Alan & Lyn's Huge Adventure: 14 & 15/1/17 Work & meat !!

14/1/17

Today was work day , yes I know what you are thinking , you don’t work !! , well today we did - the van an ute had a wash , then we polished the roof of the van !!

Needless to say not much else happened .

15/1/17

Slept like a baby - no not up every 4 hours for a feed - just the sleep part !! We needed food , so shopping it was at the local IGA .

Best tip - if ever in Tallangatta , visit the local butcher or the supermarket and buy some of their meat . We had steaks from here , they smelt like steak should when it cooks , it was tender as , and tasted great !!! This is the best meat we’ve had since we were at Marble Bar in WA !!! That’s been one of the biggest problems we’ve had - finding decent steak !!

Okay , back to the day’s activities , shopping taken care of , we loaded lunch and headed for another circular drive , this time up to Dartmouth , Dartmouth Dam & Mitta Mitta . The Mitta River Valley is renowned for it’s dairy produce , beef & sheep production - probably explains the previous comment on meat !!

Heading towards Wodonga , we turned and headed up a minor road , then onto Omeo Highway . The drive was through rolling hills & valleys , then climbed to Lockhart’s Gap and stopped at the lookout .

The view is toward the southeast into the Mitta River Valley , then onwards toward the Alpine areas . Down the hill and closer to the river , we wound our way up the valley , through Tallandoon - just a locality , then on to Eskdale - a small village . Through Eskdale and we turned off onto Mitta North Rd , that leads you along the eastern side of the river and is considerably quieter .

One farm had a small lagoon beside the road and had planted orange & yellow flowering plants alongside it - I’m sure some of you will know what name the plant is - we don’t !!! It was a pleasant change in the scenery !! There is a nice looking freecamp right beside the river further up .

Onwards we go , turning off toward Dartmouth & the dam . Dartmouth is another of the old hydro scheme towns , not large by any means . Off to the dam , it boasts the highest dam wall at 180m !!

Winding our way up the hill , we stopped at the Cascades - this is below the spillway and consists of several steps / terraces in the hill . When the water does go over the spillway , it would be spectacular - like a very large stepped waterfall .

The dam was reached after a bit more climbing , and revealed a large dam and catchment stretching off into the distance .

Below the dam wall in the corner , were a heap of dead trees that have obviously floated here - they look like match sticks , but were on average about 15m long .

Typically , the power station is below the dam wall - this one is a long way down !!

We drove across the dam wall to the picnic area and the building that houses the dam outlet level lifting and lowering machinery . The spillway is also beside the picnic area . Views into the catchment are also pretty good .

After playing with the drone for a couple of videos ( sorry the videos are a bit long to put in here ) , we headed back down and around to the boat ramp - about 3klms in a straight line , but we had to drive about 18klms !! We crossed over Mitta River and wound our way up & down some more hills .

The boat ramp appeared past the picnic area and car park , water crystal clear - the white aggregate used in the concrete showing up in the water .

Back toward Dartmouth again , we stopped at the spillway viewing area - shows the cascades well , and also the dam wall .

Heading back out toward Mitta Mitta , we stopped at a friends , friends house and introduced ourselves ( we were sort of expected ) . Dennis and Carmen ( brother & sister ) have this lovely house beside the Mitta River , and a large orchard , lot’s of walnut trees & fruit trees - it’s a work in progress and is absolutely beautiful - what a place . Sorry no photo’s of that - we’ll keep their privacy .

Back out and down the road to Mitta Mitta , another little town right beside the river - similar to Bright . Driving down to the river we found a carpark at the back of the hotel and a swimming hole that’s been created with the help of a weir across the river - a very pretty spot on a hot day , and their were a lot of locals there using it .

It was after 4:30pm , so we headed off back toward Tallangatta , driving back down through the valley . Lot’s of sheep & cattle & dairy farms , as previously spoken about , with all the cattle in great shape !!

When we got back down toward the road to Lockhart’s Gap , the valley started to get some more water around . All the valley was in good condition , with green paddocks everywhere . But the backed up water from the Hume Dam was giving us some great views , not much wind , giving some perfect opportunities for photo’s . The 1st one is a spot near Pig’s Point .