The occasion was to celebrate 100 years since the first car crossed the ford at Buchan and managed it all under its own power. Prior to that, cars had crossed the ford but had to be horse-assisted through it and up to bank.
There were two Rovers on the run, but only one P4-ours.
Here is the IHC Buggy crossing, just as it (or a very similar one) had done in 1910.
If you would like to see photos of the other participating cars, have a look here- There are four pages to see.
http://s310.photobucket.com/albums/kk40 ... n/?start=0
In January 1965, a friend and I did a trip around Victoria, following the border as much as possible. When we got to Jindabyne, we decided to follow a road to the South. It was marked on the map as a very thin line, that eventually became a dotted line, then petered put, however there was a similarly marked route coming North, and we reasoned that the roads would actually meet. Our vehicle was a 1939 Series E Morris, shown here just out of Jindabyne.
We had a most interesting drive through to Willis, on to Suggan Buggan, then Wulgulmerang and Gelantipy. There were some adventures on the way that I'll tell about another day.
Here is the road beyond Suggan Buggan.
We eventually got through to Buchan, and found tar-sealed road again, and made our way home to Melbourne. At Easter the same year, I returned alone, to the area to visit a couple of people that we had met on our first trip. On that occasion I drove from Buchan to Wulgulmerang, then down to McKillops Bridge across the Snowy River, where I camped for the night. Next morning I set off again on through Deddick Gorge, Ambyne Crossing, Tubbut and to Bonang, whereupon I turned South to eventually arrive in Orbost, and so continue home.
When Noreen and I decided to go on the Buchan Centenary rally, we thought that doing something else while we were in that region, would be a good idea. I suggested that as we were close to the Gelantipy area, I could show it to her along with the magnificent high country scenery.
We decided that after leaving the activities at Buchan on the Saturday, we would drive to Orbost, then the short way to the coast to stay at Marlo overnight. I would like to point out that in 1965, I would drive until I was tired, then find a level place near the road, throw a couple of blankets on the ground and settle down to sleep. Not so in 2010, under wifely influence we stayed in a cabin at a caravan park. I would also point out that our vehicle is bigger and 20 years more modern than the one I used in '65, it is our 1959 Rover 90.
Up bright and early on Sunday Morning, we retraced our route to Orbost, then set off for Bonang. I had sort of mentioned to my wife, in passing, that there might be a bit of winding road ahead of us.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that in the intervening years, most of the road to Bonang has been tar-sealed, so we had a very nice smooth and enjoyable drive climbing up through the hills. We stopped frequently to take photographs and to enjoy the quiet of the bush.
It is possible that the road had been sealed because of the volume of traffic using it. In 1965 I saw one car on that stretch of a bit over 50 miles, a sign of the times is that there was a four-fold increase to four cars!
About 20 kilometers from Bonang, the seal ended and we drove on newly-graded gravel road. Below, stopped for another photo opportunity, the car is dwarfed by the gum trees.
At Bonang we turned off towards Gelantipy.
Much slower going now, as the gravel road had not been graded for a long while. The road was also much narrower and much more winding.
We saw a sign to an historic bridge at Ambyne Crossing, so diverted a few hundred yards off the road to look at it. As soon as I saw it, I recognised it and told Noreen that I had a photo of it at home.
Here is the bridge in 2010
The bridge has been replaced by a concrete one, but the old bridge was restored a few years ago as of historic importance, even though cars can't use it any more.
Here is my 1965 photo. Notice the car on the bridge.
From here we proceeded through the Deddick Gorge and eventually to McKillops Bridge where we had lunch.
Traffic over this section would be described as 'light'. One car followed us for about a mile then turned off into a farm gateway. and that was all that we saw.
One car crossed the bridge while we were having about a one hour break there, then we set off again.
Having traversed some very winding road earlier in the day, I took the opportunity to point out to Noreen that this was where the really winding road really started.
About a mile from the bridge, the road was a little wider, and I pulled to the left to allow Noreen to take a photo from the car window. As we pulled up, a car approached from in front of us, followed by three more. We hoped that we would see no more for a while. Luckily we didn't.
Gradually we climbed up getting views of the Snowy River as it seemed to drop away below us.
And so on we climbed.
In the picture below, you might just make out the scar on the hillside, about a third from the bottom. That is, in fact, the road
Eventually we reached Wheeler's Saddle, elevation 690 meters.
You might have noticed that at McKillops Bridge we were 191 meters above sea level, so in 11 k's we had climbed 499 meters or in real language over 1600 feet.
With the road only wide enough for one vehicle, and in places barely wide enough, and an almost cliff-like drop over the side, a lot of the driving was done with 'don't look down' going through my mind.
There was another fourteen kilometers to Wulgulmerang and another 500 or so feet to climb, but the really narrow and steep road was now behind us.
We did stop for photos on the way (when there was sufficient room to park the car), but the 25 k's from the bridge took us two hours. If I had been given a dollar at every curve in the road, I would have reached the top as a very rich man!
We motored on- and again I was amazed at firstly the sealed road, and secondly, there were power lines, so the area now had electricity from the grid, rather than each household using their own lighting plant.
We passed through Gelantipy, and I was able to locate a house or two that I had visited 45 years before, but they were in disrepair, so no-one living there.
We arrived in Buchan, late in the afternoon, but motored on to the small town of Bruthen and stayed the night in a slightly run-down hotel dating from the 1920's and apparently little changed since then.
We were up and away early on Monday morning and returned home via Sale and Yarram. The round trip was just on 600 miles, and the car behaved perfectly all of the way.
