Where the Alpine Way ends, Khancoban begins, and the contrast is one of the best things about the ride. After the cold, bare heights of the Main Range, the road drops steadily into the valley of the Swampy Plain River, the air warms, and the slopes turn from snow gum to dry forest and then to farmland and pasture. The town is small and tidy, a line of low buildings around a green, and it exists because of the Snowy Scheme, having been built in the 1950s to house the engineers and workers who constructed the nearby power stations.
The story of the scheme is one of the best-known in Australian history, a vast project that diverted rivers through tunnels in the mountains to generate electricity and send water inland for irrigation. Khancoban was one of the construction towns, home to families from dozens of countries, and a monument to that era stands in the town. The Murray 1 power station, buried deep in the mountain nearby, is open to visitors on organised tours.
The ride from the high country is a long, winding descent, with views over the Murray valley to the plains of Victoria. The road is good, and the bends are fast and open, though loose gravel and leaves can gather in the shade. Wildlife is a constant hazard, with kangaroos, wombats and wallabies grazing near the road, particularly at dawn and dusk. Mist and low cloud can roll across the road, and in winter the upper sections may be icy.
Fuel is available in Khancoban, but it is a small town, and the supply is limited, so do not leave it to the last moment. There are a few shops, a cafe and a motel. Corryong, about twenty kilometres away across the border in Victoria, is a larger town with more services. It is also the burial place of Jack Riley, widely said to have inspired the poem The Man from Snowy River by Banjo Paterson, and the local museum and cemetery draw visitors.
The Murray River, which forms the state border here, is a broad, slow stream lined with river red gums, and fishing for trout and Murray cod is popular. In autumn the poplars turn gold, and in spring the wildflowers bloom in the hills. Carry layers, because even in summer the nights can be cool, and enjoy the transition from mountain to valley.