Hobart to Holbrook

Sunday - 17^th May 2015

Southern Midlands

You little She Devil!

Waiting ...

Breakfast stop at Seymour

Vietnam Memorial Walk

Big boys' toy

Memorial wall

Memorial to those who did not return

Up periscope

Early yesterday, it was time to hitch the caravan up once again and begin the long trek north.  We were on the move by 9.00 am; a glorious, autumn morning with clear, blue skies.  The drive north to Devonport was absolutely beautiful – the southern midlands, especially, was so green.  We really don’t appreciate our own state!

 We were lucky to spent the afternoon in Devonport with Les’ siblings and their partners, with a wonderful afternoon tea (homemade vanilla slices – yum!!!) and lots of chat before we met Denise and Barry for a snack before heading to the Spirit of Tasmania.  After such a large afternoon tea, we still managed to eat the scallop pies Denise had bought at Oatlands.  We checked in without any hassle, the security check was very straight forward and we only waited about ten minutes before driving aboard.  The sailing would have been one of the calmest we have experienced.

 The ship docked in Melbourne shortly before 6.00 am and we were one of the first rows to drive off at 6.30 am to the beautiful sight of a very red dawn sky on the horizon, the lights of the city and the blue circle and star of the Eye of Melbourne.  With very little traffic, we had no trouble getting onto the Hume Highway.  The sun rose to another clear, blue sky and no wind; such an enjoyable drive to Seymour (our first stop), breakfast and a much needed cup of coffee.  We stopped at the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial and spent some time reading the history, looking at the paving stones, and finding important names on the memorial to all defence personnel who served during the Vietnam conflict.  It didn’t take long for Les to find his name. 

We said our goodbyes to Barry and Denise, then, after a change of drivers, continued along the Hume Highway to our overnight stop at Holbrook.  We are staying in a lovely little caravan park (rather close to the highway) which is next door to the Holbrook Bakery.  After settling in, we headed to the information centre and the submarine HMAS Otway – and discovered why there is a submarine so far inland and why Holbrook is called Holbrook.  The submarine museum was really interesting, with a portion of the museum set up as a submarine control room, as well as a captain’s cabin, officers’ mess and sailors’ bunks.  We discovered that the periscope was in working condition, too.