I arrived in Seymour late in the afternoon, just as the shops were preparing to close. The town centre came across as a little lopsided as all the shops are on one side of the high street whilst the towns train station and railway line is the other – thats not a negative, just a bit quaint.
A little distance from the centre in a park is the town’s old wooden lockup. I can only imagine how hot it would get inside on a hot sunny day and, given its use into the 1960’s there are possibly still a few town’s folk who have witnessed its use first hand. The goal had been moved on a number of occasions but now rests alongside the towns Time Capsule which is due to be opened on 1 November 2043 – marking the towns 200th anniversary.
I asked my landlady at the motel of the main attractions in Seymour. She mentioned a few local winery’s and also the tank museum at the next town of Puckapunyal. I thought I would drive to Puckapunyal to see if I could see some tanks outside as, with time getting on, I would have expected any museum to be closed.
Little did I know that Puckapunyal is actually a full scale base for a number of divisions of the Australian Army. I guess the guard on duty thought he had a right one when I rolled up and asked if the camp was open to the public. Thankfully he realised my intentions were to visit the tank museum and he advised me to come back again during opening times and handed me a brochure. The Army base was originally located in Seymour during World War I, but moved to Puckapunyal for World War II. I was somewhat thrown by Puckapunyal not being a town in it’s own right with an Army base, but the army base is the town. Indeed, as you drive from Seymour to Puckapunyal you do not take a turn into the army base, but the road leads straight to the guard house. I thought it unwise to take photographs of a military installation, so you will have to leave that to your imagination.
The woman was not helpful. If you go under the raiway bridge at the roundabout and follow it out of town there are some parks. One was a major hospital site (now just ruins) during world war two. The other is a bushland park. It is behind the industrial estate.
You can take photos in the museum.
What about Seymour, Tasmania (on the East coast)?
To say you’ve been everywhere, you really should be visiting **both** Seymours.
Ditto for both “Billabong”s; one in VIC and one in NSW (former name for Rand, on the Billabong Creek 90km SW of Wagga Wagga).
I’ve based my journey on locations from the song as defined by the author/composer Geoff Mack. When Geoff wrote the song he used maps of Victoria, NSW and Queensland as his guide. As a result, Seymour VIC has been used. No other place in Tasmania is listed in the song.
Regarding Billabong, there are many place names that include the term ‘Billabong’, 59 in New South Wales, 13 in Queensland, 7 in Victoria and 86 in the Northern Territory. There is a place called “Billabong” that is revealed if you do a Google Map search, but this is in the middle of a forrest quite a distance off the mother of all dirt tracks, the Wonnangatta Track in the Alpine National Park. Without a suitable vehicle and camping equipment it would be out of reach from most – including, I’m sure, our “I’ve been everywhere” man.
I’ve chosen a Billabong that is a bit more accessible – Little Billabong in New South Wales. I mentioned the Billabong dilemma to Geoff Mack, the song writer, who thought this was a sensible compromise as he could not recall which Billabong he had in mind.