The further north we go the hotter it gets so we detour east to take the road less travelled. The Snowy Way climbs up into the western foothills of the Great Dividing Range and with altitude comes cooler temperatures – at least that is what we are hoping. We stop for an overnight freecamp on the New South Wales side of the Murray River five kilometres from Corryong and the following day drive up into the mountains. Near Tumbarumba (at an altitude of 750 metres) we pull into a freecamp area at Burra Creek beside the Hume and Hovell walking track.
The temperature is a
much more reasonable 24 degrees – better than the 34 degrees of the past few
days. We find a spot beside the creek
and soon have the van set up on site.
 |
| Campsite beside Burra Creek |
While waiting for
lunch to miraculously appear from the depths of the van Wok keeps watch for any
movement in the creek.
 |
| Wok waiting for a fish to swim by |
With no fish making
their presence known we go for a walk along the track beside the creek. Explorers Hume and Hovell passed this way on
their journey south and on the 400 kilometre long stretch between Yass and
Albury there are eleven trackheads where hikers can enter or exit. We are camped at Henry Angel Trackhead –
named after a convict who was assigned to the explorers. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the creek
was also the scene for gold mining and the landscape became scarred with
tailings. Evidence of the mining can
still be seen beside the track and along the creek bank. We also kept finding wombat holes all over
the place. Some had not been used for
quite some time but others were obviously still occupied.
 |
Wombat holes at Burra Creek |
We kept an eye out
that night in case a wombat came waddling by but the only wombat we saw was one
that was taking a nap in the middle of the road the next day. We continued north along the Snowy Way to
Tumut and then followed the Murrumbidgee River to Gundagai where we decided to
stop for a few days and take in the sights.
 |
| Gundagai - caravan park on river between the two bridges (left hand corner of photo) |
We had just set up on
site in the River Caravan Park when a line of thunder storms rolled
through. Luckily for us the main part of
the damaging winds and hail passed to the west and east of Gundagai. When the storm had passed the river looked
rather eerie as mist rose above the water.
 |
| Mist rising from the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai |
Most Australians are
familiar with the iconic country ballad ‘Road to Gundagai’ and the ‘Dog
on the Tuckerbox’ – so our first port of call was to visit the memorial to the
‘Dog on the Tuckerbox’ five miles from Gundagai.
At least now there is
an information board beside the memorial telling visitors the story behind the
sculpture.
On our way back into
town we take a detour to the cemetery to visit the resting place of bushranger
Andrew George Scott – better known as Captain Moonlite.
Unlike most
bushrangers Andrew Scott was well educated and even trained as an engineer
before travelling with his parents and brother to New Zealand. After serving in the military in New Zealand
he made his way to Australia where he trained as a lay preacher. It is a mystery as to why he committed his
first bank robbery but by the time his bushranging days ended in 1879 the legend of
‘Captain Moonlite’ was forever written in Australian colonial history.
We stop at the
Information Centre in Gundagai to have a look at something we had been told
about. Displayed in a back room is a
marble masterpiece made by Rusconi (the sculptor of the ‘Dog on the Tuckerbox’) |
| Rusconi's Marble Masterpiece |
Rusconi spent over 28
years painstakingly making this over a metre tall model with small pieces of coloured marble
obtained from different areas of Australia.
It is a beautiful piece of workmanship and something you would expect to
see in a major gallery.
In the park beside
the Information Centre is another sculpture that once stood five miles from
Gundagai near the ‘Dog on the Tuckerbox’  |
| Dad, Dave, Mum and Mabel (all decked out for Christmas) |
Before television -
(Yes there was a time before TV) – we remember listening to ‘Dad and Dave’ on
the radio. Our guess is that 'our
generation' will be the last to really know what it was like to gather around
the radio each evening to listen to favourite radio serials.
We take a walk along
the main street in Gundagai and pass a couple of hotels dating back to the late
eighteen hundreds.
At the far end of the
main street and just around the corner is the local museum housed in the old
Bank of New South Wales building.
 |
| Gundagai Museum |
We go in for a quick
look around only to discover that we have entered the Tardis of museums. Everything and anything was on display and
more importantly there were information notes and boards explaining what the article
was. Oodles of photos of the town, the
farms and the people adorned the walls.
A whole section is devoted to the devastating flood of 1852 when the
fledgling town was completely destroyed and 89 people died – many survivors
owing their lives to four aboriginals who rescued people from roofs and trees
in bark canoes. There was even a bark
slab dunny on display in the backyard.
 |
| Privacy wasn't an issue - just pull the hessian bag across for a screen |
Once upon a time
there were two wooden trestle bridges across the river and floodplain – one for
the railway and one for vehicular traffic.
In 1985 a new bridge was opened which diverted the highway to the west
and around the town. The two wooden
bridges have now fallen into disrepair and are closed.
 |
| The old railway bridge at Gundagai |
 |
| The old vehicular bridge at Gundagai has seen better days |
Since 1979 the town
has been trying to raise money to save the historical bridges but sadly the
finances needed may be too astronomical for this small community. One day the bridges may disappear and part of
Gundagai’s history will be gone forever – but for now we can appreciate their
special place in the building of this country town.
