Situated on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Bruthen is a small town of under 1,000 people. We stopped here on our way from the Buchan Caves to Melbourne which is another 311 kilometres away. There are several places to eat on the main street, including a bakery where we bought coffee and some snacks.
After finishing our coffee, we walked along the main street where we found several memorials and some interesting old buildings.
Over the road from the Visitor Centre, is a remnant of the RAAF CAC Sabre fighter which crashed on the outskirts of Bruthen on 27 November 1958. The plaque reads: “Flt Lt Ralph Oborn (DFC, ADFC) was on a flight from NSW to Sale when his jet engine “flamed out” at 40,000 feet. Oborn managed to avoid crashing in the built up area of the town before ejecting at 500 feet. He was the first pilot to eject safely from an aeroplane in Australia. He received only minor injuries. It was the first time he had used a parachute.”
Opposite the Sabre Memorial and outside the Tourist Information Centre is a cairn that commemorates explorer Angus MacMillan who passed through the area in 1840.
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