We did a long trip to Wee Jasper today; 45km over twisting, winding dirt roads through the massive pine forest where awe met a couple of trucks. Interesting with steep drops into the forest below.    Not a terribly scenic drive and when we finally got to Wee Jasper?   Well there was a one room school and all other buildings, general store and bowser, pub, information centre, all closed.   Lack of business methinks. Apparently 80 people live here. Why, I do not know – they are in the middle of nowhere with no services;  I actually read in the local rag a day later, that the 80 inhabitants are really mad with Telstra – no land line service (there is no mobile service anyway) for the past 4 months and problem still not resolved!    We actually found a short cut back to Tumut – sealed road which was unsigned so thankfully only 20km of dirt road on the way back.   Pretty much a failed mission, but we do know now where all the logging trucks come from that go by on the highway.

The next day we went to Gundagai – about 35 minutes north west of Tumut.   A very old town, discovered in the 1820's, with many old houses and buildings. Most of them untouched or maintained for years but people still live in them.

This town has been the inspiration of songs and poems, by the likes of Banjo Patterson, about the drovers and bullock teams and bush travellers in this area.   The Dog Sits on the Tuckerbox is a well-known Australian song as is Along the road to Gundagai.  

As you drive into town you can't miss the two really old timber bridges which span the big Murrumbidgee floodplain, the original site of the village..   The criss-cross of the timber trusses is spectacular. One was for rail, built in 1902 and 800m long; one for road- the Prince Alfred bridge built in 1866 and was the longest viaduct in Australia ,  

No heed was taken by those old pioneers, when the local Aboriginal told them the flood plain was not a good place to build a village as their people had witnessed big floods over thousands of years.

So, the inevitable happened in 1852 when the Murrumbidgee River raged through the town during the night, drowning one third of the population (89 folk) and an unknown number of travellers.   The local Aboriginal people came to the rescue and in particular the heroic actions of two of the local Aboriginal men, who saved so many folk, were rewarded with medallions for their bravery.  This is known as the worst flood in Australian history based on the number of fatalities.

Suffice to say the town was rebuilt on higher ground!

The main thoroughfare in this town is called Sheridan Street, so obviously named after my most gorgeous eldest niece.   I took a photo of the street name with two really old houses in the background.   Be assured this bears no reference as to my niece’s age!    However! ……

The old railway station was opened in 1886 and closed 1984 and has been restored and certainly takes you back in time, with the old tickets and luggage trolleys and signalman’s hut.   In the ticket office was a very old ticket box holding many tickets to various destinations.   Bill actually found some old tickets that were for a trip from Gundagai to Sydney by train and then a ferry to Wollongong – his home town on the Coast.

Ironically, 3 days after the last scheduled train service in 1984, a major flood caused major permanent damage to the rail bridge.

A great historic town which we really enjoyed.
Heading back to Tumut we could see major black clouds gathering and heading toward us.   The air was very still back at camp and definitely had a 'stormy’ feel.    Bill decided to throw a line in the river nearby and I started to update my blog.   The wind started quietly enough, the maple leaves flying low and then it really started to blow …. Hard!   Batten down the hatches, get the chairs inside, checked the awning and ropes, close the vents and the windows inside and where is Bill? Didn’t take him long to get back.   This was our first fully fledged storm since we have been on the road, thunder rolling continuously around us, lightening illuminating the purple coloured dusky sky!   Exciting!    Well, it rained and thundered and carried on all night in various intensities.   They can certainly do with the rain here – it is so dry.   Talking to a friend of a farmer today, he said his mate was up at 5am dancing like a madman, with 35mm of rain his farm had been doused with!