Holbrook NSW 13 April 2019

Holbrook NSW 13 April 2019

Left home just before lunch and cruised out to Jugiong where we stopped for lunch at the Sir George Hotel. No time for play in the park this time, had to head off to Holbrook for our first nights stay.

The main reason for stopping at Holbrook was to give the kids a play on the submarine and a ride on the miniature train, which only runs on Sunday and starts at 10 o’clock. It is a train very similar to the ones that were at Kingston and it was a double lap ride around the Ten Mile Creek, with a bridge at either end. Ten Mile Creek is one of the former names of Holbrook, along with Germantown and others. Naturally enough, the connotations of the name Germantown were a bit on the nose by 1915 and so the good people of the town decided to adopt the name of the first Naval VC recipient of WWI, Lt Norman Holbrook, and so the town became Holbrook. The town is more widely know as the ‘submarine’ town, as it sports the superstructure of a full sized submarine, the HMAS Otway, which was decommissioned in 1995. The Navy gave them the fin, the town raised a stack of cash and bought the entire top half of the craft from the scrap metal dealers. Holbrook is a spotless and quiet town, except for when we went to the Illawarra Hotel for dinner. The pub was jam-packed with partygoers who had been at the Annual Holbrook races all day and seemed intent on finishing off the night in fine style. Good on them, they haven’t had a lot to celebrate recently, what with the drought, the bypass and the advent of their own version of the Mr Fluffy disaster.

HMAS Otway. Holbrook, NSW

Lt Holbrook at the 'scope. Holbrook, NSW

HMAS Otway. Holbrook, NSW

Oops!. Holbrook, NSW

Tom and newest best friend. Holbrook, NSW

Great old advertising sign. Holbrook, NSW