Section 8 Southbound
Coolac to Tarcutta
Directions
| Marker | Diretions | Distance from previous point |
|---|---|---|
| 46 | Take exit on left to Gundagai (1st exit) | 12.5km |
| 47 | Turn left at Sheridan Street and proceed through Gundagai shopping area | 2.5km |
| 48 | Turn right at the Post Office, towards Tumut, and proceed across Murrumbidgee River floodplain | 0.7km |
| 49 | Cross Murrumbidgee River at historic Prince Alfred Bridge | 1km |
| 50 | After crossing bridge, veer right into Tumut Road then left onto Mount St, South Gundagai | 0.1km |
| 51 | Turn left at the roundabout into Cross Street and Gocup Road, heading towards Tumut | 1.6km |
| 52 | After 1.3 km turn right onto Jessops Lagoon Road | 1.3km |
| 53 | After 2.7 km turn right then left to rejoin Hume Highway | 2.7km |
| 54 | Turn left at Tumblong Road then right into Gundagai Road (Old Hume Highway) towards Tumblong | 7.5km |
| 55 | Rejoin Hume Highway after 1.6 km at Adelong Road (as the old road only continues for a short distance beyond this point) | 1.6km |
| 56 | Take exit to Tarcutta | 29km |
Approximate distance: 61km
Along the way
Mingay
Muttama Creek, Mingay
The early history of Mingay is almost a Biblical tale. John Warby, ex-convict and respectable Campbelltown farmer, had two sons, Benjamin and William. In the 1820s William ventured south-west, ‘beyond the limits of settlement' where only squatters dared, and established a run named Minghee, (MIN-gee, Aboriginal for ‘unwell'). In 1836, William sold Minghee to Benjamin, who promptly found himself in court. It seems William had stocked Minghee with cattle duffed from his neighbours. William got fourteen years' penal servitude in Van Diemen's Land, while Ben now has a cairn just north of Gundagai, celebrating him as a respectable early settler.
Sir Charles Nicholson took up the Minghee lease during 1840s, and renamed it Mingay, perhaps after the islet in the Hebrides, perhaps to purge it of its former associations, perhaps because it was closer to the correct pronunciation. His manager was George Rusden, who among later achievements wrote a ground-breaking History of Australia acknowledging the Aborigines, whom Rusden admired. Mingay Station changed hands several times. Two other brothers farmed it: James O'Donnell, reputedly so strong that he could pull a bullock-wagon loaded with a ton of goods, and ‘thorough-going sportsman' Mr P. J. O'Donnell, J.P., who in 1887 donated the trophy known as the Cootamundra Cup. When P. J. died in 1907, Mingay Station was worth £134,587 net.
The Cootamundra-Tumut railway line came through Mingay in 1886, crossing Mingay (Muttama) Creek on a sturdy wooden trestle bridge, which can still be admired from Mingay Road. Mingay had its own whistle-stop platform a little to the north. In 1906, there was a brief Mingay gold rush, but alluvial yields were modest. In 1907, there was a proposal to dam the Murrumbidgee near Mingay Station, to create a reservoir exceeding in size the Burrinjuck. Mingay and other famous stations would have been submerged. It did not proceed, and the area has remained pastoral. There never was a village, a post office, a church, or a school; Coolac was the post town. Mingay railway platform closed in 1971.
The Hume Highway upgrade in 2009 had little effect on Mingay. The Travelling Stock Route was relocated via Pettit. The Pettit Railway platform was relocated to Coolac. And Mingay Rest Area was built on the Hume's north-bound carriageway, a pleasant spot to pause, refresh, and contemplate the Mingay story.
Carin to early settler Ben Warby
Gundagai
Former Hume Highway timber trestle bridge across the Murrumbidgee River floodplain, Gundagai
The town of Gundagai has become embedded in Australian bush folklore. As the subject of Banjo Paterson's poem ‘The Road to Gundagai', as well as a number of other poems, and songs such as Jack O'Hagan's ‘Along the Road to Gundagai', it is no surprise that Gundagai has been immortalised in the cultural memory of early Australian European settlement and bush exploration, and has become an example of a classic Australian country town. The dog on the tuckerbox from the 1924 Jack Moses poem ‘Nine Miles from Gundagai' has become an icon of the town, with a monument to the dog situated on the Hume Highway, 8km north of Gundagai.
Point of interest - T
Dog on the Tuckerbox
The Dog on the Tuckerbox is a historical monument and tourist attraction located at Snake Gully, 8 km north of Gundagai. The dog section of the monument was cast in bronze by ‘Oliver's Foundry' in Sydney and its base sculpted by local stonemason Frank Rusconi. It was unveiled by Prime Minister Joseph Lyons on 28 November 1932 as a tribute to pioneers. The statue was inspired by a bullock driver's poem, ‘Bullocky Bill', which celebrates the life of a mythical driver's dog that loyally guarded the man's tuckerbox.
An earlier monument had been erected at a site nine miles from Gundagai in 1926.
Gundagai was discovered by Europeans in the 1820s. Hume and Hovell passed through in 1824 and were quickly followed by settlers and their sheep, who established themselves in the area as squatters. Located almost midway between Sydney and Melbourne, the town of Gundagai was founded in 1838 on a crossing of the Murrumbidgee River, despite warnings by the native Wiradjuri people about the risk of flooding on the Murrumbidgee plains. On 24 June 1852, the river flooded and washed through Gundagai, killing one third of the town's 250 inhabitants and destroying 71 buildings. A handful of Wiradjuri men, two of whom were known as Yarri and Jacky, helped ferry townspeople to safety from rooftops and the branches of giant river red gums. They were later honoured with medallions for their bravery during the flood. After the floods the town was moved and rebuilt on higher ground north of the river flats. The flood of 1852 still remains one of Australia's worst natural disasters.
Gundagai town map
Point of interest - U
Niagara Café
Often referred to as ‘Australia's Wonder Café', the Niagara Café in Gundagai is an excellent example of the family-run Greek cafés which were once common throughout rural Australia.
These cafés stayed open for long hours and were often the social hub within their towns. They are also now recognised for their important role in the Americanisation of Australian popular culture, well before the arrival of the fast food phenomenon of the 1970s. The cafés affected eating and social habits (soda fountains, spiders, milkshakes, sundaes – often with exotic names), architecture (booth seating; art deco fittings) and music (jukeboxes). The early decades of the twentieth century witnessed a large migration of Greeks from the USA to Australia, and it was not surprising that they brought these influences with them.
The tastes, sights, sounds and glamour of America, as expressed through the Greek café, became a metaphor for modernity in regional Australian communities.
War Memorial and timber trestle bridge, Gundagai
Throughout the nineteenth century Gundagai became a booming town, thriving on the gold rushes and a rich agricultural industry. Today Gundagai offers a wealth of historical sites and activities for the keen visitor. The Dog on the Tuckerbox monument is one of the town's most popular (and internationally recognised) iconic sites, the legend of which has been firmly established through the poem ‘Nine Miles from Gundagai' as well as Jack O'Hagan's 1937 song ‘Where the Dog Sits on the Tuckerbox (Five Miles from Gundagai)'. Gundagai showcases a number of historic bridges, such as the Prince Alfred and Railway Bridges, and the dual Sheahan Bridges on the town bypass. The latticework of wooden trusses and timber viaducts are excellent examples of early engineering solutions for crossing the major flood plain. Gundagai Railway station also offers a beautiful example of the town's late nineteenth century architecture, having been restored to its original 1886 glory, now housing memorabilia of interest to visitors and railway buffs.
Hume Highway traffic crossing the timber trestle bridge at Gundagai on a frosty morning in July, 1976
Sheahan Bridge under construction, September 1975
Point of interest - V
Prince Alfred Bridge
Tenders were called for the construction of an iron bridge at Gundagai in 1863. The Fitzroy Iron Works of Mittagong, the first iron foundry in Australia, won the tender for the casting of the pier cylinders and other iron work. The bridge had 54 cylinders in all, each weighing 2.5 tons, six feet long and six feet in diameter. The cast iron cylinders were delivered by bullock dray and assembled on top of each other as internal excavation proceeded. When they finally founded on rock the piers were filled with concrete.
The bridge consists of three wrought iron girder spans of 103 feet each over the main channel of the river, and was the first iron truss bridge to be built in NSW. The structural wrought iron was imported from England and fabricated in Sydney by P.N. Russell & Co. then forwarded to the site for installation. The bridge was completed on 18 September 1867.
The construction of the northern approach was commenced on 23 October 1867, and on completion this was the longest bridge in NSW until the 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The northern approaches were low-level and so the bridge was not usable in times of flood. In 1896 after serious flooding the present structure was opened for use.
Other sites of interest include Anzac Grove, a beautifully handcrafted memorial commemorating World War One, designed by the late monumental mason Frank Rusconi, as well as the Gabriel Gallery, home to a collection of historic photographs of the town and its people taken by the town doctor Charles Louis Gabriel in 1887. The Gundagai Historical Museum, Gundagai Courthouse and the Old Gaol are also sites of interest. The museum houses an interesting collection of pioneer and bushranger memorabilia, and Gundagai Courthouse is rich in history, being one of the first stone buildings to be erected after the floods of 1852. Gundagai also hosts a number of festivals and celebrations year-round, and a great way to see the town is on one of the walking tracks, such as the Heritage Walk, which passes by the old mill, the only building to survive the floods of 1852. Visitors may obtain copies of Gundagai's walking tours and information on Gundagai's many tourist offerings at the Visitor Information Centre at 249 Sheridan Street, between West Street and Otway Street.
The Hume Highway Bypass of Gundagai opened in 1977.
Tumblong
Tumblong War Memorial. St James Anglican Church behind
Around 1829, Henry Stuckey gave the name Tumblong to his 20,000 acre run. Other spellings were ‘Tumbalong', and ‘Tombolong'; J.F.H. Mitchell, who circa 1906 compiled a glossary of the Wiradjuri language, remarked that many names in this area should have the accent on their second syllable, eg tum-BAH-long. The settlement was long known as Adelong Crossing-Place. In 1838, Stuckey had an inn here; Adelong Creek was another notorious hiccup for travellers on the Great Southern Road.
Adelong Crossing-Place made the news in 1869, when two local men claimed to have seen a bunyip fording the Murrumbidgee. In the same year the school opened, and pupils perhaps learned the difference between fact and fantasy. In 1871, an earthquake shook Tumblong. The school's chimney tumbled, the building tipped to one side, ‘and a large desk fairly danced on the floor, to the great alarm of the pupils, who rushed out of doors, somewhat fearful that the suddenly animated piece of school furniture would follow them', an event which might have inclined them towards fresh belief in the fabulous. The school has closed, but the bunyip legend stays alive and well.
The Anglican Church of St James dates from the early 1870s. Travellers will note its similarities in design and stone fabric with St Mary's at Yarra, St Brigid's at Mutmutbilly, and St Jude's at Coolac. The War Memorial by the church is a heart-rending reminder of the number of Tumblong boys who went to war and came not home. The Tumblong Rural Fire Brigade shed stands near, a reminder that every age produces fresh heroes. Community spirit here is strong.
Point of interest - W
The ‘big cut' at Tumblong
The route of the Hume Highway has changed twice in this location. The original highway went well to the west of Tumblong, via Mundarlo. In 1938 it was relocated to a shorter route through Tumblong, saving 14 km and necessitating a large cutting (58,000 cubic metres) at Sylvias Gap (now inaccessible).
In 1983 the current dual carriageway deviation was built. The major cutting on this alignment involved the removal of 550,000 cubic metres of material, which was at the time one of the largest roadway cuttings in NSW.
The Tumblong Deviation, opened in stages between 1938 and 1940, shifted the highway route significantly to the east, and ‘brought Sydney ten miles nearer Melbourne'. A later Hume Highway deviation opened in 1983, which bypassed the settlement. Since most of the village lies along the Grahamstown Road to Adelong, not much of its fabric has been lost. The War Memorial and Citizens Hall (1954), like Coolac's, is unpretentious, well-kept, and locally heritage listed.
The name was changed to Tumblong in 1913, due to increasing confusion with the town of Adelong. On the northern wall of the Tumblong Tavern can faintly be seen the legend ADELON* CROS**G. Like legends, old towns don't die, they just fade a little.
Tarcutta
Tarcutta is a quaint village, long popular as a stopping and changeover point for drivers as it is halfway between Melbourne and Sydney. It is named after an Aboriginal word meaning ‘meal made from grass seeds'.
Point of interest - X
Hillas Creek concrete bowstring arch bridge
The bridge over Hillas Creek was one of more than 1,000 bridges built by the Main Roads Board & Department of Main Roads between 1925 and 1940, a period in which engineers were adapting bridge design standards to meet the demands of improving motor vehicle performance. Bridges were being built wider and with an improved load capacity, and reinforced concrete became a favoured construction material. In the 1930s, DMR engineers Vladimir Karmalsky and Alexander ‘Sandy' Britton pioneered the use of the bowstring principle in reinforced concrete. Their theories were implemented first in the Shark Creek Bridge near Maclean in 1935, and then in the Hillas Creek Bridge, built in 1938.
The Hillas Creek Bridge was constructed as part of the original Tumblong – Tarcutta deviation. In 1983 a new 11.5 kilometre deviation bypassed the Hillas Creek Bridge. Although the bridge was no longer in use by traffic, it was recognised that it held a unique place within the region and the State and should be retained. The bridge was listed on the Register of Australian Historic Bridges in 1982 and a plaque was placed on it in 1988, noting its unique design link with the bowstring arch over Shark Creek. The plaque also notes that it has become known in the wider community as ‘The Little Sydney Harbour Bridge'.
While the bridge is no longer physically accessible, it is visible on the western side of the Hume Highway near the Snowy Mountains Highway interchange.
The village was first settled when Thomas Mate arrived in 1836. His primitive homestead was half-way on the track between Sydney and Melbourne, so he added an inn and store for travellers.
In 2011, 174 years after it was first settled, Tarcutta was bypassed. However, it remains a popular stopping point for travellers and buses, with noted amenities including a shower block, a waste facility for caravans and a newly upgraded main street designed specifically for tourists.
The local park houses the National Truck Drivers' Memorial to the truck drivers who have died on the Hume Highway as well as elsewhere around the country. Country music legend Slim Dusty enriched the memorial with a plaque.
Hidden in the surrounding district is a vast amount of pioneer history, not only a town historical walk, but short day drives are a must for visitors.
The village has some unique treasures from lone graves to intricate memorial stained glass church windows which honour the pioneers of the region. The Tarcutta Inn and the Mates Homestead are two private properties in the village that pay tribute to the importance of Tarcutta and its location & association with Cobb and Co.
Early settler grave, Tarcutta
Travellers can experience the yesteryear and follow the former Port Phillip Road, which meanders from Tumblong, west through Mundarlo where the original Mundarlo Inn still stands and the bushranger Paisley was captured. The famous ‘Bootes' Private Cemetery and St Peter's Church which was robbed back in 1923, are also unique destinations.
The Link Road via Oberne to Humula and back to the Hume Highway will encompass another hour's drive. This route offers a combination of interesting historical sites, fauna and flora.
Points of interest
| Marker | Location |
|---|---|
| T | Dog on the Tuckerbox |
| U | Niagara Café |
| V | Prince Alfred Bridge |
| W | The ‘big cut’ at Tumblong |
| X | Hillas Creek concrete bowstring arch bridge |