Hi all, just wondering what the best way from Albury to Hotham, and what the average drive time generally is?
if you've got any bookings in the near future and you don't live in Vic, it's time time to ask for refunds
Speak to one of the locals at the pub for backroad smuggling routes. Getting across the Murray will be your main problem. You’ll need a dinghy.
weather conditions depending but Albury to Myrtleford to Bright to Hotham is the easiest. 1 hour 45 cruising. Otherwise can go Albury Tawonga over Tawonga Gap and pick up great Alpine road between Bright and Harrietville. Tawonga gap is windy road for approx 15 - 20kms. Probably slighty shorter route but no quicker
One of my ancestors got pinged for low level "smuggling" before federation. Back in the 1800s each state had protectionist tariffs and my great grandfather apparently bought back slightly too much stuff from a shopping trip in NSW. With Federation in 1901 came Section 92 of the constitution which stated "trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States... shall be absolutely free". And that was the end of smuggling across borders in Australia.
My dad is going to start a people smuggling business. apparently all 57 border crossings will be manned 24/7. Plus drones along the river
I'd allow 2 hours in winter to get from Albury to Hotham could even take longer if you get caught in traffic.
2 hrs is not enough if you and others need to put on chains. Then there is the clusterfark car parking though less crowded this year.
let’s not forget the numpties across the road around CRB hill area who refuse to fit chains in their 2WD? Got to love the Hotham-Bright Road!
Numpties prolly dont have the patience to sit for hours at a computer and get ski tickets this year. Yeah but when they get one of those lowered ugly Holden utes stuck across the road trying to put chains on ,you can have problems. Dont know what will happen with the border closure coming from albury ?
Possibly see an exodus of NSW skiers from HotHam & Falls? Unless there’s an automatic permit for residents? Looking at the news, there’s a lot of frustrated people along either side of the Vic border. Not just Albury Wodonga.
Are there other towns on the border other than the one i drove through that one time i didn't fly between sydney and melbourne?
Apparently there’s 55 Vic - NSW crossings. In a lot of the western areas, smaller NSW towns rely on services on the Vic side (not limited to Mildura). There’s Also several Crossings between the Snowies area and the coast. Some of these like the Monaro Hwy and Barry Way provide Vic access to Jindabyne and Cooma. It will be an interesting’ X weeks?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/07/victoria-nsw-border-swift-closure-sparks-anger-confusion-military-move-in
they are closing some crossings, forcing large detours. eg nyah and tooleybuc both closed, have to go via swan hill. that effects the main Sydney to Adelaide freight route and will almost certainly cause gridlock in swan hill
Google says that's 4 1/2 hours slower. I can see litres of trucks choosing that... western hwy would only be 1 hr
