Queen Sees Snowy Mts. Scheme

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30076, 9 March 1963, Page 11

Queen Sees Snowy Mts. Scheme

(N.Z. Ptcsa Assn. — CovtrngM) COOMBA (New South Wales), Mar. 8.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived at Coomba today to a bush welcome from thousands of country people, as they headed into the heart of the £4OO million Snowy Mountains scheme.

Nearly everything around them suggested the bush from the moment they stepped off their plane from Brisbane at the lonely Cooma airstrip at 2.30 pm.

Cooma itself, 10 miles from the airstrip, took a holiday and nearly half of the town’s P 000 people went to the airport

■Rte Royal couple got into their closed Rolls Royce and drove the 29 miles through rolling bu<hland and gumcovered hills to Lake Eucumbene Hardly a soul was beside the road—only a few families picnicking at strategic bends.

The car sped into the town of Eucumbene juat

short of the enormous dam wall which forms Lake Eucumbene itself, the main storage of the Snowy scheme with a capacity nine times that of Sydney Harbour. A couple of hundred school children and scores of parents stood among the tall gum trees beside the steps leading to the lookout They all brushed away flies almost as vigorously as they waved their flags. On top of the lookout, the chairman of the Snowy Mountains Hydro - Electric Authority, Sir William Hudson, pointed to the beautiful panorama in front of them. From the lookout the Royal couple were driven several hundred yards on to the top of the dam wall--481 ft high and half a mile thick through the base They paused briefly on try of the wall to look again across the lake and back the other side to the almost dry bed of the Eucumbene river, dropping away in a deep valley to the south

Several minutes later the Queen was down at the edge of the lake. Reporters, work-

ers and boy scouts lurked amongst gum saplings on the edge of the track leading down to the jetty. The Queen and the Duke stepped into an authority launch for a 70minute nine-mile ride across the lake to the Adaminaby landing stage. The Queen and the Duke photographed kangaroos and emu. during their launch trip. The queen used a movie camera and the Duke took stills as they passed islands in Lake Eucumbene. The islands, which were formerly mountain tops, “drowned” by the rising waters of the lake, now are wildlife sanctuaries and the lake itself, with an area of 56 square miles is a popular trout fishing resort. The Royal couple are spending the night at Cabramurra which at 4880 feet is the highest township in Australia. It is the headquarters for the Snow. Mountains authority’s work.- in the area.

Early today, more than 300 passengers travelling to see the Queen were thrown from their seats when their train and a semi-trailer collided at a level crossing. 38 miles south of Canberra. None of the train passengers were hurt, but they were delayed for more than three hours until another engine arrived.