Words by Jeff.
With an early morning start, we convened at the pre-meeting point on the mouth of the Yarra River where the opening scene of Mad Max was filmed and where several of us had actually crossed the river on the punt on chains with motor vehicles.
We chatted while we waited for everyone to turn up, and were treated to yummy homemade cupcakes – so a big thank you to Marcus for that delight.
We had a good turn out of CPS cars and enthusiastic members, keen for all that was on offer. Although not a long drive, this did give us quality time to get to know each other.
Come 10:30 am, we headed to Point Gellibrand. Point Gellibrand has a rich history which Chris G gave us some perspective of: “It was the site of Victoria’s first permanent settlement and seaport and was crucial to the initial growth of the state and where Ned Kelly also worked in the bluestone quarry.” amongst many other interesting facts including the export of massive amounts of gold to keep the British rich.
The early mariners Timeball Tower is a step back to a time and used to help the ships synchronise their chronometers to the hour as the ball dropped.
From there we meandered around the coast on Battery Road and past Williamstown beach to a blustery, windy and wet carpark. Some of us made it down the end to see a gorgeous tiny boat harbour but the weather here meant we were going to spend a good comfortable two hours in the expansive Spotswood hotel.
We got there at around midday when it was rather empty, but by the time we polished off our yummy food, the place was packed.
Good choice of pub, thanks Nick!
With our tummy’s full and our thirst satisfied, most of us then ventured off the Fire Services Museum Victoria Restoration Workshops while some had various other commitments for the day.
Our tour guide as the wonderful George who showed us through an immense history of fire fighting vehicles and equipment from Melbourne to Victoria and a bit of New South Wales. It was a sea of red vehicles from colonial days to very recent. A big thanks to Ross J for organising this tour as it is not open to the public and is what you could describe as the ultimate men’s shed.
Well that rounded of the day nicely and I’m sure all who came along would agree.
