Chapter 1 - Silo Trail

Chapter 1 - Silo Trail

Day 1 - Tuesday 13 June 2017                 >> Home Page & Intro

It was cool and overcast as I moved the caravan out of the driveway, so that Shirley's car could be locked away.  Friends who have been to our place will be pleased to hear that I was able to back the caravan into our driveway to make packing and maintenance that much easier.

It was around 10am as we locked the unit and started the car, and headed to the ring road - destined for the Ballarat freeway.  Hopefully all of our "departure" tasks had been completed.  I know that both the oven and the iron were off.  It was about 12 degrees C.

We headed towards Ballarat and within an hour or so we were rewarded with a clear sky and lots of sun.  The temperature had skyrocketed up to 13 degrees.  Every 60 to 70 km the temperature went up by one degrees so by the time we moved passed Stawell it was 17 degrees.  Pretty hot by recent Melbourne standards.

Our first major stop was the painted silos at Rupanyup, an excellent taste of what was to come.  The magnificent art work was let down by the lack of a sign advising when, who and who were the subjects.  However the art work was well worth the trip. Later on we had to do some research.

It was painted by Russian Artist Julia Volchkova who is actively involved in the graffiti and street art movement in the places
she travels. Julia's work usually focuses on portraits and the Rupanyup Silo Art mural is apparently inspired by the Rupanyup Panthers Football & Netball Club.




Rupanyup Silo



Fireman on Wall of the Pharmacy Guild

We had an added bonus of a mural on the wall of the Rupanyup Pharmacy Depot (whatever that is).


We then moved to Minyip, the town that my forebears called home for many many years from the early 20th century.  The remaining Kelly land was sold only 15 years ago.  A visit to the cemetery allowed us to ponder the life style of my great grandparents who died in 1897 and 1907 respectively.  Their monument is the highest in the cemetery.  Click here if you would like to read a summary of early Kelly Aussie history.

James & Nora Kelly, Minyip Cemetery

We headed north towards Brim, another artistic spot. However a sign on the side of the highway reminded us that we had forgotten Sheep Hills, the second of the silo murals. So we quickly did a small detour. Again it was magnificent. 
 
We saw a GIANT mural dedicated to Indigenous culture.  Sheep Hills was the third silo to be painted, following Brim and Patchewollock. It features Wimmera Elders Ron Marks and Regina Hood, along with a young boy and a young girl.

It was painted by Adnate - an internationally renowned street artist, famous for his work with Aboriginal communities across Australia.  He completed the mural in December 2016. The four indigenous faces now watch over the tiny community of Sheep Hills and the starry background of the towering portraits has symbolic significance to the local people.




Sheep Hills Mural

Sheep Hills also has a lovely old pub with character.


Commercial Hotel - Sheep Hills

Then we turned our attention to Brim, where Guido van Helten (a Melbourne based world renowned street artist) has turned the tiny town into a tourist destination overnight (early 2016).  There are four characters, standing 30 metres tall, on the iconic Australian structures (as in grain silos). They are not specific local people, but an artists representation of who the local people are.

Brim Mural - First to be painted

You really have to see this art work from a distance and up close to appreciate it.  Why some woman had to clean out her car in front of a wonderful piece of art really amazes me.

Anyway we moved on about one km and we paid our $10 at the (old time) service station - the pub was closed for the day - and camped near the bank of the Brim weir.  A hand held Crown Lager and a camera produced the following photos.  Pre-cooked curried sausages and rice were tabled for dinner.  It was an early night.

Day one was 390 km, and pretty impressive.


Day 2 - Wednesday 14 June 2017 - Brim to Balranald

As is usual for me I was up before the sun and made the mistake of not taking a torch to the shower.  There are no lights.  Still I think all bits got washed, and my clothes remained dry.

It was very foggy and not ideal for sunrise photos.  I updated the blog while I waited for Shirley to wake and the sun to appear.  However the lure of a photo beckoned so I headed off to snap the following view.  My apologies to the pelican who did not quite make the photo.

Foggy Sunrise at Brim Weir

We had a healthy breakfast of cereal and fruit and departed around 9am. We headed through Hopetoun with Patchewollock as our first stop - for the last silo painting.

Patchewollock - Local farmer ‘Noodle Hulland' - by Fintan Magee

The painter - Fintan Magee - is a Brisbane based street artist who painted the Patchewollock Silos in October 2016. Local farmer ‘Noodle Hulland' was chosen for the inspiration of the artwork because he was slim enough to fit the two narrow silos and had "that classic farmer look", embodying the locals' spirit.

There are two more silos earmarked for a painting, at Lascelles and Roseberry - possibly later this year.

Our movement north east took us through Walpeup, a regular summer mention on the ABC Weather Bulletin as the hottest place in Victoria for that day. We then headed east through Ouyen and started to cross the salt plains that have ruined this part of the world.  I did manage to get a photo of a mural in Ouyen.

Ouyen Mural

Our disappointment at poor countryside was soon replaced by the beauty of the lush country and river gums as we approached the Murray river.  The "Swan Hill Wine Region" sign marked our entry into this region.

We stopped at Tooleybuc for lunch and I took the following photo of the bridge over the (currently not so mighty) Murray river, as we crossed into NSW.



Tooleybuc Bridge over the Murray River

One hour later we were in Balranald and talking to a lady at the information centre who learned to ride a bike at her auntie's place - who lives about 200 metres from us in Melbourne.

She convinced us to stay in Balranald so we booked into the caravan park for two nights. After a coffee we went for a walk and took the following photo - about 200 metres from our caravan.

Murrumbidgee River at Balranald

Balranald has a proud record of their people who fought in great wars and they have memorials to their soldiers in a number of streets.  They also have memorial reminders of famous people who visited here like Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and explorers like Sturt as well as Burke and Wills.

We settled in for a chilly night and planned our next couple of days.

Day two was 312 km.





This post is complete.
Please click here to see Chapter 2.