THE WOMBAT. IG. 



25/12/94. We take things rather easily, as we have 

 only 24 miles to do, and do not make a start till eight o'clock. 

 We keep a look-out for a man who was seen by a party from 

 the Museum doing the Otway trip three years ago, driving a 

 bullock and a horse together. We do not see him, but are 

 informed that he now drives the horse and three bullocks 

 tandem. 



We get into pretty heavy country, and have to do most 

 of the road on foot. By the time we reach Barramunga we 

 are in the midst of a very heavy fog, which grows worse as we 

 .advance, and it gradually condenses on the trees. There is 

 a steady drip all the way. About eight miles from Forrest 

 we reach a very awkward turn of the road, round a spur of 

 Mt. Sabine, bearing the particularly happy name of " Comical 

 Corner." The hill comes sharply down here on the road, and 

 slopes away again below for seven or eight hundred feet ; in 

 fact the road is a mere cutting in the hillside. It is of the 

 shape of a note of interrogation turned backwards, thus : (^ 

 The scenery, as in fact everywhere in the ranges, is some- 

 thing wonderful. 



At last we reach the top of Mt. Sabine — the highest 

 point of the ranges — and spell for a while, and then on again. 

 We had intended to have dinner here, but finding that it is 

 only six miles more to the Bay, we decide to push through. 

 We find corduroy abundant, and unpleasant, and greasy, and 

 where the corduroy is absent there is about a foot of thick 

 mud. We plough along — on foot, and at about five o'clock 

 we set the first glimpse of the sea, and at the same time find 

 the worst hill of the trip ahead of us, but fortunately it is the 

 last. This hill, known locally as " Gentle Annie," is a spur 

 of the well-known " Burst-my-gall," on the old track. It is 

 about two miles long, and there is a drop, as measured by the 

 aneroid, of Too feet in the first half mile. The total height is 

 about 1000 feet. Fortunately the hill is dry, and we reach 

 the bottom all right, and find ourselves to our great joy on 

 the sandy beach and out of the fog which has hung about us 

 all day. Four miles along the beach brings us to the 

 township, and we at once cross a rise behind the houses, and 

 fix our camp in an elbow of the Barrum (? Barham). It 

 being now six o'clock, and we having been on the go since 

 eight in the morning, are glad to get some tea and turn in. 



"W. IB. WILTOIsT, 



IiEATHER MERCHANT & IMPORTER OP GRINDERY, 



MS^ RYRIE STREET, GEELONG. *=$-> 



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