EPPALOCK ROOPHLOCK 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.