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Another Aussie Tour Part 2 Rovering over the Ranges
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roverdriver



Joined: 18 Oct 2008
Posts: 1210
Location: 100 miles from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 12:31 pm    Post subject: Another Aussie Tour Part 2 Rovering over the Ranges Reply with quote

Part 1 of this story can be found here-

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=17192

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To participate in the rally at Cooma was good, to meet up with friends was even better, but there was another reason for us to be in that town.

In 1965, a friend and I drove all the way around the State of Victoria, keeping as close as practical to either the coast or borders with other states. As part of the journey we drove through the mountains when the Snowy River Scheme was under construction.

In recent years, my wife and I have managed to drive sections of the 1965 route, but one section remained- this one.

I had kept a close eye on the weather forecast and saw that there was supposed to be snow on the ranges. Quite early for snowfalls in the area. I was concerned that we might encounter problems on the road, but we decided to try anyway, we could always back-track and go home via a safer route.

We set off just after daylight on Monday morning, and enjoyed the run to Jindabyne, which is only about 500 feet higher than Cooma. From there we continued on the Alpine Way and could see snow on the higher peaks ahead of us. We found a good place for a photo stop.



I kept a careful watch on the road in case of ice, but we managed very well and continued to climb past Thredbo Ski Resort at about four thousand five hundred feet above sea level, and as we drove encountered more and more snow.



Those of you who live in colder climes, must remember that very little of Australia receives snowfalls, so this was rather special for us.

We continued the winding climb to Dead Horse Gap, the 'peak' of the road. The sign said it was at 1570 meters, but in 1965 its was 5151 feet above sea level



Very very cold, but a wonderful sight.





It was time to move on, and so we did. Signs like this one were repeated at regular intervals, as well as warnings for trucks to descend using low gear.



Bear in mind that this road was created purely for access to the work of the Snowy River Scheme. From Cooma to Threadbo the road is wider to accomodate ski tourist traffic. Thredbo Resort was actually created by a syndicate of men from the Snowy scheme, and in 1965 was a very small collection of buildings.

Spare a thought for the work involved in building the road.



In 1965, it was merely a narrow gravel road, as you can see in the above picture, and one had to beware of the large trucks hurtling down the hills. Now it is wider, all tarsealed and a lot quieter.

In only a few miles, we dropped below the snowline, and at vantage points could look out over the magnificent scenery.









There were also some really nice mountain streams to see and photograph.



In lots of places, the road builders had to create cuttings.



Just before the township of Khancoban, we stopped at the Murray 1 Power Station and were lucky enough to be conducted on a tour of it.



There are about 140 miles, in total, of tunnels and pipelines, to bring water to the various power stations. Most of the water is finally discharged into the Murray river.

We lunched at Khancoban, now a small village, but 50 years ago this was a bustling camp for the workers on the scheme.

From Khancoban the road is broad but still winding a lot, until we came to Corryong, where the town celebrates The Man From Snowy River.



Jack Riley performed a magnificent feat of horsemanship which was immortalised in a famous poem by Banjo Patterson. In recent times the story was expanded into a film. Although Jack was living further into the mountains at a place called Tom Groggin, Corryong has made him a feature of the town.

There is a suitable and well set up museum.



The outside displays bear his name.



One very fascinating part of the museum displayed a hand-knitted blanket-size map of Australia, created by a local man, Mr. Jim Simpson, who was a P.O.W in Germany during WW2. The rug was knitted and hidden from the prison guards, then smuggled back to Australia. Below is a photo of Jim with his rug, taken shortly before he died.



We reckoned that the museum would have been well worth the visit even if we had only seen the rug and Jim's story. After dallying at the extremely well set up museum, we carried on to Wodonga for the night, having covered 200 miles in the day of most interesting and enjoyable touring.

On Tuesday morning it was off again before daylight on the final trek home, firstly on the Hume Freeway (motorway), then through some suburban traffic and onto the Monash Freeway then other highways to home, a bit under 300 miles for the day.

we were away from early Friday morning to arrive home mid afternoon on Tuesday. We covered 1,011 miles and averaged 23 mpg. A 65 year old car taking us to relive another part of a 50 year old adventure.
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Last edited by roverdriver on Thu Jul 26, 2018 3:39 am; edited 2 times in total
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roverdriver



Joined: 18 Oct 2008
Posts: 1210
Location: 100 miles from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 1:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you are unfamiliar with The Man From Snowy River, below is a link to a recitation of the poem, using scenes from the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs_-DKUimeo
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Bitumen Boy



Joined: 26 Jan 2012
Posts: 1733
Location: Above the snow line in old Monmouthshire

PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 1:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It was only recently - in the last few months - that I foud out that it ever snowed anywhere in Australia Embarassed It was a BBC programme that put me right, and some people want to abolish it Confused
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Mog



Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 661
Location: Sydney

PostPosted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 4:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can stand to be corrected, but I am sure that I read, "That on an average winter, there is a greater area covered by snow, in Australia, than Switzerland. "
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Mog



Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 661
Location: Sydney

PostPosted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In the early 70's I bought a new caravan in Melbourne. At that time my mother decided to migrate . I picked her up from the pier and we went on a trip to Cairns. We got to Cooma and parked the caravan. It was about May, start of winter. Next day we decided to visit a dam not far away. We were in a LWB Landrover, as we went up the snow got thicker and thicker. There was no where to turn around. It was too much of a risk as on the sides of the road the gutters could be full of snow. We got to road junction and managed to turn around, with the help of a few tree branches. The Landrover had road tires on and no load in the back. When we got back to Cooma, we found that the road was closed and the barrier had not been put down. In the days before mobile phones...
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roverdriver



Joined: 18 Oct 2008
Posts: 1210
Location: 100 miles from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

PostPosted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 10:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Mog for the story and comments. I can imagine that Land Rover trip would have been a bit stressful.
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Mog



Joined: 30 Dec 2007
Posts: 661
Location: Sydney

PostPosted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 7:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, it was stressful , if I had made a mistake and got bogged big time , we would be still there. I think I had a shovel, but no blankets etc. We were only out for a day trip. Of course, the Landrover did not have a heater, that was an extra !

I had to keep going up, as there was no place to turn around, the snow got thicker and thicker on the road. Maybe 10 kms. from Cooma.
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troutrunner



Joined: 03 Dec 2012
Posts: 185
Location: South Lincolnshire

PostPosted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 9:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice story Dane and the photos are a treat
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