About Holbrook
Until 2013 Holbrook was one of the last towns not bypassed by the Hume Highway. Traffic would slow down, pass through on its long straight street, and watch as the bypass was being built. The roar of trucks deprived the town centre of any appeal although it had a number of significant historic buildings and there were quality cafes serving light meals and good coffee. Today Holbrook’s primary function is a stopover and rest destination where the huge HMAS Otway can be inspected and walked over and the local park beside the Otway is ideal for picnics and an extended rest break. (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).
The town was named Holbrook (originally Germanton) on 11 August 1915 in honour of Lieutenant N.D. Holbrook of the Royal Navy, who was the first submariner to receive the Victoria Cross in World War I and had skippered the original HMS B11 during that war.
Getting there
It was a pretty easy 217kms south down the Hume Highway from Yass to Holbrook (route map). We selected Holbrook as it was too far from Yass to our last stop-over in Shepparton (getting lazy 😁).
Accommodation
Good old WikiCamps came to help here and we chose to freecamp behind Holbrook’s Riverina Hotel for a night. The concept is that you can camp behind a pub (listed on WikiCamps) and you buy your dinner in the pub as a return for the free camp spot.
Great choice, pulling around the back of the pub we discovered a newly graveled car park which was rock hard and dead level – perfecto! We thought we were the only “free campers” to pull in but were soon joined by 3 other travellers, including another Bailey caravan. All 8 of us joined together for dinner in the pub that night, which was great.
Lunch at J&B’s Gourmet Cafe
If you are ever in Holbrook and looking for a great feed, then you cannot go past J&B’s Gourmet Cafe. We had lunch there and it was fantastic and the staff were so friendly. It’s in the main street just down the road from the Riverina Hotel (maplink).
Germanton Park & Submarine Museum
There’s a wonderful park in the middle of the town which contains a portion of the hull of HMAS Otway, an Oberon-class submarine, after it was decommissioned by the Royal Australian Navy in 1995. The Navy gifted the fin from the submarine to the town.
The submarine theme comes from the fact that the town is named after the first submariner to receive the Victoria Cross, Lieutenant Norman Holbrook who was then 26 – commanded the submarine B-11, when, despite treacherous currents, he dived under five rows of mines to enter the Dardanelles. There, in Sari Siglar Bay, he torpedoed and sank the Ottoman navy’s ironclad Mesudiye, which was guarding the minefield..
Summing up…
- Accommodation – Riverina Hotel car park (02) 6036 2523
- Cost per night – Free (@ 11-Oct-2022)
- Number of nights – 1
- Facilities – Old style country pub
- CP Location – 131 Albury St, Holbrook
- Our rating/score – 8/10
- Was it a nice town to visit? – Yes
- Activities & places of interest – Probably the submarine museum
- Tourist info centre? – 15 Wallace St, Holbrook (02) 6036 2422
- Would we return? – Yes
- We rate the town – 7/10
- Overall thoughts – A great 1 night stop-over and the pub food is great.