The Man From Snowy River Tour
November 1998
The Man From Snowy River is a 1982 movie about the Australian High Country and the bushmen and cowboys who lived there in the 19th Century. I remember watching the movie at my grandparents house in Washington State when I was in junior high and quite enjoying it. The movie is based on the poem of the same name by Australian poet Banjo Patterson. It is still quite popular in Australia, and Jody and I were quite keen to visit the town of Corryong in the mountains of Northern Victoria where the story is based. Naturally, this would involve a bicycle trip, which we organised for the Melbourne Cup 4 day weekend in November.
To begin the trip, we caught the V-Line train to the town of Wodonga, on the Victorian side of the New South Wales / Victoria border. From here we started cycling East down the Murray Valley highway toward the town of Tallangatta (40K away), which was our destination for the night. The ride along the highway starts out a bit dull, but as we approached Tallangatta the scenery improved and we were able to see the waters of Lake Hume. Tallangatta is a nice, small tree-lined town about 55 K East of Wodonga that is experiencing a bit of a re-birth after luring people out of the city with a recent advertising campaign promoting the lifestyle benefits of country living. We camped at the local caravan park ($8), which is located right on the lakeshore with a nice view out across the lake. Facilities include hot showers, washing machines, and limited supplies.
The next day would take us out to Corryong and involve a trip past Old Tallangatta, the original site of the Tallangatta township. The town was built on the junction of the Mitta Mitta river in the 1800's and then moved in the 1950's when the Hume Dam was built (on the Murray River) and the surrounding area flooded. Some of the original foundations are still visible from the road. There is also an information board with some interesting photos of the move. Apparently they just loaded the houses onto the back of big trucks and drove them over to the new site. Tallangatta still celebrates the event with the annual 50's Days festival in November.
From the Mitta Mitta River, the road begins climbing (and climbing). There are actually two summits, one just before the town (pub) of Koetong. From here the climbing resumes until the summit at Keelangie. A ways down the road there is a nice picnic spot at the township of Shelley that makes a good lunch stop, with picnic tables but no water. The ride rolls along the ridgetop from here to the turnoff to Walkers Lookout, which is worth a short side trip. The climb up to the lookout is steep and rough, but has good views of the Snowy Mountains and Mt. Kosciusko. The elevation at the summit is 817 metres.
The descent from the lookout is fast and steep as you watch the mountain views slip away. The route passes through Berringama and there is a side trip to the Cudgewa pub that can take you off the highway for a few K's. The country around Corryong is mountain country and also obviously horse country. People drive pickups and pull horse trailers behind them here. There are lots of farms and stables. We stopped at the local fish and chips shop for some dinner (and ice cream) before finding a nice free camping spot with toilets behind the local horse track. Total distance for the day was about 92 K.
In the morning a few cowboys arrived early to work their horses and say "g'day" to us while we packed up our tent. We had a quick breakfast and headed out of town early, as this would be another long day. A few K's out of town we passed the Alpine Way turn-off, and the road angled North and took us through the small towns of Tintaldra and Walwa. At Walwa we crossed over the Murray River (and the state border) into New South Wales. We stopped at the small town of Jingellic to buy supplies and had lunch in the small park across from the store.
From Jingellic we cycled West on the New South Wales (North) side of the Murray River on a dusty unsealed road. Along the way we met a sheepherder, his two young sons on dirt bikes, and their sheep dog. The dog was quite impressive and even tried to round us into the herd of sheep. We had a good chat with them and continued down the road. The road is quite scenic but there are absolutely no supplies between Jingellic and Wymah, where we camped for the night. Camping areas are also quite scarce as most of the property along the river is fenced, but most of the gates are open and we did see a few farmers that we could have asked permission to pitch a tent. In the end, we ended up cycling 113 K to Wymah and camping at the local council park, which is technically not allowed without permission. At this point we had no choice though as it was getting dark and the gate was open. We did not see any supplies at Wymah, although we did fill up on water at what was the local school. It is now for sale as a residence, increasing the population from about 3.
The next morning we finished off our emergency rations and headed out to the Wymah Ferry terminal, which would take us across to the sealed road on the Victorian side of the Murray. The ferry is a cable ferry and the price is right (free!). The trip lasted about 5 minutes and we were the only passengers. The sealed road felt nice and we cycled out to Bellbridge township and crossed the Bethanga bridge back into New South Wales. From here we stopped at the Hume Dam for lunch and supplies. The dam has been under renovation for the last 3 years to fix some cracks that had developed. There is a nice park to have lunch right next to the dam.
After lunch we got back on the road and the traffic increased noticeably as we approached the large country town of Albury. We hung around town for a while while Jody called her parents (and I had a beer), and then headed down the Hume Highway for 7 K's to Wodonga. This is probably the least pleasant part of the trip as it is a major highway. Luckily we found an excellent brewery called Palatin Brewery right on the border. This place is run by a German family that doesn't speak much English, but they brew some excellent beer. We had some time to kill so we had a few while watching the Melbourne Cup horse race on the tellie. When it was over we got back on our bikes and wobbled into Wodonga, where we ended the trip and caught the V-Line back home to Melbourne. Total distance for the day was 72 K's.
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RandyMiller@bigpond.com |
