Paradise Falls - Wabonga State Park - Whitfield Region

The Paradise Waterfalls are in the Wabonga State Park, 17 km from Whitfield via Cheshunt, in NE Victoria, about 330 km NE of Melbourne.

Vehicle access is via the unsealed 2WD Paradise Falls Rd, to the Falls carpark. This road is signed as the "Paradise Falls Track".

The walking track winds its way down the Gorge, reaching a view point at the bottom of spectacular vertical cliffs. The Falls are an uninterrupted 31 metres drop and are best viewed in spring, early summer or after rain.

Information, toilet and picnic facilities are available at the car park.

There are some nice views from the Track to the Alps.

With mate Mick, we visited the Falls on Saturday December 12, 2009, having explored the nearby Power's Lookout Reserve.

Sadly, the flow on this day was only a trickle!

See the complete set of Photos of our visit!

Power's Lookout - Bushranger Country!

Power's Lookout Reserve is located in north east Victoria, 43 km north east of Mansfield and 20 km south west of Whitfield.

With mate Mick, the journey was from Bright, through Myrtleford to Whitfield, then up to the Reserve.

This scenic reserve provides marvellous vistas of the Upper King Valley and the Alpine National Park.

An Information Board at the car park/picnic area provides comprehensive details about the Reserve, its history and geological formation.

This lookout, high on a ridge overlooking the King River Valley, was well used in the 1800's by Harry Power, a notorious bushranger who would watch from this lofty position to see when the mail coaches were coming and wait in ambush. From his vantage point high up, he could spot the dust risiing in the far end of the valley to the north. This would give him time to ride his horse down from the ridge to meet the unsuspecting driver of the coach, which usually carried money too.

There are two viewing points - one is at the car park, the other is at the most northern point of the rocky outcrop, reached by a 1 km (return) walking track via a series of steep ladders.

The rocky outcrops were once part of an ancient river system. Over the years, movement in the earth's crust has uplifted the conglomerate from the drainage basin where it was originally deposited. Tilting of the sediment layers and erosion by wind and water has left the rocky outcrop of Power's Lookout as it is today.

The views are magnificent!

We visited the Lookout reserve on Saturday December 11, 2009.

See the full set of Photos of our visit!

Lake William Hovell - Whitfield

Lake William Hovell is located on the King River 18 km south of Cheshunt in north-eastern Victoria, about 270 km from Melbourne.

It takes its name from Australian explorer William Hovell, who trekked through the region in 1824.

Construction of the reservoir was completed in 1973.

It supplies water for irrigated crops, vineyards and grazing properties along the King River from Cheshunt to Wangaratta.

The ‘flip bucket' spillway is a special feature of the storage. When the storage has filled and during floods, overflow water is directed into the King River as a spectacular spray. The "flip bucket" spillway chute terminates part of the way down the slope of the storage embankment and the water leaps from it into the river. The bottom lip of the chute is curved upwards so that large flows can be thrown well clear of the chute to reduce the risk of erosion damage erosion.

We visited this nice place on Saturday afternoon August 8, 2009, travelling from our home-base at Bright, through Myrtleford, Oxley, Whitfield, and Chesthunt.

The Lake borders the Alpine National Park on the east, and the Mansfield State Forest to the west. To the south is the Mt Buller region - westerly is the Mt Samaria State Park.

The route follows the King River Valley, below the Wabonga Plateau. The rugged cliffs of Powers Lookout are nearby.

See the full set of Photos of our visit!