Day 5 - Gelantipy - Jindabyne

Thursday 11th February

Knowing that I either had to make it to Jindabyne, 136kms away, or be prepared to sleep rough without a tent, I made a very early start; I was on the road by 5.45am, shortly before daybreak. It was fantastic watching the dawn from this wild, remote road:

Shortly after dawn I came across some cattle straying across the road, seemingly unsupervised. There was no danger of them being run into by motor vehicles though; there was no traffic.

After about 20kms I came across the Seldom Seen Roadhouse, which appeared to have closed for good, presumably owing to the lack of clientele:

Although there were a number of vehicles outside, in varying states of disrepair, and a bizarre sculpture made of old bicycles suspended between 2 trees, there was no sign of life there:

Shortly after Seldom Seen the C608 to Jindabyne, otherwise known as the Barry Way, commences. This road was completed as recently as 1961, although work on it had commenced back in the 1920s. It has very little traffic; all day I saw fewer than a dozen other vehicles. It’s tarmaced for the first 10km then becomes a dirt road for the next 70kms.

After 40kms I reached Suggan Buggan, where there is a river, a small campsite (with no facilities) and nothing else. After Suggan Buggan there was a big climb up to the Monaro Gap from where there were some fantastic views, before a steep descent and some short climbs through open pine forest.

The road descends to, and follows along, the Snowy River, and the views got better and better:

After about 60kms I reached the marker of the border between Victoria and New South Wales:

…The road continued to follow the Snowy River until its confluence with Jacobs River at 83kms, where I stopped for lunch at the very basic campsite, and had a swim and rested for an hour before the next section which I knew was going to be tough. 3kms out of Jacobs River the road ascends for 15 solid kms. Ideally I would have like to tackle this section early on in the day but having to stay at Gelantipy meant that it was inevitable it would be reached in the heat of the afternoon. And hot it certainly was. I’d filled up all my water bottles at Jacobs River but I only had a total of 2.5 litres carrying capacity and this had to last until Jindabyne, another 55kms away because there were no more rivers on the way.

Lunch at Jacob's River.

After lunch it took me about 3 hours to cover the 15km ascent, walking most of the way, it was too steep and I was too tired to pedal it. It was a real hard slog, made bearable only by the knowledge that there was no alternative but to reach Jindabyne, and also the reward of increasingly spectacular views:

The highest point of the road was 1343metres altitude. After about 105kms the road became sealed tarmac, which was a relief; however I still had 30kms to travel that day and by now the light was fading. Still I pressed on, I didn’t have a front light and there was virtually no moonlight, so the last 15kms or so were in almost total darkness. Fortunately the sealed road had good clear white markings which I was able to follow.

I eventually reached Jindabyne at about 9.45pm and checked into the first accommodation I saw, at the Alpine Gables Hotel. No food was available so I had to make do with some crisps and a large beer before falling very soundly asleep.

Total distance today 139kms - not the longest of the route so far, but certainly the hardest.

Alpine Gables, Jindabyne