Copyright - Clancy Tucker (c)
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Quote of the day:
"It doesn't get any better than this!"
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EILDON
- A Great Place to Write
G'day guys,
Ever wondered where writers live? Many famous writers have lived in exotic places, far from where they were born. It is said that Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, but spent time in Kansas City, Toronto, Canada, Italy, Spain, Cuba, Paris, France and Key West, Florida. He died on 2 July 1961 at his own hands.
Today I'm promoting the small town where I live and work - Eildon. It's not exactly exotic, but it certainly has served my purpose - it's quiet. Leave Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, drive through the picturesque Yarra Valley, noted for its wineries, head over the Black Spur, observing tall mountain ash and monstrous tree ferns and arrive at Eildon in less than two hours. There is no doubt that Eildon is Victoria’s best kept secret – the jewel of water sports. Nestled in a valley of lush trees and farmland, is a town that provides more recreational water than any municipality in Australia. Massive Lake Eildon is currently 94% full and all streams are running high on their banks.
This is Australia’s fishing mecca where brown and rainbow trout, redfin, perch, Murray cod, roach and tench can be caught in and around the township; whether you’re a bait or fly fisherman. Snobs, Rubicon and Goulburn rivers, plus the massive weir or the upper and lower pondages are a fisherman’s delight. Don’t forget. You can fish in our large pondages for those three months when the rivers are out of bounds to fishermen.
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Copyright - Clancy Tucker (c)
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Boating of all forms can be enjoyed year-round; whether it’s a tinnie, a jet-ski or a houseboat. Water skiing is always popular here because Lake Eildon is so large – five times the size of Sydney Harbour – 576 kilometres in circumference, with more than eight boat ramps for easy access. Eildon boasts some of the best caravan parks in Australia. Two of them are located right beside the Goulburn River. Boutique hotels and B & B’s plus motels, hotels, holiday flats, cottages, cabins, camping facilities, full service, or self catering is also available. You choose, according to your budget.
Maybe you’d like to do some camping, kayaking, canoing, bush walking, hiking, horse riding, mountain climbing or rafting. We have the lot. Of course we do. That’s why the Outdoor Education Group’s national headquarters are based here. The OEG runs activity courses for hundreds of kids every year. Oh, don’t forget a visit to Mount Pinninger, ten minutes from our township - a place with sensational views of the mountains on one side and Lake Eildon on the other.
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'The Earl of Eildon'
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Eildon has a hotel called The Golden Trout which offers typical pub fare at reasonable prices. Out of the exterior decking you can enjoy the beautiful views of the Lake Eildon poundage and surrounding hills whilst enjoying some Snob’s Creek wine and locally grown olives. The Eildon township boats an excellent eatery called The Best Gourmet Café. The head chef, Max has a woodfire pizza oven and makes his own pasta with fresh and flavoursome ingredients. The food is delightfully filling for all the people that have outdoor activities in hand and need sustenance. Everyone is catered for including the sweet tooth with a range of home made chocolate mousse or baclava washed down with some Vittorio coffee.
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King Parrot - a super friendly local
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Aqua is the name of eatery up the winding road going towards Lake Eildon’s spillway. Aqua offers exceptional views of the lake and is a favourite with the locals - delightful on hot summer days. Enjoy a cold crisp chardonnay on the deck overlooking the lake after a vigorous day water-skiing.
Alexandra, the township 25 kms up the road from Eildon has four hotels to choose from, one specialising in parmas. Café Alex (the locals term for Alexandra) offers excellent coffee, cakes, snacks and an all day breakfast if you so desire. The Dairy café, a charming cottage that has been restored and is surrounded by a lovely picket fence offers a simple fare of snacks, coffee and tea. In nearby Acheron is a beautiful restaurant called Rennie’s which offers fine food and wine. This delightful establishment offers attractive indoor and outdoor dining.
If you drive past a home and see a guy on a veranda, head down and slashing words with a red pen, you'll probably see me. So, what are you waiting for? Don’t be shy. Come and join us, and spend some time in paradise. You deserve to visit us and we’d love to see you.
Here are a few more photographs of our local friends.
- Copyright Clancy Tucker (c)
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Baaaah!
Sponsored by -
Like most Australian rural towns, we also have some characters: 'Fruity', 'Digger', 'Hooky', 'Tiny' 'Gremlin', 'Barney', 'Oscar' and many more. The above photograph shows Mark Howard, the local real estate magnate, in our local cemetery. Mark has introduced a string of giveaways to aspiring clients, including free cemetery plots with any property purchase. The smooth-talking, sharp, quick-witted property seller has offered other bonuses to perspective clients: paying for house-warming parties, river cruises, dinner packages - even a set of steak knives. Naturally, Mark offered the cemetery plots with a promise that they would provide 'Heavenly Views'.
Mm ... good one, Mark!
I'm Clancy Tucker ... sitting in Eildon, doing my best to boss words around, hoping I will not need a cemetery plot with 'Heavenly Views' for quite some time.
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Copyright - Clancy Tucker (c)
'Lower Pondage - Eildon'
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