Crawling the Hume 2018

The trek north from Campbellfield retraces the glory days of Australian trucking, where old mates and their machines come together and travel along the old Hume Highway 31 where possible. The event revives memories with tales of their journeys and some of the shenanigans that went on along the way recounted.

Old stopovers revisited
Leaving Campbellfield, the convoy heads north on the dual-lane freeway past the old Kalkallo Pub a once famous stop over for trucks heading either north or south. The route then veers left at the Kilmore exit.

For the old timers it was a chance to share a tale or two about the challenge of the long steady climb up Pretty Sally while some shared stories of a once wild ride down the hill in machines with little or no brakes.

The original Melbourne to Sydney road ran close to the volcanic peak of what in the 1840s was known as the Big Hill that rose 529 meters above sea level. In fact it was so steep that on hot days it was not uncommon to see cars with boiling radiators parked on the side of the road.

An entrepreneurial lady called Sally Smith (known at the time as Pretty Sally) ran an unlicensed hotel at the top hill and consequently the hill became known as Pretty Sally, the late fifties the hotel had become one of the most popular roadhouses on the Melbourne to Sydney route. The roadhouse closed shortly after the new dual lane freeway bypassed Kilmore in 1976.

The convoy’s journey continued on through Kilmore and Broadford where it re-joins the Hume Freeway for short section to the Seymour exit.

Even as late as the early nineties the large twin BP roadhouses didn’t exist along the main Melbourne-Sydney route and it was the little towns like Seymour, Euroa and Benalla that provided restaurants and cafes for drivers to eat and shower.

Needless to say, Seymour was a popular stopover destination back in the heyday of the old Hume Highway, and today on the Crawling the Hume journey it again proved a popular stop to relieve many of the senior bladders and grab a hot cup of coffee.

Way over on the western horizon, swirling dark clouds signalled the forecast rough weather was on its way. But for the moment the rain held off other than the fierce pounding westerly, but that did little to deter the enthusiasm.

Not much left
There isn’t much left of the old single-lane Hume Highway past Avenal, however much of the convoy left the freeway at Euroa for the run through town. Some of the purist left the Freeway at Quarry Road and took the old highway into Violet Town then veered back out on the Freeway for another short stint before re-joining it at Baddaginnie.

From Baddaginnie there is a long stretch of the old Hume Highway that extends as far Wangaratta, from Wangaratta the new Freeway uses some the old highway on the long eight-mile straight passed Springhurst.

But there was a slight detour at Winton on the northern side of Benalla where the formerly famous 24-Roadhouse stood, it was once a major stopping point for interstate trucks and is now little more than a ruin. Here the convoy pulled into the Winton Motor Raceway for a lunch break before tackling the final leg of the journey to Albury at the border where a night’s festivities were organised.

Historic parade
All along the route people braved the inclement weather to watch the impressive parade of Australian trucking history in full working glory. The little rises and roundabouts proved popular viewing vantage points as they also provided an opportunity to hear the old highway toilers get on the power.

For this old trucking writer, the sound of an E9 V8 Mack Superliner, VT903 and 8V92 Detroits changing up through the gears really gets the hairs on the back of the neck standing up.

The event concluded with a dinner at the Albury Race Club to recall memories and celebrate the day.

Crawling the Hume has been held every second year since 2012, if you’re interested in joining the next Crawling the Hume journey, keep an eye on our news pages for all the latest information.