My first visit to the Melbourne Tank Museum was some 10 or more years ago and back then I marveled at the amazing collection of restored vehicles on display within the large hangar. However, the owner has since closed the museum and been progressively disposing of the collection to the point that only some 20-30 vehicles, mostly restored, now remain within the large hangar. With the remainder of this collection and everything else soon to be disposed of, the owner decided to have one last public opening and allowed access to all areas, including those that had previously out of bounds.
Having visited the museum in it's heydays and seen most of the restored vehicles at various rallies, my main interest and focus on this visit was to explore the back block/paddock, where many incomplete and unrestored vehicles lay in open storage, slowly succumbing to the elements. For the princely sum of a gold coin donation - which went to a local charity - I got to spend several hours exploring the back block, negotiating black berries and clambering over many of the unrestored vehicles. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, that will never be repeated again and one that I am glad not to have missed.
Having visited the museum in it's heydays and seen most of the restored vehicles at various rallies, my main interest and focus on this visit was to explore the back block/paddock, where many incomplete and unrestored vehicles lay in open storage, slowly succumbing to the elements. For the princely sum of a gold coin donation - which went to a local charity - I got to spend several hours exploring the back block, negotiating black berries and clambering over many of the unrestored vehicles. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, that will never be repeated again and one that I am glad not to have missed.
