Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[roverdriver]

Mrs Roverdriver and I decided to leave our humble abode in the South Gippsland region of Victoria and visit the Nation’s Capital of Canberra. The shortest route by distance, but not by time, would take us through some of the rugged Snowy Mountains countryside that we last visited back in May 2010. On that occasion we re-traced a trip from Easter 1965, a story of that trip is here-

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8915&highlight

Part of our route is mentioned in the above link, but a lot of it I had not seen since my adventures in 1965, and of course that was all new territory for my wife.

This time we chose our most modern conveyance, setting off at about 7.00 a.m. and having driven over mainly highway-type roads, arrived in the little township of Buchan at about ten thirty, so paused for a cuppa.



From here on for 56 K’s we have winding tar-sealed road. The road follows a high ridge for many miles, but junction of the Snowy River Road and the one to McKillops Bridge, we came to gravel surface and both roads leave the ridge and descend into valleys. Back in May, we had climbed up the route from McKillops Bridge. This time we want to go straight ahead to the North.





Very soon we leave the high country farm land and start the descent into one of the many rugged valleys.



We don’t have much 'Swiss Alp' type scenery in Australia, but these ancient weathered mountains have their own beauty. The area is rain-shadowed by the mountains to the East, and that, combined with the gravelly soil creates stunted trees. Victoria is the smallest mainland state, but this area is probably the most isolated part of Victoria.





The road proved to be wider than it was in 1965, but there were still many stretches where it is wide enough for only one vehicle here you can make out the route as it snakes around the hill.



Below is a 1965 photo.



At the bottom of the valley we came to the settlement of Suggan Buggan, which now seems to be just one house, but it does have the preserved 100 plus year old school from the time of early settlement.





The road continues to climb, wind and descend and we find ourselves on the Victoria/New South Wales border. The name on the map is Willis and in days gone there was a customs post here, even though there was no real road, only a drovers track. The track from Ingebyra, in New South Wales to Suggan Buggan was made into a road as recently as 1961.



After a brief photo stop, on we went again, now generally climbing through more breathtaking scenery. I was looking forward to finding the lookout where I had stopped in 1965. We noticed many deposits of horse dung on the road, far too frequent deposits for having been made by travellers’ mounts. At one photo stop I was able to examine some of the tracks and saw where they left the road. They were unshod horses, wild horses, known here as ‘brumbies’ and that reminded me of when I had declined an invitation forty-five years ago to join a brumby muster down at Murrindal Station, near Buchan.





The wild horses from New South Wales were rounded up frequently, especially during World War 1. They were broken in to the saddle and then sent overseas with Aussie troops, and did sterling service, especially in the Middle East. The Australian capture of Beersheba was one of the more famous battles of that war. There was a film made of it called 'Twenty Thousand Horsemen' Incidentally, the horses were called 'Walers' because they came from New South Wales.

Finally we came to the lookout. Now it has a name, the Wallace Craigie Lookout, at an elevation of 894 meters- that is about 2,900 feet above sea level. I had taken a photo here on my way down, so had to photograph the different car on the way up. Interesting that the Morris was 26 years old in its photo and the Rover is 28 years old at the same location.





From here, gradually the road became less steep until we came to what are often called the Alpine Plains, vast undulating elevated land with many rocky outcrops. We arrived in the township of Jindabyne, found a tourist cabin for the night and settled down after a fascinating day of motoring. The town where we slept is new. In 1965, I slept under the stars on the bank of a river just outside of Jindabyne, and it was, incidentally, the first time that I saw a platypus in the wild. The old town is now somewhere under Lake Jindabyne, being drowned as the dammed lake filled in the late 1960's.



It is interesting to reflect that the road we had traveled was selected as one of the more difficult sections for drivers on the 1968 London to Sydney car rally.

Part 2 can be found here-

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9698
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[peter scott]

Hi Dane,

Looks like a nice trip. Your Rover certainly appears to have weathered better than the Morris 8. Was the can for water or petrol?

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[roverdriver]

Peter, Paintwork on the Rover is much better than it was on the Morris, but the Morris had covered a lot more ground over gravel roads since it had its last wash. Had left Melbourne (in the Morris) headed south to the sea, then west to the South Australian border, north to the NSW border, and had just negotiated about 70 miles from Khancoban to Jindabyne through the Snowy Mountains, all on gravel road, at the time that the Snowy Mountains Hydro scheme was under construction.

We had a one gallon can strapped to each front mudguard with spare petrol.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.