– avoid the freeway and enjoy country australia –
We were just about at the end of our two week road trip around central and northern Victoria, and were preparing to head back to Sydney. Once again we didn’t want to take the main google-recommended route (see our post on the Murray River alternative route to Victoria). Instead we opted for a return trip via the eastern edge of the Kosziusko National Park, stopping at Chiltern, Tumbarumba, Adelong and Gundagai on the way.
the route to chiltern, victoria
Leaving from Chewton, near Castlemaine in central Victoria we stopped for a quick pic of Expedition Pass Reservoir.
Then encountered this unusual little historical bridge at Redesdale.
And enjoyed the expansive farmland vistas at Cornella.
Then finally stopped for our very last visit to a Victorian painted silo at Colbinabbin. This is part Victoria’s huge network of painted silo art. We had seen a lot of painted silos on our two week road trip – you can read more about them here. But this one is easily the biggest – it’s so mammoth that I was having trouble getting it all in one shot. It was painted by Tim Bowtell, whose work you’ll see all over country Victoria and is fairly traditional in style.
Plus I suspect Tim Bowtell was also responsible for this little piece of art on the side wall of the town’s pub.
Next stop was Rushworth for morning tea – very fancy with its bandstand in the middle of the town square! And a few cafes and interesting shopfronts as well.
There’s also an interesting looking goldfield some 7km up the road called Whroo which would have been worthy of a stop but for the fact that we had to make it to Tumbarumba in NSW by nightfall.
Further on, we stopped for lunch at Chiltern. Another pie – a Victorian country town staple! This one was from the Chiltern Bakery, which by that stage was the only food place still open.
Chiltern is an old gold mining town and its shops and streets have been well-preserved. We decided to linger here a little longer and check out the town. Sadly, many of the stores and attractions were shut.
Old Petrol station in rushworth 
Old Bank Building in Chiltern
In most places we had visited in country Victoria everything was closed during the week. But this was a Saturday! It turns out that Chiltern has even more limited opening times. So if you plan to visit, bear this in mind and check before you arrive.
One of the places I would I have liked to visit is Dow’s Pharmacy (open Wednesdays & Fridays from 10am – 3pm). And there’s the Federal Standard Printing Works (open second Sunday of the month from 10am-3pm, although currently closed due to COVID). Plus there’s the Athenaeum Museum and Lake View House. You can find details on all of these at the Chiltern website.
But despite the closures, Chiltern has a pretty and fairly intact traditional streetscape which is worth seeing and it even has some vintage street art!
Finally, I can recommend the town’s second-hand bookstore (near the bakery) if you want to feel like you’re Indiana Jones! I was fighting away cobwebs to get to some of the shelves, but still managed to make my way out of the store with two books in hand.
After Chiltern, we continued on to Tumbarumba which was our final stop for the day as we planned to stay overnight and spend the next day riding the Tumbarumba-Rosewood Rail Trail. Check out our Tumbarumba post for more.
adelong, nsw
After spending two nights in Tumbarumba it was time to return to Sydney. Passing momentarily through Batlow – a very, very pretty part of the world famous for its apples – we decided to stop and check out Adelong, which was established during the Australian gold rushes in the 1850’s.
We thought it might be a good opportunity to compare a NSW gold mining town to the many we had encountered in Victoria. And it pains me to say that Victoria does better at preserving the historical buildings in its towns – we New South Welshman have a less sentimental view of our history!
But then our original impression was challenged once we reached the Adelong Falls Gold Workings on the outskirts of town. This was a gold processing plant located at Adelong Falls. Today it’s a heritage listed site and nature reserve. There are a number of walks you can take to inspect the ruins of the processing works up close. And it’s a beautiful spot where you can picnic and swim Definitely worth a visit!
gundagai, nsw
From Adelong we continued on to the town of Gundagai. We’ve driven past the Gundagai turnoff so many times on the main inland highway that runs from Sydney to Victoria. This time we stopped and took the opportunity to visit awhile.
It’s fairly sophisticated for a country town. There are plenty of eating options available plus some interesting stores and historical buildings to visit.
The old railway with its attached museum is worth a stop:
We planned on seeing the town’s old bridges and to get a closer look we stopped by the old flour mill – which happens to be the town’s oldest building built in 1848.
It’s located right on a creek and apparently has survived at least four mega floods during that time, which says a lot about how solidly it was built.
Gundagai’s famous historic bridges across the Murrimbidgee and its flood plain haven’t fared as well.
The 154 year old Prince Alfred Bridge is so neglected that even that portion of the bridge which had been restored and opened as a viewing platform now lies in ruin and has been closed to visitors!
At ground level, you can easily make out that these bridges must have been a fantastical sight in their day. Now they’re in the process of being slowly demolished – one whole section was being removed on the day we were there to make way for road traffic underneath. …..aaagh!
Our short lunch stop was enough to give a taste of the town and convince us that it was somewhere worth spending a little more time at on a weekend getaway from Sydney. But we had to move on. From here we joined the motorway and spend on home to Sydney just as it got dark. A nice little detour from the usual montonous highway drive between Melbourne and Sydney!
