Sunday morning & it was a foggy drive out to OTR Bolivar for the start of our run to Bublacowie Military Museum.
We had 8 Corvettes, 1 Falcon & 1 Chocolate carrier (Karen & Rob). 18 people all up.
The drive to Ardrossan only became foggier to the point where you could not see the car in front of you. After morning tea we drove down the central Peninsula Rd to Minlaton where the fog lifted for a nice sunny day.
On arriving at the Museum, after a slow drive down the freshly graded road (grader missed all the holes), we were met by Chris Soar, the person who set up & owns the Museum.
It has taken him 14 years to get to the stage it is at & he still has future plans. As well as a Museum it is also a National War Grave site with 2 WWI, 2 WWII & about 16 Vietnam Veterans' ashes. These are placed in his Memorial Garden. Hence the site is now protected by law.
After a roast lunch cooked by Chris & his helpers he gave us a guided tour through all the museum sheds including his own home which was originally the 1 room Bublacowie Primary School.
There are over $3 million worth of artefacts collected by Chris with no funding from the government. It is the largest private military museum. Chris is also a recipient of the Bravery Medal.
To fully appreciate what he has done you need to visit. It covers WWI, WWII, Korean, Vietnam & Afghanistan wars, other conflicts & various artefacts from around the world.
He has also set up a camp ground for caravans, units for the public & mainly returned service people.
After leaving there we stopped at Minlaton to look at the WWI plane the Red Devil & the story on the pilot Harry Butler.
Then a detour over to Pt Vincent for a drink at the Ventnor Hotel, our old Hotel. Then back home & again the fog closed in to make a very interesting night drive home.
Lyn & I thank all of you for joining us as we did end up making a big day out of it.
PS the Austin Champ 1952 Rolls Royce engine goes as fast in reverse as forward.