Geelong to Geelong (moved from Altona)
16 November 2025 - 29 November 2025
Scootaville Victoria 2025 offers an opportunity for ex-service personnel to come together, reconnect with the community, to discuss any problems with their peers and to explore and bring attention to regional Victoria. Scootaville will celebrate what it means to be Australian and raise awareness of the hardships that service and ex-service personal face. With the help and generousity of the community and sponsors, Scootaville seeks to raise vital funds for Legacy and the Air Force Association (clink here for donation link) to assist families of lost or injured service members and homeless veterans.

David is joining some fellow ex-ADF men and women who will ride 110cc motor scooters on the round trip from Altona Geelong. Riding almost 1,700 km will take us 14 days and will be a fundraiser for Legacy and the Air Force Association (clink here for donation link). This is a rare opportunity to explore our beautiful country with our peers, overnighting in Benalla, Beechworth, Omeo, Sale, Tootgarook, Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo, before returning to Altona Geelong on the 29th November.

The ride is presented by the Radschool Association Inc., which is a registered charity formed in 1999 to represent the men and women who were trained by the Air Force to either maintain or operate its electronic equipment. It encourages connection and mateship among its 1,400 plus members through its magazine, website, social media, reunions and special events like Scootaville.

Update:

11 Nov 2025 - Our start and finish location has been moved from Altona to Geelong due to an unexpected double booking of the Altona Scout Camp. The above map is still the orginal route and is not expected to be updated.

The final distance travelled on the scooter ridden by David was XXX km.

All Photos (credit to David .... and many more)

A promotional video (4:46 mins) was produced by Griffith University about this endeavor:

Reference:

• Past Scootaville blogs:
• Queensland: 02-20 September 2022
• Queensland: 22 August - 10 September 2023
• Queensland: 28 August - 15 September 2024
• NSW: 18 November - 04 December 2024
• Queensland: 22 August - 12 September 2025

How can you help?
We invite you to donate via the Scootaville page: https://radschool.org.au/donate/. Your donation is tax deductible. We greatly appreciate your generosity!

Raising much needed funds for:
  

Pre-start | 2026 Scootaville Vic | Day 1

Welcome from David and Lyn.

The format of our site is in three parts:

1. Blog server - our day-to-day travel blogs (this website)
2. Photo server - some of our key photos
3. YouTube channel - our videos (many linked directly from our blogs)

The site includes hundreds of searchable travel blogs. Some of our longer trips are listed below. 

General travel

• Bridge cams - Princess
• Unofficial Travel Awards
• Equator Crossings
• International Date Line

About

• David
• The Thalassophile (lover of the sea)
• The Musician - Uke resources
• The Presenter
• The Photographer
• The Ham (VK4DCP) - Ham resources
• The Vexillophile (flags)
• Lyn
• Countries visited: #1 to #25 | #26 to #50 | #51 to #75 | #76 to #100 | #101+
• Summary of cruises - Pre COVID-19 / Post COVID-19 

Thank you for visiting our website.

Best regards

David and Lyn
e-mail: brizzy@outlook.com.au

Cruise countdown

2026 New Zealand Cruise - Blog Starting Page

2026 European Odyssey River Cruising - Blog Starting Page

2027 Fiji Cruise - Blog Starting Page

2027 Circle Pacific Cruise - Blog Starting Page

Links to major adventures
2025 Pacific North America Cruise Blog - Apr 2025 to June 2025 Cruise #1 - Sydney to LA Repositioning Cruise #2 - Pacific Wine Country Rocky Mountaineer - Discovery Circle Cruise #3 - Voyage of Glaciers (Northbound) Cruise #4 - Voyage of Glaciers (Southbound)
2024 - World Cruise on the Coral Princess Blog - Apr 2024 to Aug 2024 Photos Segment #1: Sydney to Tangier - 35 Days Segment #2: Tangier to Dover (via Baltic) - 21 Days Segment #3: Dover to New York - 18 Days Segment #4: New York to Brisbane - 38 Days
2020 – Indian Ocean & South Africa Odyssey + Southern Australia Explorer Blog - Jan 2020 to Mar 2020 Photos
2019 - Hawaii, Tahiti and South Pacific cruise on the Sea Princess
Blog - Aug 2019 to Oct 2019 Photos
2018 - World Cruise on the Sea Princess
Blog - Jun 2018 to Sept 2018
Photos Segment #1: Brisbane to Dubai - 19 Days Segment #2: Dubai to London - 30 Days Segment #3: London to New York - 20 Days Segment #4: New York to Brisbane - 37 Days
2017 - Cherry Blossom cruise (a.k.a. China - Japan cruise)
Blog - March 2017 to April 2017 Photos
2016 - World Cruise on the Sea Princess
Blog - May 2016 to Aug 2016
Photos Segment #1: Sydney to Dubai – 20 Days Segment #2: Dubai to London – 35 Days Segment #3: London to New York – 11 Days Segment #4: New York to Sydney – 38 Days Home Leg: Sydney to Brisbane – 2 Days
2015 - Hawaii, Tahiti and South Pacific cruise on the Sun Princess
Blog - Jul. 2015 to Aug. 2015 Photos
2014 - South East Asia on the MV Voyager
Blog - Feb. 2014 to Mar. 2014
Photos Leg #1 Treasures of Asia Leg #2 Colours of the Indian Ocean
2012 - Caribbean cruise on the MV Voyager
Blog (by Lyn) - Nov 2012 to Jan 2013
Photos (by David and Lyn) Leg #1 Voyage to the Caribbean Leg #2 Caribbean Gems Leg #3 A Tapestry of Central America
2011 – Far East cruise on the MV Discovery
Blog (by David) - Dec 2011 to Feb 2012
Photos (by David) Leg #1 Treasures of the Orient and Vietnam Leg #2 Empires of the Sun Leg #3 South East Asia and Australia
2010 - Caribbean cruise on the MV Discovery
Blog (by David) - Nov 2010 to Jan 2011
Photos (by David)  Leg #1 Discovery of the New World Leg #2 Colonial Trails of the Caribbean Leg #3 Tales of the Old Spanish Main
2009 - Grand Voyage of Discovery from Mumbai (India) to London on the MV Discovery
Blog (by David) - Mar 2009 to May 2009
Photos (by David) Leg #1 India and The Persian Gulf Leg #2 Red Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Leg #3 Black Sea, Turkey and Greek Isles Leg #4 European - mainly the Mediterranean

Day 2 - Benalla to Beechworth
Monday, 17 November 2025

Today we travelled from Benalla to Beechworth staying off the freeway and enjoying the country roads. We were away early for our ride expecting to visit Glenrowan, Wangaratta, Wodonga and Yackandandah, a distance of 164km (as per the original map below).

Today’s adventure began with the refuelling of the bikes in Benalla, then an enjoyable photo stop at Glenrowan with the statue of Ned Kelly on the main street. 

Just as we were entering Wangaratta, the truck broke down (and no, Keith swears he didn’t touch it). Lots of phone calls by Trev and we eventually left the truck and headed for a now late smoko at the Wangaratta RSL. 

The truck rental people were planning to tow the truck to Wodonga which was not workable (the truck has all our gear on-board). Trev found a local mechanic who was able to fix the problem and he didn’t even charge us. So we rode the bikes around to his shop for a quick photo and to present him with a Scootaville challenge coin. 

Now late for lunch at the Bandiana Army Barracks Soldiers’ Mess (ie closed), we skipped the Bandiana Army Museum, Wodonga and Yackandandah, and headed straight to Beechworth. We only travelled 75km today.

Now we’re a couple of hours early for our accommodation at the Baarmutha Function Centre. The Centre’s caretaker wasn’t available and it took an hour to find him to open the doors. The golf club downstairs was great and opened its doors to help warm us up (it’s very cool in this high country and has been snowing nearby).

Dinner was at the charming and historic Hotel Nicholas, one of Australia's 50 oldest hotels.

Day 3 - Beechworth
Tuesday, 18 November 2025

A relaxing day where people went in all directions ... some went for a walk, some did their washing, others did some sight seeing, whilst others caught up with some sleep.

David’s morning started with a look around town, including the original gold vault. Then the Beechworth Historic Precinct before a good walk back to the hall.

This afternoon Trev, Mike, David and a few others caught up with the “Cap Lady” who can help with future ventures in the area.

Dinner was at the Bridge Road Brewery. Consensus was that last night’s Hotel Nicholas dinner was much better.

Photos from Beechworth / Slideshow:

Beechworth
A town located in the north-east of Victoria, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s. At the 2021 census, Beechworth had a population of 3,290. Its many historical buildings are well preserved and the town has re-invented itself and evolved into a popular tourist destination and growing wine-producing centre.
Source: Wikipedia

Glenrowan
A town located in the Wangaratta local government area of Victoria. It is 236km north-east of Melbourne and 14km from Wangaratta and near the Warby Ranges and Mount Glenrowan. At the 2021 census, Glenrowan had a population of 1,049.

Glenrowan is a popular rest point for those travelling on the Hume Freeway. In the township of Glenrowan, off the highway, tourists can rest, walk and examine the famous Kelly siege sites.
Source: Wikipedia

Day 1 | 2025 Scootaville Vic | Day 4

We had planned to have morning tea at the Violet Town RSL. Running a little later than hoped, that ended up being afternoon tea with lots of home made goodies and a hot brew.  

They had a stunning mural that had recently opened dedicated to the women of war. With many locals depicted, the RSL President went through and described each lady. If you’re ever passing through Violet Town you must stop and have a look. 

Tonight's accommodation is at the Benalla Showgrounds. Excellent facilities (ie not the usual cold pavilion), just a shame there was no gas in the bottles for the shower’s hot water. A few of us went over to the local footy club to take our showers.

Dinner was at the Benalla Bowls Club just down the road. 

Photos from today / Slideshow:

Benalla
A small city in the Hume region of Victoria. The town sits on the Broken River, about 212km north east of the state capital Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the population was 9,316.
Source: Wikipedia

Pre-start | 2025 Scootaville Vic | Day 2

Geelong
Friday, 14 November 2025
A long day starting early with the AirTrain to the Brisbane airport. Unfortunately David took the wrong platform and missed the planned train. The next was 30 minutes later which meant a very quick run to the flight when arriving at the airport. Straight onto the plane and time to take a breath.

We were meant to start this trip from the Altona Scout Camp but due to a double booking (advised a couple of days ago), we are now at the Geelong Showgrounds for the next two nights. 

At Tullamarine, it was very easy to find and catch the red bus to Sunshine train station. Next a VLine to South Geelong that only cost $2.10 … impressive especially after the $20 train in Brisbane. David arrived early afternoon.

For this Scootaville we have 13 participants, 9 are riders for the 6 scooters, a 12 seater van, a small support truck and Chuck has his mobile accommodation. 

A wonderful dinner at the Geelong RSL. The fish and chips are highly recommended, and David plans to have that again when we return in 8 days.

Geelong
Saturday, 15 November 2025
We were meant to pickup the scooters from Ride Scooter Hire in South Melbourne. However, they sent us to another company in North Melbourne. All the scooters are well used and the bike David is riding had over 78,000 on the odometer.

Off to the Point Cook Museum for a private visit. A very impressive exhibition of the history of the RAAF.

Heading back to Geelong when Keith’s bike stopped and wouldn’t restart. The bike company came the replaced the bike. 

Dinner again at the Geelong RSL.

Photos from Geelong / Slideshow:

Start | 2025 Scootaville Vic | Day 1