Karen Schmidt is a direct descendant of William Hilton Hovell.
Over 200 years ago, then-NSW Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane commissioned Mr Hovell and Hamilton Hume to lead an overland expedition consisting of six convicts from southern NSW to the furthest point of southern Victoria.
They were the first non-Indigenous people to see much of the Australian landscape.
Recently, Ms Schmidt decided to retrace her great, great, great grandfather’s steps and film the expedition on her iPhone, and along the way upload snippets of her journey to her YouTube channel Life in the bush.
Assisted by the journal written by Mr Hovel and Mr Hume A journal of discovery to Port Phillip, and maps created for modern day explorers, Ms Schmidt navigated a similar path to that of the first explorers, although some of the track was no longer accessible being on private property.
Ms Schmidt has a Diploma in Natural Resource Management and a Certificate III in Conservation and Land Management, and currently boasts a career in bushland conservation and education.
After leaving Yass on November 6 where the Hume and Hovell expedition started, Ms Schmidt ventured to the Murray River in Albury, an experience she said was special. Near Tumut, she saw seven echidnas on one trail.
Ms Schmidt arrived in Kilmore on Sunday, November 24 and visited Monument Hill, a tower erected 100 years ago by the residents of Kilmore to commemorate Mr Hume and Mr Hovell passing nearby on December 13, 1824.
Later in the evening, Ms Schmidt returned to the Monument Hill Reserve.
“I spotted over 30 ringtail possums, several frogs, and even a brushtail possum,” she said.
“I saw three sugar gliders and saw a sugar glider fly for the first time. It was a highlight.
“The controversy is that most of the history books say [Mr Hume and Mr Hovell] arrived in Corio Bay, but recent research shows that it was actually Point Cook.”
Ms Schmidt is looking forward to meeting with the author whose theory it is that Mr Hume and Mr Hovells’ expedition actually finished at Point Cook.
Ms Schmidt then drove to Mount Disappointment and Beveridge, before completing her expedition at Port Phillip Bay on Tuesday, November 26.
Ms Schmidt’s YouTube channel has over 20 episodes featuring native fauna and flora, and several Hume and Hovell entries.
Ms Schmidt said that she will soon create a longer version of her expedition.
To watch her journey, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXMfnDGjVPU.
