Hunters of the High Country
23 March 2017 / Article: John Purcell
Friday saw four of our group meet up at the Hawksbury river rest area for the drive down to Jindabyne. With well executed timing our 5th car pulled into the Partridge VC rest area (south of Sydney) 2 cars in front of us. From here it was a straight highway run to Jindabyne with a stop at Goulburn for lunch and Cooma for Fuel and groceries. After introducing everyone to the lodge it was down to the pub for an abundant dinner.
Now for day 1...
An 8:30 start from the lodge gave us plenty of time to meet the car from the Sydney Chapter at Cooma MacDonald’s for a coffee and the run briefing before heading down the Snowy Mountains highway to the coast. A stop at Piper’s lookout for the views came with the offer for those wanting a spirited drive down Brown Mountain the opportunity to go ahead of the group. Two vehicles took up the challenge of trying to get a clean run through the bends with no traffic. The rest of us followed down enjoying the fragrant perfume of overheated brakes from the Toyota Camry in front before regrouping at Bemboka. Leaving the highway we passed through some lovely green country side before having lunch at Merimbula RSL.
After lunch a quick trip meter recalibration was needed after I turned the wrong way and we had to do a synchronised U-turn at the next roundabout (I did tell everyone I don’t know my left from right) then onto Bega. Another slight modification to our route followed due to a tarred road which was actually dirt, then we drove onto Lagoon road to visit the Cheese Heritage centre EXCEPT that it was the right road but the WRONG side of the lagoon. It took us through a very pretty park so we did find a wonderful location for a stop in the future. Cheese & fudge tasting was followed by delectable ice cream then back up Brown Mountain, but those attempting a spirited run encountered slower traffic after only a short distance. Home via the Snowy River Way and a nice surprise, empty road with some nice turns thrown in for good measure. An afternoon tea stop at Dalgety beside the Snowy River and then ‘home’ to Jindabyne.
Day 2 – Kosciuszko Loop
Checking the weather app. in the morning bought some bad news, ‘Severe Weather Warning for the Alpine Region’, winds up to 125km/hr expected’. A conference over breakfast showed just how steadfast us MX5 drivers are, deciding to go forth and battle the elements in pursuit of that perfect road. Our 6 cars headed off to Berridale and on to Adaminaby for morning tea at the bakery – accompanied by an entourage of motorbikes who had come from all over Australia to meet and travel around the Snowy Area.
After the obligatory photo at the big fish (sorry trout), we headed north to the Kiandra gold fields and then west across the national park to Cabramurra via the wonderful winding Link and Goat Ridge roads. A coffee stop at the Snowy Energy Information Centre was followed by an athletic but rewarding scramble up a shortcut to the lookout.
Leaving Cabramurra, we turned right (all the bikes went left), onto our perfect road. 45kms of any kind of corner you would wish to take, perfect road surface thanks to Snowy Hydro, only one 4WD to slow us down and he pulled over for us, and finally no oncoming traffic, oh, I believe the scenery was quite spectacular as well.
Lunch stop in Khancoban saw us all baking in our jackets, swapping them for rolled up sleeves and reapplications of sunscreen. After lunch, it was then onto the Alpine Way back to Jindabyne, another interesting drive only spoilt by the application of multiple Victorian 4WDs heading home who liked to use more than their fair share of the road when going around blind corners.
After a short diversion down through Thredbo Village we turned for Jindabyne and a home cooked meal at the ski lodge with plenty of red wine lubricant to finish off a great drive.
Day 3 - Victoria
Monday was our rest day, visiting friends, sightseeing, even cleaning our cars! The evening saw us around the B-B-Q and yes, drinking our obligatory red wine while cooking our steaks and snags. The RPM contingent arrived to join us for dinner so representatives from 3 NSW chapters - Sydney, RPM and Hunter - enjoyed making new friends or for some, renewing old acquaintances.
Tuesday started with fine sunny weather just prefect for tops-down driving and 7 cars departed East Jindabyne to travel via the Alpine Way, this time east to west. Happily, we found the traffic a lot lighter than on the previous Sunday, but the memory of frequent encounters with oncoming 4WDs saw some caution applied when going through the many blind corners. This paid off as not long into the tight section evasive action was needed to make way for a semi-trailer taking up most of the road in one of the cuttings. A stop at Scammell’s lookout for a morning tea break and then back on the road heading to Corryong for lunch at the Corryong Hotel.
At Tallangatta, our Sydney friends left us to finish their trip. As we were driving on open country roads a slight diversion was required to keep everyone on their toes, so we turned right down the Omeo Hwy, then turned back up Lockhart’s Gap road to enjoy a few nice twisty sections. We then headed to Yackandandah for afternoon tea, or as the temperature was hitting 37 degrees, a beer or iced coffee. From there it was on to Wangaratta and the Painters Island Caravan park where 8 of us opted to go gourmet and ordered Domino’s Pizza home-delivered to us at the caravan park swimming pool.
Wednesday was another roof-down sunscreen-on day with an early 8:30 start as we had a lot of interesting roads on the menu. We started by travelling on the tourist-way to Bright along lovely tree-lined roads. A morning tea stop at Bright’s Howitt Park led to a unanimous decision that ‘we must make this an overnight stop in the future’.
From Bright it was along the Tawonga Gap Road to the lookout, only to be held up by - you guessed it - another 4WD. As there was little traffic on the road we did the old stop-start trick and got a partial run at some of the very interesting corners. After a break and photo shoot at the lookout it was time to release our more ‘Spirited Drivers’ to lead the group down from the Gap to the Hwy, only for them to be foiled by a road maintenance truck heading in the same direction. From there we headed down the twisting Kiewa Valley Hwy to Bogong where again we released those ‘Spirited Drivers’ who once again caught up to our old friend the 4WD. After some MX-5 to 4WD prompting, the driver at last decided to pull over and let us pass and on we continued on to Falls Creek for a brief stop to stretch and take in the sights.
Falls Creek to the Omeo Hwy is an interesting road, drivable only in summer as it is closed by snow in winter. Although tarred and largely pothole-free, it does have a rough surface and is narrow in many sections. However, we encountered very few other vehicles and the views from the road across the ranges was magnificent. Following this road on to the Omeo Hwy took us to our picturesque lunch spot - the historic ‘Blue Duck Inn’ at Anglers Reach.
A stroll around the grounds (and yes there were trout in the river) was followed by a relaxing lunch and then back on the road to rejoin the Great Alpine Road at Omeo. Then on to Swift’s Creek for a milk shake stop and as temperatures were again 37+ a unanimous decision to put roofs up and aircon on for the last stage to the Riverside Caravan Park at Bairnsdale.
I thought Thursday would be a somewhat boring drive on mostly highways, but wrong again as we found these roads to be reminiscent of the old Pacific Hwy going north -single-lane, curvy, tree-lined, good surface plus the bonus of relatively little traffic.
Keeping always within the speed limit was a priority on the Victorian roads, and sure enough on entry to Cann River, a mobile officer of the law was waiting just past the 60k speed limit sign. We all enjoyed a break and cuppa at their very popular park highlighted by a visit to the local bakery.
From here it was north along the Monaro Hwy to the turnoff onto the Snowy River Way. We had driven this road on Saturday and once again it didn’t disappoint. The open country made it easy to see the few oncoming vehicles and we enjoyed the sweeping curves and occasional tight turns, the road taking us beneath an array of massive wind turbines. After a stop beside the Snowy River at Dalgety for afternoon tea we headed back to East Jindabyne via Berridale for our final night at Arimac Lodge.
Friday meant it was time to head home, with everyone making their own way and leaving at different times, all indicating that they had an enjoyable time, and that’s what the trip was all about.
More of John & Chris' Photos: HERE
More of Davids Photos: HERE
