I've still been keeping quiet here on the phlog. For much of this
week at least that's because I've been on my longest dam holiday
yet. One night in Tatura, near Shepparton, and two nights in
Alexandra, with ten dams and reservoirs in between. Right now I'm
at the eleventh, Atop the Eppaloch Dam. It's a dam that not only
forms the expansive and picturesque Lake Eppalock, but is also
accompanied by the nearby township of Eppilock. Which I guess is
why I actually get phone reception here in order to send this from
my "holiday latop", the Eee PC 701 which I haven't really used
since my last proper holiday a couple of years ago, my rail
adventure to Pyramid Hill etc.. Of couse I looked again at the
traiin lines to Bairnsdale where I originally planned to go then,
and of course again the line to Bairnsdale was closed for at least
the next week, and the local line was closed for half the week. So
I gave up on that nonsense and just went by car, which honestly is
far less stressful, at least since my old Jag has been behaving
itself very well so far (though wooden picnic bench!).
Since I still haven't refilled my 35mm film stash, I've gone all
modern and digital with my 2003 Olympus point-and-shoot. In fact
these days holding that up might look even weirder to fellow
tourists than using a film camera, but few other tourists go to
dams in the first place, the main visitoors here are passing behind
me towing flashy speedboats to the various boat ramps elsewhere at
the lake's many offshoots.
Yesterday I wore myself out getting lost amongst the Rubicon
Hydroelectric Scheme, a little way South West of Lake Eppilock.
Three dams there serve the purpose not of water supply by purely to
power four small hydroelectric power stations from the 1920s, then
supplying a fifth of the power for the state of Victoria. Now it's
apparantly something like 0.02%, but at least one was still
whirring away when I visited, even if the others seem to be
suspiciously quiet right now.
I jotted down a little pre-ROOPHLOCH entry from beside the first of
the two dams I visited there during my walks, and if I'm honest the
only one I visited wholly intentionally.
----
This counts as a preparation for a pre-ROOPHLOCH I suppose. I
haven't got to using my optical comms Rx/Tx for the ROOPHLOCKing I
had planned for last year, and I haven't got my laptop with me
right now because evene the little EeePC 701 is heeavy p the hills
I've been climbing, and phone reception for my mobile broadband
modem would bee truely miraculous. So by pencil and paper, dodging
rain drops and, oh, that was a bit of hail (umbrella up, I'm coming
to you from beside my favourite place, a new dam. The crumbled
remains of the sign crushed under the fallen tree now serving me
for a seat declares this is Rubicon Falls Dam. Rubicon Falls was a
little further back along the Rubicon River Road which I'm walking.
In contrast to such locations on my usual side of the state at the
moment, water is very plentiful, cascading down with a roar which
from the overlooking road reverberates with an angry growell
between thunder and the working of a huge engine. Here though the
water itself is the engine, since beyond these dams my aim is to
explore the Rubicon Hydroelectric Scheme. Built in the 1920s, it is
still in service and as such also not fully accessible. But in fact
most of the sights are relatively open and the quaint dated
appearance of the tall turbine buildings, riveted pipelines, and
disued serice tramways, is magnificient in these dense bushland
surrounds. It is however darn cold right now, so before my fingers
freeze or the rain restarts, I'll make my way back downhill to
check out the Roysten Dam and power station.
----
Actually as you might guess that thunder sound while I was looking
at the waterfall was actual thunder, and a storm passed over while
I was walking my way back what turns out to be the rough, currently
closed, section of the Roysten Road back to take the other half to
Roysten Power Station and an official "Heritage Trail" also passing
an abandoned sawmill and a large wooden tramway bridge. By this
time it was cold and late and I decided not to visit Roysten Dam
which is off the usual walking route. Yet I must have missed a
marker and ended up following an aquaduct back to it anyway. Which
wasn't so bad because even though it's the same design as Rubicon
Falls Dam there's much better public access, right up to the dam
wall and the platforms underneath. Ufortunately my my digital
camera (complete with my photo of the map on the trail entrance
sign) was flat by then, so no photos of that, if/when I get around
to uploading any of those. You will a least see a nice shot (minus
a fence) of some kangaroos looking over Eppalock Dam wich I snapped
just as I was arriving here.
That'll do for this entry. I'll get back to you again by a beam of
light back home later on, I hope.
- The Free Thinker.
PS. There are more signs on the other side of the road over the dam
wall and, it turns out this is Lake Eildon, not Lake Eppalock. I
was at Lake Eppalock two days ago. It's been a long week.
