Ararat welcomed the crew of the HMAS Ararat II to the city for Anzac Day commemorations but there was one crew member who was looking forward to the visit more than most.
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Leading Seaman Caitlin Stewart lived in Ararat for nearly 10 years and still has connections to the city.
“My nan and godparents still live in Ararat,” she said.
“I was pretty excited and pretty proud to come down to Ararat, represent my hometown, my ship and everything the Navy stands for.”
Mrs Stewart said Ararat was still quite similar to how she remembered it from when she grew up in the regional city.
“It is a bit surreal coming back to Ararat, but nothing has really changed,” she said.
“A couple of shops have changed but everything else is the same. It has still got its original spark about it, which is fantastic.”
Mrs Stewart moved to Ararat when she was four years old and attended St Mary’s Primary School. She then started her secondary education at Marian College before moving to Darwin during year nine.
The 24-year-old said she took inspiration from her father, who was also in the Navy.
“My dad was a cook in the Navy, so I sort of followed in his footsteps,” she said.
“I have always wanted to do it, it is something I am pretty passionate about.”
The former Ararat resident is now a maritime logistics chef and said getting her hospitality qualification had been the highlight of her naval career so far.
“If I do ever decide to leave – which at this point in time I do not plan to do – I can move out in to the civilian world and still have a qualification on my back,” she said.
It is pure coincidence Mrs Stewart got posted to the ship named in honour of her former home but it meant the city would remain where ever she went.
“I took a posting on a promotion and I just so happened to be posted on to the HMAS Ararat,” she said.
“They said they were going to Ararat for Anzac Day, so that was something we were all looking forward to.”
Mrs Stewart said the role included different tasks and missions and she enjoyed being able to serve in the Royal Australian Navy.
“The experience, the people really make it, the morale and the places you get to go, the things you get to do and on top of that you are serving your country,” she said.
The HMAS Ararat II is an Armidale Class patrol boat and was built in Fremantle before being commissioned at Docklands Melbourne in November 2006.
The 300-tonne ship was named in honour of its minesweeper predecessor HMAS Ararat I, which won two battle honours in the 1940s before being decommissioned in 1947.
