Quelques sorties; un verre avec Lorraine et Claire mercredi et un bon repas avec Mary jeudi soir.
Vendredi soir, direction Moe (B) avec Touyoussou :)
My week:
A few nights out; a drink with Lorraine and Claire on Wednesday and a nice dinner and drinks with Mary on Thursday :)
Friday, Touyoussou and I left for Moe (B) :)
Samedi: Walhalla (C):
Walhalla est un petit village qui a ete fonde en 1863 pour exploiter une mine d'or. Walhalla a eu jusqu'a 2500 habitants, aujourd'hui un peu moins d'une vingtaine d'habitants mais beaucoup de touristes.
Saturday: Walhalla (C):
Wikipedia says: Walhalla is a small town, founded as a gold-mining community in early 1863 and at its peak home to around 2,500 residents. Today, the town has a population of fewer than 20 permanent residents, though it has a large proportion of houses owned as holiday properties.
Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine:
La Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine a ete ouverte en 1863. Apres 8 ans et toujours pas d'or trouve, la mine a ferme. Wn 1871, une nouvelle compagnie a repris la mine. Ils ont creuse a l'oppose et ont alors trouve beaucoup d'or; 13,695 kg de 1871 a 1911.
La visite nous amene 300 metres dans le tunnel.
Wikipedia: Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine was one of the richest mines of Walhalla. The mine was started in 1863, after eight years, the company collapsed after not finding any gold. The mine was then taken over by the Long Tunnel Extended Company in 1871. This mine soon became the second most productive mine in the area (after the Long Tunnel) and in total produced 13,695 kg of gold before it closed in 1911. Overall, the Long Tunnel Extended mine was Victoria’s fifth largest gold mine during the colonial era.
The tour takes visitors 300 metres into the huge underground machinery chamber hewn from the solid rock over a century ago.
Old Post Office
Les travaux on dure de 1904 a 1910 pour lier Walhalla a Moe. Malheureusement c'est cette annee la que l'activite de Walhalla a commence a diminuer. La ligne a ferme en 1954. Des travaux de restauration ont debute en 1991 et la ligne a re-ouvert en 2002.
Wikipedia: Started in June 1904, the Moe to Walhalla railway, reached its destination in May 1910 - too late to do much but witness the gradual decline of Walhalla as a premier mining town, with the closure of the Long Tunnel Extended Goldmine in 1911. Work of restoration started in 1991 and the line opened from Walhalla to Thomson in 2002.
Tres pentu ce cimetiere.
Marche autour du village:
Ce panneau indique, je suppose, des marches a pied... La derniere destination est a 680kms....
I assume this signs indicate bushwalking direction.... The last destination is 680kms away though....
TOUYOUSSOU xxx
Ancienne caserne de pompiers - Old Fire Station
Nuit a Erica dans Touyoussou :)
Night in Erica.
Dimanche - Sunday:
Entre Erica et Mt Gwinear (Mt Baw Baw National Park):
On the road between Erica and Mt Gwinear (Mt Baw Baw National Park):
Premiere (et pas la derniere!) route non pavee pour Touyoussou (avec moi en tous cas!)
First but not last off road drive for Touyoussou with me piloting :)
Mt Baw Baw National Park - Mt Gwinear (E):Marche ecourtee, trop de neige.... Et puis temps allant vers l'orage!
I had to go back cause of the snow.... I'll have to come back a bit later in summer...
La construction du barrage a ete acceptee en 1975, malgre le mecontentement / mouvement des fermiers du coin! Le travail a dure de 1976 a 1983. Depuis 1997, le Victoria (et l'Australie) subit d'enormes secheresses; en Juillet 2009, le niveau du lac etait a 16.2%, de nombreuses pluies en 2010 et 2011 ont permis au lac de remonter a 54.4% fin 2011. Le lac etait plein pour la derniere fois en 1996.
Wikipedia: Despite opposition from conservationists and farmers, plans for the dam were originally approved in late December 1975 to provide Melbourne with water security. A dam on the Thomson river was preferred because the river had a large flow, high water quality and was elevated high enough to provide water to the upper Yarra system by gravity flow. Work on the dam itself commenced in 1976 and the dam wall was ready to contain water by 1983. Since 1997, drought has resulted in depletion of much of the reservoir's water. 2006 in particular was a devastating year for Melbourne's water supply, where little rain and inflows resulted in a continuous drop in water levels. In early January 2006, the Thomson Dam was at 45.4%. While there were minor rises in water levels occasionally, the Thomson Dam reached its all-time low of 16.2% on 3 July 2009. Heavy rainfall in 2010 and 2011 has increased Melbourne's water storages to levels not seen for ten years. The Thomson Dam entered winter 2011 at 39% full and by the end of 2011 had reached 54.4% full. The last time the reservoir was full and spilling was in the spring of 1996.
From Thomson Reservoir to Mt Baw Baw (G): More off road driving!
Once Touyoussou had climbed the whole summit, I got told that I had to pay $40 to get in as it's still ski season... I turned around.....
Toorongo Falls (H):
ouh......
A few houses next to the falls, but quite far from anything else!
Time to go home .....
