Gundagai is a side hop these days off the Hume Hwy as it trundles its way to Melbourne. It wasn’t like this in the old days. Gundagai was a stop that was almost compulsory. The train from Sydney via Cootamundra pulled up here.

We have made it to Gundagai and the Riverside Camping ground is our home for three nights beside the Murrumbidgee.

Coming down from Cotter campground, bypassing Yass, we pulled in briefly to Burrinjuck dam. A tortuous narrow road down to the dam with van behind, but we made it ok. The Murrumbidgee was initially partially dammed here in 1909 for irrigation purposes and at that time was the fourth largest dam in the world, the dam was finally completed in 1929.

The dam controls the flow of water along the river and the take off into the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area that we will pass through in coming days.
Jugiong was our next stop, the Murrumbidgee runs nearby. A cattle show was in full swing on the Showgrounds. Big black beasts obediently lined up in rows awaiting instructions!

Great views from the lookout over the valley. Jugiong is currently a trendy spot to stop at, rejuvenated pub and produce sales. It is here that bushranger Ben Hall shot a policeman, later hung and buried in Forbes.

Five miles from Gundagai we just have to pull into the Dog on the Tucker Box memorial. Everyone knows this famous spot beside the Hume Highway, a special pull in lane is even provided for those eager for a look.

One version of the famous poem speaks of being 5 miles from Gundagai, whereas another says 9 miles. Political correctness has also replaced ‘bastard’ in the poem with ‘beggar’. Such was the significance of the occasion that the memorial was unveiled in 1932 by the then Prime Minister.

There were apparently two locations considered for it, one nine and the other five miles from Gundagai and both on creeks. Five won out and it’s been there now for nearly a hundred years. Explains the two versions.
During the COVID pandemic the Dog did not have many onlookers and roamed into town. As a result there are now three puppies on the footpath: one outside the butcher named ‘Snags’, another named ‘Chip’ outside the Family Hotel and the other name we have forgotten (but will have it somewhere).

We had an interesting couple of days in Gundagai. The town was wiped out by a major flood in 1852 and later rebuilt on higher ground off the flood plain. Many lives were lost and buildings destroyed in the flood waters.

Two indigenous Wiradjuri men, Yarra and Jacky Jacky played significant roles in rescuing townsfolk. Their efforts saved 69 townsfolk. The town has a memorial to them on the footpath as well mentions on other plaques in the town.

The Criterion Hotel where we had lunch also has murals commemorating the flood as well as the bush rangers that roamed the District.

One of these was Captain Moonlight, whose story is told in the old gaol. He was captured in 1879 after the Wantabadgery station holdup and hung in Sydney in 1880, in 1995 his body was exhumed and what remained reburied here in the cemetery. Nice spot under a tree gazing out over the cemetery.

Time to leave the gang from Snake Gully and head for Wagga Wagga, on a back road via Wantabadgery.