Bonang Highway
The road known as the Bonang Highway (also the Old Bonang Highway) is a rural, C-class, road in south-eastern Australia, running generally south–north. It links the Gippsland region coastal town of Orbost, Victoria and the highland Monaro region town of Bombala, New South Wales.
Bonang Highway –Victoria | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Road |
| Length | 161 km (100 mi) |
| Major junctions | |
| North end |
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| South end |
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| Location(s) | |
| Major suburbs | Orbost, Bonang |
Denoted as rural route C612, it passes through the settlements of Nurran, Goongerah, and Bonang in Victoria, and the town Delegate in New South Wales in the Snowy Mountains of the Great Dividing Range. The road runs through valleys to the east of the Snowy River, which flows through Orbost. However, the Princes Highway crosses the river at Orbost and the Bonang Highway begins on the river's eastern bank, running parallel to it for only about 500 metres (550 yd).
As of January 2015, the surface of the 161 kilometres (100 mi) Bonang Highway was asphalt except for two sections of well-maintained gravel totalling approximately 13 kilometres (8.1 mi). They were an 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) section between three and 14 kilometres south of Bonang, and a section of 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) in length between the New South Wales-Victoria border and Delegate. Due its partially unsealed surface and its narrow, twisting route, following steep sides of ridges and creeks, the Bonang Highway provides a slower journey (nearly three hours, as opposed to one and three-quarter hours) compared with the equal distance of the Princes Highway (A1 – Orbost to Cann River) and Monaro Highway (B23 – Cann River to Bombala) route. The loop from Orbost to Bombala and return, via the Monaro Highway, is well known to motorbike riders as a scenic but difficult ride.
The Victorian section of the highway is subject to bushfires during summer and may be closed briefly during the fire season.
History
The road was established after 1852, to allow access for people going to the gold mining in the Bendoc area south of Delegate,[1] and as an access road for logging and other forestry activities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is still primarily used for access to forest plantations in the Victorian State Forest areas adjoining the Snowy River National Park to its west and Errinundra National Park to its east. The road gives access to the Valley of the Giants area where the old-growth forest is a tourist attraction.[2]
Aboriginal lands
The road passes through the land of three Australian Aborigine peoples: the Krauatungalang in the coastal lowlands, the Bidhawal in the highlands, and the Ngarigo in the Monaro region.[3]
The Snowy River Bandit
The road cuts through the region frequented by the Snowy River Bandit (also known as "The Butcher’s Ridge Bandit"), perhaps Australia's last bushranger, who frequented the forests of the area in 1940, robbing people of food and clothing at gunpoint at isolated houses and on the roads. He was arrested on 20 December 1940 by Victoria Police constables, after being discovered by timber workers who saw his morning fire. He was discovered to be Alan Torney (1911–?) who had earlier been determined to be insane and was an escapee from a mental hospital at Goulburn, New South Wales. He was re-committed and reportedly spent the rest of his life at the Ararat Asylum.[4]
See also
References
- Bendoc Historic Loop Drive Archived 21 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Department of Sustainability and Environment – Victoria, July 2008, accessed 17 February 2011
- Saving East Gippsland forests Archived 17 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Victorian National Parks Association, accessed 17 February 2011
- Australia Aboriginal Tribes Map Archived 16 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Norman Tindale map, South Australian Museum, accessed 18 February 2011
- Haldane, Robert. "The Snowy River Bandit". Robert Haldane. Retrieved 19 December 2019.