It begins as a series of springs-seeps among tussocks, alpine grass and timeless snow gums, and as more seeps contribute their lifeblood a tiny trickle begins its 2530km journey to the Southern Ocean at Goolwa in South Australia.
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By the time the Murray cuts through the pristine alpine meadow of Cowombat Flat it is a stream in its own right, albeit small enough to straddle, courtesy of this accursed drought.
Perhaps, in human terms, the river at this point could be likened to a baby in its first weeks of life — fragile, beautiful in its own way, already with its own character; enough to wonder what might lie ahead in its journey through life.
From this pristine place it’s hard to comprehend that this tiny, rushing mountain stream will become an ever-growing river of so many different faces and moods; that it has managed to withstand the demands, excesses and abuses imposed and inflicted by those who live by and off it, and play on it for kilometre after kilometre.
Time and vegetation regrowth after the devastation of the 2003 bushfires conspired to stop us reaching that point on the map where the Black-Allen line — the border between NSW and Victoria — spears off to Cape Howe.
But Cowombat Flat tells you enough to make you understand why this part of Australia is so important.
Vehicle access from the NSW side has been closed since the 1970s, while Victoria followed suit in 1989.
Parks Victoria ranger in charge of the Eastern Alps unit of the Alpine National Park David Foster said the decision to close the area to vehicles had been taken because of the fragility of the alpine environment at Cowombat Flat.
Vehicles were causing serious erosion problems and damaging the area’s vegetation.
Cattle grazing and growing numbers of wild horses were also degrading the river’s banks and vegetation, including the anemone buttercup.
The scars of yesteryear are still evident, along with the trampled areas along the river’s banks where the brumbies come to drink; along with their wallows, wallows that must surely be potential sources of erosion when the rains eventually come.
Cowombat Flat sits at an altitude of 1180m and the river is home to mountain galaxis and water beetles; it is fringed by native hakeas, tussocks, introduced grass species and a variety of trees, including snow gums.
On the NSW side The Pilot, which soars to 1830m, stands guard over this patch of paradise, while in Victoria, Mount Cobberas No.2 stands as an equally grand sentinel, albeit at a slightly less imposing 1720m.
From where our mightiest river begins its journey down to Cowombat Flat, a distance of about 2.5km, it falls 120m.
As it continues its rush from this alpine meadow, it is nourished by a myriad of soaks and tiny streams, each one becoming more significant until the spectacular waterfall entry of The Leatherbarrel Creek which cascades from the southern slopes of Mount Kosciuszko and then the similar entry of The Buckwong, just above the iconic Tom Groggin station.
The first major river to add its resources is The Swampy Plain River, which ends its journey just above Bringenbrong bridge between Corryong and Khancoban.
By now, our greatest river has tumbled over rocks and boulders and ambled serenely through long, deep rock pools for a distance of 102km.
Mr Foster said he had seen this beautiful, fragile little stream running as a torrent through Cowombat Flat after heavy rain.
“I have seen it running beyond its banks and out over the grass and tussocks,” he said.
Illegal activity in the area was an ongoing problem.
Each year Parks Victoria had to spend significant amounts repairing gates damaged by four-wheel drivers forcing their way into the area.
Management of the area was a complex task and required good working relationships with other organisations, including Victoria Police, search and rescue authorities and fire services.
Few scraps mark site of plane crash
EUROPEAN activity around the headwaters of the Murray River goes back more than 150 years and evidence of mankind’s endeavours to master the land, and the sky, are evident on both sides of the river.
At Cowombat Flat the remnants of an old stone cottage and stockyards are stark reminders of white man’s attempts to tame this serene, yet at times inhospitable patch of alpine paradise.
More recent evidence takes the form of erosion scars inflicted by vehicles and wild horses, and the remnants of wreckage from the 1954 crash of a RAAF Dakota plane.
Cattle grazed this area from the 1840s for more than 130 years until NSW and then Victoria cancelled grazing leases.
Little remains of the Dakota which force-landed after an engine failed on a flight from Canberra to Sale on August 25, 1954.
The plane remained largely intact after the crash.
The RAAF removed parts as part of the investigation while the Snowy Mountains Authority built a hut using materials from the wreck.
Since then vandals and pilferers have whittled away most of the rest.
An account of the events leading up to the ill-fated flight and its aftermath, along with a blade from one of the propellors, is displayed at the Omeo Historic Park and Museum at Omeo.
The plane, with a crew of four on board, took off from Sale for Bathurst and Richmond, but problems with the starboard engine forced the crew to land at Canberra.
The engine was checked but nothing was found that could have caused the engine failure.
On August 25 the plane left Canberra to return to Sale but about 11am as the plane neared Mount Kosciuszko, the starboard engine again failed.
There was a dramatic loss of altitude and this combined with severe turbulence convinced the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Laurie Hawes and his co-pilot, Flying Officer Berne Mullein, to make a forced landing on Cowombat Flat.
According to accounts of the forced landing, Flight Lieutenant Hawes decided to stall the plane into timber that lined the south-western slope of the clearing.
He aimed for a clump of three trees with the hope the nose and wings would take the impact and slow the plane.
The initial impact caused the Dakota to slew around and a large tree smashed through the starboard side of the cockpit where Flying Officer Mullein was seated.
He was badly injured and died soon after.
The other three crew survived and about an hour after the crash, a RAAF search plane located them.
A rescue party from Omeo, led by Omeo policeman Lionel Baddeley set out, and after camping overnight, reached the survivors in the late morning of August 26.