Tight community of Daylesford reels from ‘devastating’ horror of crash that killed five

The charming town of Daylesford is a tourist mecca that packs up on weekends — especially the long ones — but on Sunday night, the tight community received the heaviest of shocks.

A long weekend Monday in Daylesford might normally be about sunscreen and the clink of glasses, maybe a sneaky parma at the pub in the middle of town, and some chatter about which horse would win the big race tomorrow.

Or perhaps a relaxing spa. Or a browse at Paradise Bookshop, “a rambling maze” just up the road from The Royal Daylesford Hotel.

Instead, a police officer carried away a pram, just another haunting prop of the sudden madness of the night before. Beer jugs stood ignored on picnic tables, while upturned tables hinted of the power of the impact.

Police at the scene on Sunday night. Picture: Josie Hayden

Police tape danced in the breeze. A street light, like a giant matchstick snapped, remained where it had been felled by a white BMW 12 or so hours earlier.

Investigators in blue hazmat suits and face masks scrubbed at and examined the road and its debris. An orange tarpaulin which had hidden the grisly scene had been taken away early in the morning.

And a busy Hepburn Shire mayor, Brian Hood, spoke of how different it looked and felt from any other long weekend morning.

His key message? That “shockwaves” from this “devastating” moment will reverberate for “some time to come”.

A police officer carries away a pram. Picture: Brendan Beckett

In a steady flow, amid quiet sobs and quivering mouths, people laid flowers for the random losses of the previous night.

Among them was Jenna Acquarola, from Melbourne.

She had been at the pub late in the afternoon on Sunday, left, then passed it again about five minutes after a car careered into the beer garden like what a witness described as a “rocket”.

Two police officers from the nearby station had rushed to the scene by then. Phones and shoes lay about. Passers-by, in a collective show of blind care, tended to the injured, as ambulances and medical choppers would descend.

Investigators in blue hazmat suits and face masks scrub and examine the road and debris. Picture: Brendan Beckett

Some people stood around, silently, trying to process the inexplicable. Others who had seen the car rear into the air on impact had shouted in shock. Acquarola may never forget the white sheets “all over the road”.

A local, Joanna Parker, was the first to lay flowers on Monday, at about 7.30am, at the roundabout.

She spoke of the panic in the minutes after the crash, of the crying of onlookers, and hurried calls to see if loved ones were OK.

“I feel for the family,” she said. “We don’t know who the victims are yet, but it doesn’t matter because it could have been anyone. It could have been my children or their friends ….it’s a popular pub … and lots and lots of tourists on a Sunday.”

By mid-afternoon on Monday, dozens and dozens of floral tributes had been laid. Picture: Brendan Beckett

Early indications suggested that the killed were family members visiting Daylesford for the weekend. They may have been pursuing what the hotel spruiks as an opportune place for a “short break from daily life”.

The Royal Daylesford Hotel building has sat in the middle of town for almost 170 years. The pub offers five different parmas, and gourmet burgers, and accommodation across a wide price range. It was said to be heaving with patrons throughout the weekend.

The Royal Daylesford Hotel building has sat in the middle of town for almost 170 years. Picture: Brendan Beckett

Daylesford is a charming place for gentrified fancies. It packs up on weekends, especially the long ones. Built on the 1850s gold rush, its best known now for its mineral springs and lakes as a major tourist and alternative lifestyle mecca.

By mid-afternoon on Monday, dozens and dozens of floral tributes had been laid. Paradise Bookshop, along with some other shops, had opened to receive customers. The road had been reopened.

Meanwhile, a numbed Royal Daylesford Hotel owner Cameron Stone told the Herald Sun that staff would be given all the emotional support that they needed.

Most of the growing bunch of flowers had been laid by locals. They did not know who had died in the carnage.

But they did know that their town had received the heaviest of shocks. As Parker said: “It will affect the community, because it’s a very, very tight community”.