Would have loved to know what supplies & equipment they carried with them. So few records on this sort of thing.
Keith.
http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/

I was actually amazed at what some of them took with them Keith... Horses, bullocks, drays, flocks of sheep and one expedition carried a full mahogany dining table so the gentlemen could 'dine' properly. It must have been a very cumbersome journey I imagine.

What I find interesting about the exploration of south-east NSW in particular is my belief that when they found a route it was more often than not an existing Aboriginal pathway or in fact a highway.

Joseph Wild, the first man tagged with 'bush-man', was well adapted to getting his information from Aboriginal People. It was Wild who learnt of the great river Morumbidgee (Murrumbidgee)and it's general whereabouts and passed that information to the gentry. I note Wild was the common factor in all the expeditions of the area.

Dave with research you will find your route. The map above from Sydney is way out mate. Yes many routes follow old Aboriginal Paths. Highway 31 is not one of them it is a settler route and has nothing to do with Wilds era.

Generally full mahogany tables accompanied dignitaries like governors such as Governor Lachlan Macquarie when he visits lake George in 1820...

Hint Google "Old Sydney Road Queanbeyan" the road to Sydney that goes to nowhere is the end of an Aboriginal Path and the route Currie Evans and Wild took through QBN 1823...

Thanks for the info Cam. Its one of my ongoing projects (its a hobby :) I need to do a new post. Cheers Dave.

I am surprised you have not got the route after all you have all the newspaper clippings. It's right in front of you.
If your interested I have been doing a bit of research into their expedition mapping their diary onto Google Earth because I have found Aboriginal Archaeology at the end of their journey and have been mapping their route to challenge back to Cooma Celebrations http://www.monaropioneers.com/explorers.htm
"On the 4th June they arrived at some very extensive downs where they met a tribe of natives"
I am pretty sure I know exactly where they met.
I agree with you the explorers mistook the Numeralla River for the Murrumbidgee to tie it in with the Archaeology I am interpreting. I believe the explorers made it as far as Round Mountain above Rosebrook.
The settler walls on the Monaro are not settler walls they are Aboriginal. One example even tells you how far it is to get to the coast like a travel distance sign just not in Km's but in days...
My family property is at Chakola and I have stood on Ryie's hill at the monument and can not accept they could not have noticed the 1km wide river flats.
Then I discovered the Aboriginal Cathedral...
Currently writing a book about Aboriginal Monumental Art/Architecture the scale of which is akin to Landscape Art being read from Civic Canberra which is located in Queanbeyan...
Have you read Bill Gammages new book? The Biggest Estate on Earth?

My route was speculation Cam. I will definitely check out Monaro Pioneers I haven't been there in a while. I am very interested in your research Cam and I'm sure a lot of readers here would be too. , the Aboriginal info is great. If you would like you could write a post for here linking to Monaro Pioneers and your upcoming book. It would be a permanent post that should at least generate some traffic and educate people at the same time. Think it over and let me know. No I haven't read the book. I'll check it out. Cheers

for a good time try...
www.rta.nsw.gov.au/environment/.../self.../the_great_south_road.pdf.
Route 31 is Surveyor-General Thomas Mitchells 1830 -1843; “The great South road” becoming the Hume in 1928 was a compromise between what I would think was two aboriginal path ways (although aboriginal path ways is just a guess).
1) Macquaries Government Road 1820-1825
2) South or Argyle Road 1818-1833 to the south.
Of interesting note workers had already reached the top of Wild’s Pass by the time of Governor Macquarie visits Lake George in 1820 and by the time of Currie’s expedition 1823 the limit of white settlement is just north of Lake Bathurst.
You will notice that the road you are intending to follow goes west from Throsby Park at Bong Bong. This is because it was intended to link up with another road from the newly established settlement called Bathurst.
Mulwaree is the local area but when used in the travel diaries it appears to mean the earliest river crossing point at what is now Goulburn. Look up early Goulburn History on Wiki and the town centre was moved from the location of the original settlement (now the police academy I believe).
Wild Pass will be a very interesting place for you. Travel along the ridge line; it will most likely be a location for undisturbed ancient Aboriginal path ways.
As for posting on your site re Aboriginal Monumental Landscape Art... maybe later I have done 12,500 words so far and have only just begun to scratch the surface. Besides I think I have discovered a very significant Aboriginal Totem and need to continue with my book and telling people what I have found in electronic format leads to silence... Something about cultural sensitivity and I need to discuss with the traditional owners the Ngarigo first... I don’t do scar trees; the trees I am documenting are sacred and I located 3 Bora rings in 48hours. Not to mention the totem... I believe they are called a songline... It’s all Indiana Jones stuff really.

However I will post you my email address if you want my interpretation of the expedition by dates but please do not post my email address on your site. The work I have done is supplied in a google .kmz file not pdf.

I am however still tinkering with the Canberra to Cooma leg and return to QBN via London Bridge it is not complete but has taken over two days so far to compile with testing, testing and more testing.

I applied the principles of landscape “templates” as per Bill Gammage book and am pretty sure the dates can still be plotted on landmarks/forests that are pretty much the same as they were in 1823.

White settlers did not have to clear forest. The Treeless Plains of the Monaro are tree less due to Aboriginal intent. My grandfather has some explaining to do but that will have to wait until I am dead. He did not clear a much at all... I realise now his bush hut took advantage of such a sacred grove clearing as described in Bill Gammages book.

Also look up John Blay www.netspeed.com.au/seforests/bundian_way.htm and the Bundian way. Pity he has removed his south Coast pathways project. John gets a mention for that work on South Coast path ways in Bill Gammages book.

Thanks for the info Cam. Great stuff! I was only planning on travelling from Queanbeyan to Nummerella but I am very interested in any routes leading past Inverary Park Bungonia (near Marulan) my GGGGrandfathers joint. Email me when you get the chance. Of course I wouldn't publish your email. All very interesting stuff and I'm pleased to meet someone who has put so much effort into their research. I think its an important subject. Cheers