For weeks before we were to go on our yearly journey to Jindabyne in NSW, John has said he wanted to go for a drive and take me to Suggan Buggan.
After a late morning start John suggested we take that trip to Suggan Buggan. After fueling the Nissan we departed the Jindabyne area around midday. Did we think about lunch? afternoon tea? or even dinner at that point… NO! 
Along the picturesque drive on the “Barry Way” passing through Cobbin, Moonbah and Lynwood, West Lynne we then hit the gravel road that continued through to Ingebirah and the Ingeegoodbee area. Love some of these names. We then began to climb through the rugged ranges. We had a short stop at Wallace Craigie Lookout which is a fabulous vantage point to view the southern precinct of the Kosciousko National Park.
Just after leaving the lookout we began to climb back down the mountain and there we were challenged with many sudden, unexpected, rutted and continual large potholes in the extremely winding, and narrow dirt road.
While we didn’t see any wild brumbies we certainly spotted that they were around. Need we explain further?
Google maps tells us our destination is only 89klms from Jindabyne. If driving at say 90klm per hour in essence it should only take an hour to drive there. Wrong… !More like 2 1/2 hours. We began to follow the swollen Snowy River and noticed the flow of the river was enough to spot some adventurers experiencing white water rafting.
As the afternoon progressed we were still quite a few kilometers from our destination and the road was still pretty awful. We flipped a coin as to whether we should continue or head back to Jindabyne. We were both hungry and worried about the diminishing daylight. The coin toss lost and we continued on our way to Suggan Buggan.
Finally there we were… arrived! Well that’s a bit disappointing. No pub, no café, and no scones with jam and cream. However, what we did see was Suggan Buggan, 
a ghost town in the remote wilderness of northeastern Gippsland in Victoria, roughly 8 km from the NSW border. Its a ‘massive township’! – Kidding!
What is there one might ask!!! Not a lot! – A 1860’s wooden schoolhouse. Word has it that In 1865 Edward O’Rourke constructed the old school house and a tutor named Ballantyne was hired to teach the O’Rourke’s thirteen children.
A man named Tom Dillon, who worked for the family, is buried in a grave at the top of the hill near the school house. He was a convict who was granted freedom of lodging and occupation within a given district until the termination of his sentence. In those days it would have been a horrid sentence. So desolate, cold and a long way from anywhere, especially on foot or horseback.
Not having a pub nearby we didn’t stay long and with a rough and winding deplorable road to tackle back to Jindabyne we were on our way again. We made a quick stop at Jacks Lookout on the return journey to view the spectacular southern Australian Alps being encased by the stunning Snowy River.
We did make it back to Jindabyne safely.
Are you going to head out for a day trip to Suggan Buggan one day?
Make sure you give yourself plenty of time, and be prepared for the “rough ride”.
Never been there and not likely to get there either