The sealed section of Victoria’s distant C511 street, as highlighted in Season 1 of Drive Tv set, was rumoured to be geared up for a very special customer.
In Time 1 of Push Tv, I took you to a pretty remote section of the Yarra Ranges exterior of Melbourne.
The purpose? To find a special and in the vicinity of-best area of driving tarmac, miles from any connecting streets, to serve no 1 but the driver.
For 7 amazing kilometers, the sealed section of the C511 Warburton-Woods Place Road exists. Its flowing curves and subtle elevation adjustments wind through the rainforest and logging catchments, featuring both equally remarkable landscapes and pure, driving enjoyment.
The downside of this unique portion of roadway, is that it is in the center of nowhere.
The street surface area to reach it is unsealed and really rough, so significantly so that our journey in the Volkswagen Amarok W580S was a quite bumpy one particular!
But why is it there at all?
Throughout our study for the Television set shoot, we unearthed a fascinating Royal rumour.
In 1954, just two yrs into her reign, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip toured Australia. For 57 days, from Wednesday 3rd February to Thursday 1st April, the pair would travel among Sydney and Perth, building plenty of stops together the way.
At 10 times, the longest waypoint was Victoria, with the pair taking time to expend a lengthy weekend resting at a lodge in Warburton in the Yarra Ranges, about 70km from Melbourne.
The story goes, that as the Upper Yarra Reservoir advancement was nearing completion, the major operates task was of potential fascination to the Royal couple, and preparations required to be produced in situation a tour made it to the formal itinerary.
The street alone was made in 1866, but with the catchment and tunnel developments all through, it marks the only ‘thoroughfare’ through the location.
The Australian Army engineers have been tasked with making ready a part of road that would showcase the is effective, and offer a suitable touring surface area for the crucial guests.
And so a short, 7km segment of the C511, connected to no other big road or railway, buried deep in the ranges, was sealed with the greatest hotmix asphalt offered.
It’s a fantastic tale, and the dates and locations test out, but it nevertheless leaves a couple queries unanswered.
1st of all, how would they get there? If travelling from their lodging in Warburton, the Queen and Duke would want to traverse the comprehensive duration of the unsealed C511. It was rough in our Amarok, permit on your own a 1954 Land Rover!
There is a small airstrip close by, which at the moment supports firefighting plane in emergencies, but it’s five-kilometers away from the start of the paved portion of highway, if it was even in provider in 1954. Not even to query where by they would get on a airplane to start off with.
Wanting by historic experiences of the tour and in-depth itinerary notes, it seems to be not likely that the pristine part of the C511 manufactured it to the Royal agenda at all.
We can’t come across any substantiation of the Military Engineers involvement, nor a again story on the good reasons why it was paved at all.
But the road exists, and the Royal rumour persists.
And if you’re likely to have a enjoyment back story to rationalise why a road in the middle of nowhere is as best as freshly minted freeway, then a right Royal relationship isn’t a negative way to get there.
You can view the total episode of Generate Television listed here, or look at out our route tutorial so you can make your very own way out there and explore this intriguing corner of Queen Elizabeth’s connection to Australia by yourself.
Vale Queen Elizabeth II – 1926-2022
The submit The Victorian highway in the middle of nowhere they paved for a Queen appeared initially on Generate.