwater also inundated two cars, one of them a prized Statesman - which was parked in the garage.
The couple could still raise a smile, even though they were in mild shock on Boxing Day.
But the wedding wouldn't be going ahead in the foreseeable future, they said.
Worst one yet
Behind them at Pam Jackson's place on Wilson Street, the floodwaters lifted a fridge out of the shed and carried it to the door of the property diagonally behind.
"It was the worst I've ever seen, this is definitely the worst one," Pam said.
"My son could hardly stand in the water."
Inside her house the water had risen to skirting board level, inundating the carpet and underlay.
By Tuesday afternoon, with the insurance company involved, the floor coverings had been ripped out, and fans and heaters set up to dry the place out.
Ms Jackson was set to go to her daughter's and was expecting it would be six months before she would have her house back.
Locals said a new drainage system the council planned to introduce had yet to be implemented.
Design problems with the camber of the road and issues at Skinner's Flat dam - which hasn't been properly repaired since last year's floods - were also said by some to be part of the problem.
Cars stuck, roads closed and flood affected
According to Leading Senior Constable Rueben Larson from Wedderburn police, there had been flooding on both sides of the town on Christmas Day, and emergency services dealt with a few cars that stalled on the Calder Highway.
Other roads were closed or flood-affected, particularly back roads on either side of the Calder, some of which were too small to have white dividing lines, which could be a good guide as to depth.
North-west around Woosang there was quite a lot of water over the road.
On Wednesday there were new closures, on Old St Arnaud Road and further north, Charlton Road.
The Leading Senior Constable was hoping for dry weather, he said, and for people to drive to the conditions and not plough into floodwaters.
- from Bendigo Advertiser
