In part one, today I showcase sites between Canberra and Bredbo. To help you identify the featured locations, I've included the distance measured from the intersection of the Monaro Highway and Johnson Drive, in Calwell. This is the spot from which you really get a sense that you are heading out of the confines of the city and south into the mountain country. Safe travels.

1.Bushranger hideout (0km)

With its hulking bulk and landslide scar, Mt Tennent dominates the horizon as you start your journey south along the Monaro Highway.

With a summit trail featuring hundreds (maybe thousands, but who's counting) of steps, this 830 metre vertical climb (ouch!) is used by some keen bushwalkers as a training ground for more serious treks like the Kokoda Trail.

Despite its prominence in the ACT's landscape, surprisingly few Canberrans are aware the mountain is named after one of our region's first bushrangers. John Tennant wasn't your classic bushranger of the gold rush era, rather an escaped convict who resorted to a life of subsistence crime in the mid-late 1820s. And according to folklore he hid some of his "bounty", thought to include a couple of holey dollars Tennant stole from James Ainslie's cottage at Duntroon on November 21, 1827, in his hideout on the mountain.

In his book Canberra: Its History and Legends, founder of The Queanbeyan Age and storyteller John Gale who went in search of "Tennant's Treasure", claims that he stumbled into the hidden cave, only to find "that past decrepit and worn-out wallabies had made this their sepulchre".

Most importantly, however, the adventurous newspaperman didn't find the loot, (not that he let on anyway …), which means that it might still be there. Happy hunting!

Royalla Robot (10km)

This striking statue is officially called Legionnaire and is named after the disease of the same name, often spread through air conditioning ducts and which was in the news at the time of his construction 16 years ago.

Legionnaire was created by artist Ian Houssenloge for an exhibition at Cowra's Japanese Gardens titled Look What I Found in the Sheds, and has timber bones, a skin of fixed stainless steel ducting and high tensile nuts and bolts, along with green eyes which glow in the dark. Spooky!

Apparently, when Legionnaire was first erected beside the Monaro, just in time for the 2000 snow season, his outer casing boasted working water jets and halogen lights. I'd like to see that.

Haunted House (30km)

Due to its derelict appearance, Soglio, an abandoned house hidden behind a grove of elm trees on the eastern-hand side of the Monaro Highway, a few kilometres before the turnoff into Michelago, has earned an unwanted reputation for being haunted.

Despite the fact that it's private property and is surrounded by several signs stating that trespassers will be prosecuted, local teenagers are often dared to enter the ruin, which is a pity as it's one of the region's more historic buildings.

Originally built in the mid-1800s as the Hibernian Inn, it was held up by bushrangers including the notorious Clarke Brothers in June 1866 – that's 150 years ago this month. The pub's patronage declined, and in 1906 it was purchased by the De Salis family and today remains in their hands as a private residence.

It is located just metres from the busy highway which no doubt contributed to a tragedy in 1962, when May De Salis was killed after a collision with a passing car as she drove out of her driveway. Sure, spare a thought for May as you drive past, but don't slow down too much, or you will risk end up as the next casualty.

Spook Bridge (44km)

It's easy to miss unless you are looking for it, but this unassuming bridge which spans the railway cutting near the top of Gungoandra Hill supposedly played a role in Russian secret agent Vladimir Petrov's covert activities during the Cold War.

According to local folklore, under the cover of a "Sunday drive", Petrov and his wife would regularly head south along the Monaro. When Petrov reached this part of the highway, he would apparently park beside the road and leave secret documents under the bridge for another operative to pick up.

In 1954, Petrov defected and lived the rest of his life in Australia.

Warning, although there is a small area where you can pull off the side of the road, if you wander near the bridge hoping to uncover some of Petrov's misplaced secret files, take extreme care as the railway cutting isn't fenced and is very slippery.

Rustic Ruins (47km)

Heading further south, many brick chimneys stand alone, like giant tombstones in farmland, on either side of the highway, reminders of the pioneering days when fires weren't only essential for heat and cooking, but were also a hazard, destroying the homes of early European settlers.

Next to one such chimney, near the Colinton Rest Stop (western side of highway), just south of Ingelara Creek, is the partially-restored remains of the Ware family home, built in the 1880s.

Although the ruins aren't publicly accessible, they are readily viewed from the rest area where if you take a break from the drive, you can ponder how hard life would have been in this harsh country in the 1800s.

Bredbo Inn (60km)

On a cold winter's day in August 1895, Charles McKeahnie, the high country horseman whom many scholars believe was the stockman so famously celebrated in Banjo Paterson's ballad The Man from Snowy River, slipped and fell off his horse while crossing an icy bridge in Bredbo.

The badly injured McKeahnie was taken by locals into the Bredbo Inn and nursed in front of the open fire, but died two days later. The fire place is still standing and now heats the billiards room where some paranormal aficionados believe his ghost also lurks.

The Road South: My road trip from Canberra to the Snowies was inspired by Ruth McFadden's book The Road South: a picturesque and romantic history of a well-travelled track (RNK Publications, 2005), which documents places of interest on the Monaro Highway. Unfortunately McFadden's book is out of print but is available at some better stocked libraries. If you see a copy at a second-hand book shop, snap it up as it's a must-have for the collection of every genuine Canberraphile.

Highway Highlights: What are your favourite roadside features on the Monaro Highway? I'd love to know. Let me know at the address at the end of this column.

CONTACT TIM: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick. You can see a selection of past columns at: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/by/Tim-the-Yowie-Man-hvf8o

Cryptic Clue: "Vlad" was here.

Degree of difficulty: Medium

Last week: Congratulations to Sarah Merefield of Holt who was first to correctly identify last week's photo, as "part of the Mosaic Time Walk located in Centennial Park, Sharp St, Cooma."

Merefield, who just beat a number of readers, including Helen Pizzano of Forde and Chris Longhurst of Jerrabomberra to the prize, immediately recognised the photo as she "walks past the mosaics everyday" during her current "medical placement at Cooma Hospital".

In total there are about 40 of these mosaics which each tell a different story about the Monaro's history. They are well worth stopping to check out if travelling on The Road South.

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday, June 11, 2016 with the correct answer wins a double pass to Dendy cinemas.