Retracing the Old Hume Highway
When I first started independent road trips in the late ‘70s, the country was a different place. Luxuries like power steering, air-conditioning and satellite navigation were things of the future and the major highways - like the Hume - passed through little towns and villages all along the way.
Nowadays, the great bitumen ribbon is only interrupted by cookie-cutter roadhouses and big-name service centres, feeding traffic past once-thriving communities that relied on the volume of passing trade for economic survival.
Using existing historical research and maps provided by NSW Transport, I propose a magazine feature (or features) retracing as much of the original route as is still accessible.
Even before the Hume Highway, a southern route to Melbourne wound its way through the countryside, joining the burgeoning agricultural settlements that were springing up all across the fledgeling colony.
The project would involve creating a historical, self-guided journey along the route, featuring prominent landmarks and attractions and embracing various hospitality and tourism operators along the way.
Ideally, it would feature as an insert in a magazine that was suitable for run-on publication and available for sale or giveaway at participating outlets and would be equally suitable for caravaners, day-trippers or motorcycle tourers.
The scope of the project is only limited by imagination and funding and could easily be expanded to a hardcopy book and distributed via an established publisher.
Using existing historical research and maps provided by NSW Transport, I propose a magazine feature (or features) retracing as much of the original route as is still accessible.
Even before the Hume Highway, a southern route to Melbourne wound its way through the countryside, joining the burgeoning agricultural settlements that were springing up all across the fledgeling colony.
The project would involve creating a historical, self-guided journey along the route, featuring prominent landmarks and attractions and embracing various hospitality and tourism operators along the way.
Ideally, it would feature as an insert in a magazine that was suitable for run-on publication and available for sale or giveaway at participating outlets and would be equally suitable for caravaners, day-trippers or motorcycle tourers.
The scope of the project is only limited by imagination and funding and could easily be expanded to a hardcopy book and distributed via an established publisher.
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