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.
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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.