There are many , many black angus cattle here , and boy are they in good condition !! Steaks aplenty !!
The only thing that outnumbers the cattle is the amount of round hay bales .
Arriving at Alexandra , we found a small town with at least 3 hotels within 100m in the main street ! Think they like the odd drink ??
We kept going onto Ut Creek Rd into another valley . That valley came to an end and we found ourselves climbing up some very winding road . Near the top of the mountain there's a roundabout with 3 roads to choose from , we went left onto Skyline Road and continued to climb to the top , then along the ridge for a couple of klms . Stopping at Devils Cove Fire Trail for a few photos of Lake Eildon as it opened up before us .
Further down the road was Goschnicks Outlook , a similar view as the last , we enjoyed it as we had some lunch .
From up here we could see all the ski boats going back & forth , and could here the higher pitch of the jet skis that were also everywhere .
Back to the roundabout and turned right towards Eildon , still on Skyline Rd , I was hoping for a view back down the valley toward Alexandra and got one .
Driving this road required concentration , narrow , winding , steep and huge drops off the sides . The stand out feature here is where people build houses - given that it is a very hard area to find flat ground , some houses are perched on the top of very steep hills - any steeper and they'd be called cliffs !!! The cost of the driveways would be as much as a normal house !! Unfortunately we didn't get any photos as there was nowhere to stop !!
Further down was a turn to Taylor Bay so we turned into it and wound our way around Right Arm Rd then Left Arm Rd , again , narrow twisting roads , with lots of houses , most with their own access to the water , and a houseboat or ski or fishing boat parked in the water . There's no public access to the water here , but was interesting to see where people live / or holiday .
Back onto Skyline Road again and into Eildon , another small town , plenty of houses with boats of all descriptions parked in the yards . Heading around to the dam wall , there was another road that went around to the boat club - a security gated boat club - members only !! There is also a marina with many houseboats moored there , but also a boat ramp with many cars & trailers parked as well !! Back around to the dam wall we stopped and went for a walk - I counted 33 boats on the water , just in the section I could see - hate to think how many more are out there !!! I've never seen so many house boats in one spot - about 150 we reckon - probably a lot more !!!
As is normal , there's a hydro power plant below the dam wall on Eildon side of the wall .
Heading across the other side of the dam wall ( you can drive over this one ) and down to the public boat ramp . It's only a single ramp , and people were queueing up to launch and retrieve their boats & jet ski's . There is parking for cars & trailers , when that's full there's another overflow carpark , then across the spillway and down another 100m is the 3rd overflow carpark - if you had to use that one , it would take 20mins to walk back to the ramp !!
Off toward Jerusalem Creek , there's Mt Pinninger Lookout at 543m above sea level !! Just for a change it is a twisting , turning road up to the top , but the view was well worth it !! This is looking to the northwest .
Back down the road about a kilometre are some High Voltage lines that go from the power plant up the hill and across the lake . This span would be a minimum of 3klms from where we are to the other side - that's one big span !!!!
Looking to the right towards the southeast , you could see Mt Buller in the distance .
Back down the hill and onwards to Jerusalem Creek , where we find another private boat club & marina - more houseboats etc etc , that you cannot access unless you are a member and also a public boat ramp and another marina with more houseboats . There's also a cafe , restaurant & bar / bottleshop , a fuel stop for the boats and people everywhere . Cars are parked beside the water , people are picnicking & Bbq'ing , chairs , gazebo's etc , etc .
With that we headed for home , day done , here's a map link : - https://drive.google.com/open?id=16fKxRC8BmsGTwDZh4-g0ayPVGDw&usp=sharing
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