1968 Rothmans Southern Cross International Rally

The 1968 Southern Cross Rally was the third to run from Sydney into Victoria and back, but like the 1966 edition, this one stopped midway in Melbourne with additional stops in Canberra and Albury. Unfortunately weather played a big part in the event with a large proportion of the competitive sections in Victoria being cancelled due to horrendous weather that brought down many fallen trees.

As with the previous two years, a day was called a “Stage”. Each stage was broken into two “Divisions”, which presumably had separate late time limits. Within each division there were a number of “Sections”. By 1968 the instructions did usually (but not always) identify that a section was “Transport”. Only two sections were designated “Special Sections” and were timed to the quarter minute. The instructions were almost entirely in the form of locations and features on the maps of the day. However all sections had route charts, which the organisers designated as “advisory” and they were often somewhat incomplete. Although the event used miles, the distances below are in kilometres for comparison with later events.

Itinerary and route plot

Day One

The event started at 12:30 pm in Martin Place in the centre of Sydney then transported to Annangrove for two short sections at the Amaroo Raceway, one on the hillclimb and the second around the dirt circuit. A long transport then took crews south the Wollongong with one short competitive at Mount Keira. The serious competition commenced south of Nowra with three competitives before a division break at Milton. Six more competitives in the hills behind Batemans Bay, one of which was cancelled, took crews to a refuel at Moruya. Two more competitives headed north to Braidwood, including the fast but unrelenting Araluen Road and a special section across Mongo Mountain. One more competitive across the Tallaganda State Forest was followed by a short competitive on the outskirts of Queanbeyan. After breakfast at the Queanbeyan Leagues Club crews headed into the Stage end parc ferme in Canberra.

Route Instructions

Day Two

The second night headed south from Canberra with a short stage crossing the Murrumbidgee River then down Boboyan Road almost to Adaminaby. A meandering transport took crews fo Berridale for a short break. The run south to Dalgety and across to Jindabyne, while not a transport, was not competitive. But downthe Barry Way from Ingebra to Wulgumerang certainly was. This road would be used in the opposite direction in the London-Sydney Marathon a couple of months later. A long section along Tulluch Ard Road to east of Buchan was very tricky. However the section after Buchan was eventually cancelled because of fallen trees. After a break at Nowa Nowa the route travelled across to the Omeo Highway. The remainder of the division to Melbourne was to travel through Deptford, Wuk Wuk, Seaton, Walhalla, Tanjil Bren and Noojee to Powelltown but was cancelled due to the extreme weather conditions.

Route Instructions

Day Three

The third night was run entirely in Victoria. After a long transport to north of Buxton, a muddy section in the northern Murrundindi Forest took crews to Alexandra then up Maintoongan Road to Bonnie Doon. Back in 1968 the run to Whitfield was very competitive as the road was then all gravel. A long stage then wandered across through Carboor Upper and Bread and Butter Gap and into the Merriang Plantation, followed by a loop through Running Creek Plantation and a run up Slaughteryard Creek Road. A loop over Mount Porepunkah was deleted due to fallen trees. After Bright, the competitive sections over Trappers Gap to Mitta Mitta then up to Cravensville and down the powerlines to Tallangatta Valley were all deleted. Only the run over Jarvis Creek and a short sprint near Bethanga remained intact before the crew reached Albury.

Route Instructions

Day Four

The final night was long and intense and almost none of it was deleted! After a run around the Hume Weir racing circuit crews transported to Tumbarumba and then completed a series of loops to the south and the east of the town. Another long transport took crews to east of Batlow for some challenging sections up to Adjungbilly then a quick run up to Jugiong for a refuel and mealbreak. Some easy sections took the event east through Crookwell and into the forests south of Oberon where the final six sections were held. After breakfast on Katoomba there was a spectator special at a motorcycle scramble track at Bilpin then a transport to the official finish at Bondi Beach.

Route Instructions