Date: 2-4th February 2022
Travelled: 350 kms from Albury to Port of Melbourne.
Visited: Longwood and Seymour
Stayed: Longwood and Beacon Cove, Free.
Budget: 6 days @ $0 per day.
We service the Jayco before departing the showgrounds at Albury. Checking the fuel watch app we find diesel at $1.60 again and fill up at the independent servo in North Albury. Then we head for Alburyโs Aquatic Centre for some laps.
The pool and facilities are excellent and the $5 concession reasonable. Should have taken a picture, but by the time we had finished kids were coming in and a camera is not deemed appropriate these days if kids are around. I was tempted by the water slide but had second thoughts, which indicates Iโm getting old.
Back on the Hume once again we cross into Victoria. The day is clear and sunny but much milder at 22ยฐ, however the wind is quite strong and the Jayco becomes a bit of a wrestling match.
We breakfast at a hwy rest stop. We decide to call it an early lunch as itโs nearly mid-day. Itโs only a few kms from Benalla hence the mural on the dunny walls pictured above.
I have set the GPS for a free stop in Longwood. Only a few kms off the hwy and 130 out of Melbourne it seems the ideal overnight stop. The pub has some excellent reviews so Longwood it is.
Longwood, Victoria, Australia
The RV stop sits in the park/recreation area. There are tennis courts, and an 18 hole golf course (rough) and playing fields. We share the stop with a couple of caravans and 4 motorhomes.
After a short nap we head off for a walk around what is left of Longwood, then on to the Whitehart Hotel.
Longwoodโs General Store 
The old Commercial Hotel now a residence. 
The old fire station shed.
The White Hart 
Two VC winners are noted on the Longwood Memorials, this one the Boar War Cenotaph. Lieutenant Maygar VC for his bravery on high velt in SA, goes on to ride in the attack on Beersheba only to be killed later as a Colonel at ANZAC.
The Whitehart serves an excellent schnitzel, the pub was friendly and we chat with the locals who nearly all start the conversation with โare you staying in the RV park ? We also learn some interesting facts the best way to hang beef and venison (skin on).
After a quiet and restful night we wake to a cool but sunny morning. We donโt want to be in Port Melbourne till early evening, so we decide to move on to Seymour the last big country town. It has a Bakerโs Delight and all the usual supermarkets.
Seymour, Victoria, Australia
Whilst you could argue Seymour is a little non-descript, the main street being a line of plain shops and architecture. But, we discover Seymour does however have a boulevard dedicated to those who served in Vietnam it stretches for some 500m and we thought it well worth a visit.
The wall which continues for some 200m names every Australian who served in Vietnam. 
We spend the late afternoon readying ourselves for the Spirit of Tasmania. We do some cooking so we have a meal ready once we get off the ferry in Devonport and generally relax before heading off to enjoy the Melbourne traffic.
The drive to Port Melbourne goes smoothly enough other than the howling wind and the odd shower of rain. The traffic is reasonable and comparable to Sydney around the same time of day.
We fill with fuel as the diesel is supposedly more expensive in Tasmania, then look at the parking options. There is some paid parking at the port but we hesitate at the $24 and the trucks that seem to be fairly constant. Some weeks ago a fellow motorhomer commented that they stayed in Beacon Road adjacent to the park. Itโs only 500m away so we drive over for a look and decide it will do nicely.
Up at 5.30 we make our way back and join the queue. Start the generator, have a coffee, then toast, then more coffeeโฆthen more waiting till eventually the queue slowly moves.
Michael + Pam
