HMAS CASTLEMAINE

There was neither logic nor much commonsense deployed when I decided to plod from my Home to the Melbourne suburb of Williamstown. A distance, as the Crow flies, (though I'd prefer an FA/18 Hornet as they'd be just a little bit quicker) of about 15 kilometres. Mind you, I was liberally sated with quite a few cups of coffee en-route as my direction, by pure coincidence of course, went past a number of small Cafes, well known from many plods over decades. By another pure coincidence, some of these Cafes had cheesecake, which after 'fierce token resistance', I succumbed amidst a delirium of sweet tasting misadventure. Despite these sweet gorgings, the kilojoule (calories for some) count was still in the bare negative, if you allow for a middle-aged discount factor enhanced by a lot of hot air.

At the onset of my ramble, I had set out in daylight when it was cool, cloudy and bloody winter! When I arrived at Williamstown, it was cool, cloudy, dark and still bloody winter! I can 'confess' that I have made many sacrifices in a vain attempt to remove winter from the seasons but despite the honesty of my intent I have not reached such a state of omnipotence (yes, this 'o' word is on page 594 of the New Illustrated Dictionary & Encyclopaedia - refer my commentary of 11 June as you'll sort of see why I made this absurd statement).

Williamstown is a bayside suburb of Melbourne, sited along the upper western reaches of Port Phillip Bay or as is more geographically correct, Hobsons Bay - a sort of 'nautical off spring' of the larger Bay, conceived a very long time ago. Almost as long ago as when Footscray won their last premiership. What is Footscray and a premiership I hear you cry? I shall attempt to describe without breaking into a well full of tears. Footscray Football Club (known these days as the Western Bulldogs) is a Club in the Australian Football League (Aussie Rules) - AFL - which I, patiently and loyally, follow. The Club has only won a single premiership since joining the AFL (and its predecessor the Victorian Football league) back in 1925. That single win was in 1954, well over 50 years ago! And, as those boffins of mathematics will tell you, that's only 1 premiership in 84 years (not counting this year as the Football season is still underway - the Grand Final is on the last day of September). Oh, it's so depressing.

However, I digress. Serious discourse follows: Williamstown is one of the oldest European settlements dating back to 1837. Prior to this, for tens of thousands of years, members of the Bunerong & Woiworung Tribes of the Kulin Nation were custodians of the land (and still are) around present day Williamstown. In particular, the Yalukit-william clan of the Bunerong who occupied roughly a 5 kilometre stretch backing off from the Bay. As Williamstown developed its European based mores, it became known for its Ship Building Industries, which continue to this day. Apart from having very expensive and upmarket housing, Williamstown is a fine Dining and Recreational Precinct, very popular during the warmer months and on weekends, especially its neat beaches.

Located on the foreshore near one of the main thoroughfares - The Strand - is Gem Pier with the old World War 2 Corvette, HMAS Castlemaine moored. The small of length, Gem Pier was first built by convict labour in 1838 and was, in those days, the principal access across Hobsons Bay to Melbourne. The Pier has undergone many transformations since that initial building until its present timbered manifest. It's a beaut' spot to watch sunsets from too!

HMAS Castlemaine (J244) is named after the central Victorian gold mining town of Castlemaine. It was one of 60 Bathurst Class Corvettes (also known as Minesweepers) built during the WW2 and one of 36 commissioned and manned by Royal Australian Navy crews.

Launched in 1941 by Pattie Menzies (wife of the then Australian Prime Minister) and commissioned in 1942, the Castlemaine undertook war service in the waters off Australia, New Guinea and Timor, seeing action many times against Japanese forces. The Ship was formally decommissioned in December 1945. After long stints as a Reserve Ship and as an immobilised Training Ship, the vessel became a 'Museum Ship' in 1973. In the 1990s the Castlemaine sailed to her present berth alongside Gem Pier. The Ship is open to visitors most weekends and is a prominent icon of Williamstown.

It was to this location, drenched with coffee and now flabby with glurped cheesecakes that I finally plodded and dropped. In the later few kilometres I'd been sniped at by a niggling sciatica nerve that defied my earnest attempts at mediation - chants of 'Pain go away you god-forsaken nuisance' - did not seem to work for some reason. That aside, about me I noticed the 'beautiful people' were quaffing on their red wines and dining el-fresco under the warmth of lullaby outdoor heaters. Turning my back on this nonsense, I galumphed toward to the lapping of the waves coming on the in-coming tide setting up my tripod with HMAS Castlemaine as my theme. For a time, I drilled the Camera with 'absurd photographic instructions' mucking up most shots though (to my amazement) managing a few passable ones. So much for reading 'All you need to know about Digital Photography' - in my case obviously not much, yet.

Under the slink of darkness, I declined the not very tempting thought to walk back from whence I came and instead hopped on a Bus for the hour long bump and grind back home and a hot shower. Though on the way, the Bus Driver did seem puzzled when I started chanting again but by this stage I was delirious from the chill and battling a full bladder from all the coffee, I cared nothing for decorum.

PS

I reckon the photo is best viewed enlarged (the perils of shooting wide-angled).