The fascinating history of Australia's Hume and Hovell expedition

Australian Community Media

Join Tim the Yowie Man as he celebrates this year's 200th anniversary of the Hume and Hovell expedition with a deep dive into its fascinating history.

Transcript

00:00This year marks the 200th anniversary of the Hume and Hovell expedition, an epic overland

00:07four-month journey of discovery that carved out the modern route between Australia's now

00:13two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne.

00:16According to local legend, on the 18th of October 1824, it was beneath this very tree

00:23on the outskirts of Yass, now a stump, that Hamilton Hume and William Hovell and their

00:28fellow travellers camped.

00:31Hume must have liked it here, for the site later became Cooma Cottage, which Hume bought

00:36in 1839, expanded and lived in until his death in 1873.

00:43Apart from the Hume Highway, just about everywhere you look in Yass and surrounds are reminders

00:49of Hamilton Hume, including the start of the Hume and Hovell track, which follows the expedition

00:55route 440km from here all the way to the Victorian border.

01:00There's also a bridge, a motel named in his honour, and an exhibition at the Yass and

01:08District Historical Society where you can discover the challenges Hume and Hovell faced

01:13and the legacy they created through captivating storyboards and rare artefacts.

01:18Oh, and not to forget his final resting place at the Yass Cemetery.

01:25A little bit further afield at Fish River near Gunning is this commemorative column

01:30which marks the location from where the expedition party set out on the 17th of October 1824.

01:36Of the many stone cairns that mark the expedition route, this one has to be the hardest to access.

01:43You've almost got to go on your own expedition to reach it.

01:47200 years after the expedition is definitely a time for reflection.

01:52I wonder what the next two centuries will hold for Yass and for our country.

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