The Cormanus Chronicles — 2025 January

[Cormanus]

13 January 2025

Day 5: Boorowa to Walwa


Link to outbound map

The forecast said rain was likely in the eastern part of where we wanted to ride, so I planned a day that I hoped would avoid the worst of it. As it turned out, we avoided it all and got very hot.


Leaving Boorowa in another direction

When we stopped at Tumut for coffee and fuel, AussieFlyer told me how much he'd enjoyed the Harden to Jingelic Road. I was pleased as I didn't think he'd quite shared my enthusiasm when we'd ridden it two days earlier. It's a great road, I think: no really tight corners; just sweepers combined with a gentle undulation.

AussieFlyer leads the way into the hills

From Tumut we took the Snowy Mountains Highway east. It climbs — occasionally quite steeply — to a plateau. It's a fun ride and it was a glorious day. The Snowy Mountains is the highest part of continental Australia. It's not tall by the standards of the rest of the world; nor is it spectacular in the way of, say, part of the Rocky Mountains. As I rode along I pondered how the area came also to be known as the Australian Alps. The word 'alp' conjures images in my mind at least of jagged, snow-capped mountains, rocky and unvegetated This place, while pretty enough is none of those things. It's not even snowy for much of the year.

I concluded there were two likely stories. In the first, some pompous English colonist came to the high country and decided that, because there was a mountain higher than anything found in the United Kingdom, he (and it was surely a he) would call them the Australian Alps. Done.

In the second, the same pompous ass asks the advice of his subordinates on the proper nomenclature for the area. One says flippantly, 'It must surely be the Australian Alps, sir' and is gobsmacked when the humourless clown writes on his embryonic map, 'Australian Alps'.






We stopped for a stretch and a look at Black Perry lookout. It's a lovely view, but they're not really alps, are they?



We turned off on to the Link Road near Kiandra and made our way to the turn-off to Cabramurra. Deciding there was nothing worth stopping for, we proceeded along the lovely Snowy Ridge Road and down to the Tumut Pond Dam, part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme.




The Tumut Pond Dam Wall




Bikes on the dam

After photo opportunities, we followed the lovely road around and down the mountain for 70 kilometres or so to Corryong where we stopped for cold water and a break. It was very hot by then and the break was welcome. AussieFlyer had an interesting conversation with a bloke from Malta touring on a Harley Davidson.

We refuelled and rode another 70-odd kilometres to the Walwa Hotel another favourite watering hole on my journeys to the south. More welcome cold drinks and dinner brought another day's riding to an end.