Premier exposure for giant eel story

By Dion Teasdale
THE YARRA Valley’s tourism operators, local identities and urban myths will be featured in an upcoming segment of the television travel program Getaway.
Getaway presenter Ben Dark was in the Yarra Valley last week with a film crew from the program for a two-and-a-half day shoot.
Mr Dark, who is renowned for his rugged larrikin attitude and laconic sense of humour, travelled through the valley in a classic Ford Falcon ute.
On his travels, he stopped in at various off-the-beaten track tourist destinations, including a yabbie farm, a zucchini flower farm and a local butcher.
When passing through Healesville, Mr Dark dropped into Main Street Quality Butchers to get himself a kilo of butcher Stephen Hollis’ smoked bacon, which was voted best bacon in Victoria last year.
“We’d heard about the best bacon in Victoria and thought it would be perfect for a Yarra Valley breakfast cook-up,” Mr Dark said.
Mr Hollis, who was filmed with Mr Dark discussing the secret to making his now-famous small goods, said it was thrill to be involved with the travel program.
“I was a bit nervous when the film crew first came in but once I started talking to Ben I relaxed and we had a good chat,” Mr Hollis said.
“Being on the show is great exposure of the business and a great way to show off Healesville and the Yarra Valley.”
On his trip through the Upper Yarra, Mr Dark went in search of Warburton’s infamous giant eel, reportedly sighted at Tommy Finn’s Trout Farm early last year.
In Warburton, Mr Dark chatted with local post office manager and president of the town’s Chamber of Commerce, Norman Orr.
“It was great having the Getaway crew come through town. Anything that highlights our part of the world to the rest of Australia is a good thing,” Mr Orr said.
Before departing Warburton, Mr Dark bumped into Premiere Steve Bracks, in town for the Victorian Parliamentary Labor Conference last week, and asked Mr Bracks if he’d sighted the giant eel during his visit.
Mr Bracks admitted the fabled creature had eluded him but said he would consider allocating government resources to help locate it.
The four-minute segment showcasing the Yarra Valley will be seen on Getaway, on the Nine network, in the coming months. It is one of a series of segments to be filmed in the area in the coming year.