Tag:silo
Located in the heart of Victoria’s far west region of the Wimmera is Murtoa, a quaint country town roughly halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide. Murtoa is primarily known for its history as well as its booming grain farming industry. The farming industry produces wheat, barley, chickpeas & lentils for domestic and export markets. Murtoa is also an essential part of the Silo Art Trail, which celebrates regional Australia in a modern and accessible artistic context.
Historical Roots
Like many other towns in the Wimmera region, Murtoa has a rich history deeply rooted in agriculture. The town is named after an aboriginal word meaning ‘home of the lizard’ and was established in 1873 during the gold rush era. The development of the railway network for grain transportation significantly influenced its progress. Over the years, Murtoa evolved into an essential hub for grain production.
Agriculture remains the cornerstone of Murtoa’s economy, with wheat and barley being the major crops cultivated in the surrounding farmlands. The town has kept up with modern agricultural practices by incorporating technology to enhance efficiency while preserving its rural character. The Murtoa Stick Shed Heritage Weekend is held annually in the first week of October. It celebrates the town’s significant agricultural heritage and pays homage to grain storage and processing history. It attracts locals and tourists interested in learning more about these aspects of the town’s past.
Natural Beauty
Murtoa is also a beautiful destination for nature enthusiasts as vast plains and picturesque lakes encompass it. In 2010 the Wimmera Mallee pipeline was finished; consequently, the lake was no longer used as a reservoir. A Committee of Management was established, and significant improvements have been made since then. The park and lake have become a sanctuary for bird life, and with its 1921 Memorial Arch, it has become the focal point for many of the town’s recreational activities.
Lake Marma is a beautiful spot where you can relax and unwind. It has a lovely 2km walking track lined with trees. The track passes a jetty, manicured lawns, and seating areas where you can enjoy the spectacular views. Murtoa Cabins are conveniently situated on the foreshore of Lake Marma and offer comfortable accommodation. The self-contained cabins also have verandahs where you can enjoy sunset views. They are also just a short walk from the town centre and other attractions.
museum Precinct
Significantly, Murtoa is home to three of Victoria’s heritage-listed sights. The first is the Stick Shed, an impressive grain store built in 1941 and often called the Cathedral of the Wimmera. The second is the Railway Water Tower, built in 1886.
The tower is an impressive 4-storey, 13-metre high tower and home to the Water Tower Museum. The museum hosts the unique James Hill Taxidermy Collection, which includes over 500 birds and other fauna, historical artefacts, memorabilia, and households. It also houses farming tools from the 1890s, the town’s most significant growth era. Visitors can climb up the spiral staircase to the top floor, which reveals the underbelly of the 40,000-gallon wrought iron tank that used to store water for steam locomotives. The third heritage-listed sight in Murtoa is the Kurrajong Tree Ave. It was established in 1901 and is the oldest native street planting in Victoria.
The Murtoa silo art
The wheat silo has recently been painted by the renowned street artist SMUG and digitally lit by Dave Jones’ Transience. The stunning mural of brightly coloured birds was inspired by James Hill’s taxidermy collection at the Murtoa Museum (in the water tower). This bird mural is a sight to behold, day and night. The mural also pays homage to Dr John Cade, a Murtoa native who discovered Lithium treatment for Bipolar disorder.
Concordia Cottage
Concordia Cottage is the last remaining building of the original Lutheran college, which was established in Murtoa from 1890 to 1904 as a male Lutheran seminary and teacher training college on the corner of Lake and Munro Streets. In 1905, Concordia College relocated to Adelaide, where it still exists.
The Concordia Cottage building was later moved to Cromie Street in 1934. The Salvation Army used it as a hall and house until 1940. It was then remodelled as a private home until it fell into disrepair by the 1990s. However, in 1997, the cottage was moved to its current home, near the old Water Tower. It was officially opened in October 1997 as part of the Museum precinct. Displays include War memorabilia, Coromby Band photos, the old Murtoa telephone switchboard, historical clothing and a research room.
The Murtoa Heritage Trails Brochure, available for download, provides visitors with a self-guided tour through the town. As you follow the Blue and Red Trails, you will discover the heritage buildings located in the town’s centre. The Murtoa Historic Precinct entry tickets and Murtoa Heritage Trails self-guided walking tour brochures are all available at the Water Tower Museum shop.
Admission is $9 Adult (Eftpos available). Children under 16 free
One of the stops along the Victorian silo art trail in Rochester is a small regional town. Rochester is situated on the Campaspe River between Bendigo and Echuca. The towns twin silo’s features a Squirrel Glider and Azure Kingfisher due to both being indigenous to the area. The Silos can be found at 18 Ramsey St.
Graincorp Silos
Dvate is a Melbourne-based artist and graphic designer. His artwork depicts local fauna, so as to raise awareness of endangered animals. Both silos were painted in 2018, with the tall silo featuring the Squirrel Glider. The Squirrel Glider is the largest of the three gliders found in Northern Victoria and was thought to be extinct in South Australia since 1939. However, genetic testing has confirmed their continued inhabitance of the area.
The smaller silo features the Azure Kingfisher perched alongside the Campaspe River. With its distinctive royal blue plumage on its upper parts and orange on the chest, the azure kingfisher is the brightest coloured of all four kingfishers found in northern Victoria. However, It is also one of the smallest kingfishers.
While we were there, we were lucky enough to come across Dvate. He had just started painting the silos at the back of the existing ones. Work started in November and is expected to be finished in December. Dvate’s work can also be seen on the Goorambat Silo, Kyabram water tank, Picola Silo, Woomelang field bins and many walls across Victoria.
Iddles Lane
Not far from the silos is Iddles Lane, a mural painted by Tim Bowtell in January 2020. The mural tells the story of Rochester born, former homicide detective Ron Iddles OAM APM. Also featured on the mural is Ron’s twin brother Barry an international chef, and other family members. As a result of Ron’s 99% conviction rate with the police force, he was dubbed “Australia’s greatest detective”.
Ron was famous for his work in the homicide squad and as Secretary of the Police Union. It was with the police union he raised awareness of mental health issues with serving officers. As a result, Ron earned the respect of peers, victims and criminals alike. Retiring in 2017 he was the subject of a book by Justine Ford titled The Good Cop. Furthermore, in 2019 he starred in a Foxtel Crime & Investigation series based on the book and won a Silver Logie.
More of Tim Bowtell’s work can also be seen on the Winton Wetlands CFA tank and fish trees, Colbinabbin Silos and pub, Winton rest stop and several locations across Benalla.
Day two of our road trip saw us head off early from St Arnaud. We were travelling the Silo Art Trail on our way to Sea Lake.
Rupanyup
The first stop of the day was Rupanyup, 63kms to the east of St Arnaud. Twin steel silos painted by Russian artist Julia Volchkova in 2017 depict two young people, Ebony, who plays in the local netball team and Jordan, a footballer.
Sheep hills
Starting our run North, the second stop was 36kms up the road at Sheep Hills. Painted by Matt Adnate in 2016, it depicts Wergaia elder Uncle Ron Marks and Wotjobaluk Elder Aunty Regina Hood. Between them are two children, Savannah Marks and Curtly McDonald. Adnate’s artwork celebrates the area’s indigenous culture, and his depiction of the night sky represents the ‘dreaming’ element and highlights the strong ancestral connection indigenous children share with their elders.
brim
Heading off again, our third stop was Brim, another 42 kms up the road. The Brim silo, completed in 2016, was the first one to be painted in Victoria and the second in Australia after Northham, WA. Following the completion of the Brim silo, the town enjoyed newfound energy and optimism through the widespread attention towards Brim and the Wimmera, from both local and international media. It was from the success of the Brim silo that the Silo Art Trail was born. Guido’s work depicts four anonymous farmers, three men and one woman.
Rosebery
Just a short 24kms up the road, we came to Rosebery. Completed in 2017 by Kaff-eine, her artwork on the left depicts a female sheep farmer in a workshirt and cowboy boots. On the right is a horseman and his mount. The horseman wears an Akubra hat, bogs boots and oilskin vest – common attire for mallee farmers.
Patchewollock
Our next stop was Patchewollock. At 63 kms further north, it’s the longest distance between silos. As you drive down the road with endless flat fields and huge open skies on either side of you, you can’t help but reflect on the isolation of the land, the lack of ‘city’ conveniences and the continual hardships the farmers endure against droughts and fires. Patchewollock silo depicts local farmer Nick “noodle” Hulland. Completed in 2016, it shows the archetypal Aussie farmer in a faded blue flannelette shirt and worn jeans.
Fintan painted him with a solemn expression and squinting gaze to embody the harshness of the environment and the challenges a mallee farmer faces.
lascelles
From Patchellwock, it’s 50 kms south to Lascelles. With no breakfast, and 3 hours on the road, our tummies were rumbling, and we were looking forward to getting to our lunch stop. But, while close, Lascelles wasn’t it. Painted by Rone in 2017, its subjects are a local couple Geoff and Merrilyn Horman, part of a family who has lived and farmed the area for four generations.
Woomelang
A short 15kms further south from Lascelles is Woomelang (pop 150!). Our lunch stop. Being so far away from a major town, we weren’t expecting a sumptuous lunch. Still, given they promote the Woomelang “cafe” and its python mural, its closeness to the silo trail, and the fact that they have a ‘field bin’ trail within the town, we did expect a reasonably passable cafe. No. It’s a general store, combined with a post office and an opp shop that also sells fried food and pizzas. We settled for a potato cake and a couple of dimmies and sat outside as there was no tables or chairs inside.
Field Bins
The young Vice President of the Woomelang and District Development Association, Joe Collins (19 yrs old), had originally wanted their silo included in the trail. But, being privately owned, it couldn’t be included. He then came up with the idea for street art on the general store wall to boost the economy. Locals thought he had been in the sun a bit too long. Determined to forge ahead, he contacted Juddy Roller, who had started the silo art trail and was put in touch with Sirum. Sirum came back with a draft idea of the endangered carpet python.
A town meeting was called, and while many locals were against the idea of a snake on the wall, Joe prevailed. Once the python was painted and tourists started calling into town, the opposition vanished, and the townsfolk started looking at more ways to bring visitors to the town. They liaised with the Wimmera Catchment Authority, and eight new endangered animals were chosen to grace eight mobile field bins. Call into the general store to pick up a map. I would, however, suggest taking a cut lunch with you, rather than buying from the “cafe”.
Before leaving Woomelang, we also stopped by the Shearing shed in Cronomby Tanks Rd. Built of compressed kerosine tins, it stands as a monument to bush ingenuity during the wartime shortage of building materials.
Nullawil
We had one more stop before reaching Sea Lake. Nullawil, 65kms south from Woomelang, is probably my favourite silo. Painted by Smug it features a farmer in an obligatory checked flannel shirt and his mate a black and tan Kelpie.
Sea Lake
Turning north again, we covered the last 50 km to arrive at Sea Lake and the end of our days driving. The Sea Lake silo features a young girl on a swing looking over Lake Tyrell. Painted over three weeks in 2019, the silo embodies the wide-open sky of Lake Tyrell, the indigenous name of which is ‘Tyrille’ meaning ‘space opening to the sky’. After viewing the silo, we drove around town, capturing the murals on walls of stores. We didn’t go to Lake Tyrell before dinner, as our group were booked to do that on the sunset tour. Both decisions turned out to be huge mistakes—more on that in the next post.
Days End
After leaving St Arnaud around 8 am, we had made it to Sea Lake by 3.30 pm and covered the entire silo trail plus Woomelang and its field bins in 407 kms. We booked into Sea Lake Motel and dinner at the Royal Hotel. The old pub, built in 1910, burnt down in 2017. The only other pub in town had closed, and drastic action was called for. You can’t have a pub with no beer or a town with no pub. Locals started the Royal Hotel Co-op at $5000 per share and raised enough money to purchase the old pub. Seven months and 28 loads of rubbish to the tip later, the pub reopened in June 2019, providing 16 local jobs staffing the hotel.
Coming up next Sunday: Day Three is off to Mungo NP
Day one saw us head off on our Outback Road Trip from Nagambie with our first stop, Redesdale, just on an hour away. Situated in the Agnes Mumford Reserve on the corner of Lyell Road and Heathcote-Redesdale Road is the Redesdale Water Tank Art. Painted by Damian Arena in 2019, it marks the 10th anniversary of ‘Black Saturday’ when fourteen homes were destroyed along with 7086 hectares of land.
The Agnes Mumford Reserve is directly opposite the Redesdale Hotel – so either works for a pit stop. We parked in the reserve and enjoyed our cookies and hot coffee. As we never know where we are going to find an image – we always travel with snacks and a thermos 🙂
Avoca
From Redesdale, we headed to Avoca. Jimmy Busuttil has been working on the Avoca silo for a couple of months now, but work has come to a standstill while they await permission to paint the other side, which is almost on the railway line, so a few OH&S issues need to be solved. When it is finished, it will have a background of the night sky behind the owl; his eyes and stars will be glow in the dark paint – and it will be lit up at night.
We also stopped off at the railway cafe, up the road from the silo, for a late lunch – but they seemed to be mainly catering to cakes and coffee – and while they were open – there was no one there to serve us.
From Avoca, we headed off on the final leg of the days’ journey – to St Arnaud. Arriving in St Arnaud, we drove around photographing the street murals and silo – all done by Kyle Torney and featuring locals of the town or its history.
St Arnaud
Mural Locations
- The Hope silo – Mc Mahon st
- Ron Reyne Mural – opposite the Hope silo at 14 Mc Mahon st
- Mates Mural – Cnr Wills St and Kings Ave
- The Miner Mural – 22 Kings Ave
- CFA Mural – Cnr Napier and Alma Sts
- Andrea Hicks Mural – side of the wall at 117 Napier St
- Loss Hamilton Mural – 36 Alma St
- Torneys Fighting Fit Gym – cnr of Alma and McMahon sts
- Owen – sidewall of 18 Napier St
- St Arnaud Primary school – observe from Dundas Street
- Royal Hotel Beer Garden at 60 Napier St
We were booked into the Motel St Arnaud for the night before an early start the next day to Sea Lake via the Silo Art Trail. Our motel was clean, beds and shower were good, and the free wifi was fast – for a budget motel it’s excellent value. Dinner that night was at the Royal Hotel, built in 1874 its full of character and old-world charm and decorated throughout with antiques and another mural in the beer garden. We enjoyed wine by the open fire before heading into the dining room for dinner.
The Victorian Silo Art Trail originally started with the silo’s in Brim in the heart of the Victorian Wheat belt. Painted by Guido Van Helton, work began in late 2015 and were completed in 2016. The trail is a partnership between Yarriambiack Shire Council, street art agency Juddy Roller, the Victorian and Australian Governments and GrainCorp. GrainCorp owns all the silos, and they donated the silos as canvases for the artist works. Featured along the trail is the work of Julia Volchkova, Guido Van Helten, Fintan Magee, Matt Adnate. In addition to David Pereira, Kaff-eine, Geoffrey Carran, Smug, Drapl, The Zookeeper, Tim Bowtell, Kyle Torney and Jimmy D’vate.
Originally it was planned as a one-off project just for Brim. However, the popularity of the silo’s saw many more added across Victoria, with more designed or being added all the time, making maps of the trail obsolete very quickly. As a result, there are now two silo trails in Victoria. The North East Silo Art Trail and the ‘original Silo Art Trail in the Wimmera.
To the tiny towns, while some are thriving, many are little more than ghost towns. The silo art trail brings the much-needed tourist dollars into town. Be it meals, fuel or accommodation and souvenirs. But, like in Field of Dreams, “build it, and they will come”, and come they do. At each silo, there is a constant stream of cars pulling off the road to marvel or photograph the works.
Doing the Trail
The entire Victorian Silo Art Trail can be easily done in a day. The most time required to view or photograph each silo is under 30 minutes. You will need accommodation at the end, though, as the trail will take around 5 hours – and leave you about 4 hours from Melbourne. So that’s an excellent opportunity to stay in Sea Lake and include Lake Tyrell at sunset before heading off in the morning again.
Our Plan
Some time ago, a group of friends and I planned a trip. We would visit the Silo Art Trail, Lake Tyrell and Mungo National Park. Departure day is tomorrow, and we are all meeting up in St Arnaud tomorrow afternoon. Along the way, we will photograph silo’s, water towers, street art and ancient landscapes. At Mungo, we go ‘dark’ for two days as it is so remote there is no cell reception there.
Follow along with us as the next few posts will cover our travels.
I love sunrises and grain silos. With Covid-19 restrictions slowly lifting across Victoria, we were finally able to head up the highway for a weekend in the country and chase both loves.
Nagambie
Our destination was Nagambie, a pretty little town on Nagambie Lake just an hour from Melbourne. The lake was created in 1891 with the damming of the Goulburn River and is a popular spot for fishing, sailing, canoeing, water skiing, and swimming. Unfortunately, we missed most of the autumn colour as the trees were almost bare by mid-June. Some colour clung tenaciously to the branches, but they were the exception to the primarily bare limbed trees.
The weather did play nice for our time there, with cold nights, misty, crisp mornings, and sunshine during the day. However, while the sun was out, it was still winter clothing weather with not much warmth in the sun.
Sunrise on the Lakes
We were blessed with a beautiful sunrise on our second morning with thick fog on the way to our chosen spot, and as the sun rose, the mist cleared but hung low over the lakes. We stayed around shooting till the sun was up, and driven by cold, numb hands, we headed back to the warmth of the car and then breakfasted back at our cottage.
Colbinabbin Silo’s
We were due back home today, so after loading the car, we struck out towards the new silos at Colbinabbin painted by Tim Bowtell. There are six silos in a row at Colbinabbin – painted over eight weeks in March-April 2020 by Tim Bowtell.
The grain silos at Colbinabbin depict five scenes from the early 1900s to the 1980s and the railway that connected Rushworth to Colbinabbin. The railway was built in 1913 to enable the transportation of livestock and produce to Melbourne. The German settlers also depicted on the silos established farms to the west of Colbinabbin and built a post office, school, and community hall to serve their families.
Tim Bowtell
As well as the Colbinabbin silos, Tims work can be seen on numerous walls around Benalla and the silo’s at St James, the Fish Trees at Winton Wetlands and the Winton rest stop.
The North East Silo Art Trail is the second silo trail we have done. The first was the Silo Art Trail out of Horsham back in 2014. The North East Silo Trail starts just out of Benalla and includes the small towns of Goorambat, Devenish, St James, and Tungamah. At Tungamah, it turns back to Benalla via the Winton Wetlands. We did the trip in January with heavy, heavy smoke haze from the Gippsland bushfires and a few closer to home.
Goorambat
Following the downloadable map, we set off from Benalla, covering the northeast silo art trail for the 132km trail. With frequent stops to photograph the silos in tiny ghost towns and take in a picnic at Winton Wetlands, the drive took 4 hours by the time we completed it.
Our first stop was Goorambat Silo featuring the work of Jimmy Dvate, who created the Barking Owl and Clydesdale horses
Just a few minutes further up the road is the Goorambat Uniting Church. The church is open every day, and fortunately, they don’t mind you coming in to photograph the mural in the church by Adnate
Devenish
From Goorambat, it was a short 13km hop to the Devenish Silos. Completed in April 2018 for the purpose of coinciding with the 100th centenary of the end of the First World War, they depict a modern-day combat medic, a WWI nurse and a WWI Light horseman. The art is the work of Cam Scale.
St James
Retreating back in the coolness of the car we made for St James – just a short hop of 8.6kms down the road.
The St James silo’s are the work of local artist Tim Bowtell and tell the story of George Coles, the founder of the Coles supermarket empire. George bought the local shop from his father in St James in 1900 before moving to Tasmania and opening another shop. This was followed by another in Collingwood in 1914, and the rest, as they say in the classics, is history.
Tungamah
The last silo’s on this run were 13kms north at Tungamah with the artwork by West Australian artist Sobrane Simcock. They feature dancing Brolga’s, Kookaburra’s and Galah’s, all local to the low-lying swamps. This silo was notably the first silo in the North East trail and the first by an Australian female silo artist.
Winton Wetlands
Turning southwards, back towards Benalla, we headed for the Winton Wetlands 60kms away. It was edging closer to lunchtime, and we planned a picnic at Winton Wetlands. However, the temperature outside the car had climbed to the high 30s, laden with heavy smoke haze, to say nothing of the plague of flies waiting for us. So we decided under the circumstances, a picnic in the car was an excellent idea. With the motor running to keep the aircon pumping, of course.
Contrary to its name, the wetlands are far from wet. On the other hand, maybe they are wetter in winter or spring. But in the middle of the worst drought, Australia has seen in decades, the entire place is dry as dust.
We entered via the Boggy Bridge road driving past Martins Barge and the Boggy Bridge Fish Trees.
The fish trees depict the long-gone Giant Murray Cod that used to swim in the areas of the wetlands.
We followed the road to what we decided would be our final destination of the day – the CFA water tank. The tank features the faces of three CFA volunteers on its side. It seemed to be an omen on one that, bearing in the mind the current climate of heat, drought and bushfires, it appeared to have tears as dry as the dirt it stood on.
Calling it a day
By now, the heat, haze, and flies were getting beyond bearable, so we drove back to Benalla for cool showers and a change of clothes. To say nothing of a side trip to the bottle shop for some ice-cold Corona’s. We stayed in for the rest of the afternoon. Doing justice to the Corona’s and a bottle of NZ Sav Blanc. The next day we planned to capture as much street art in Benalla as possible.
Getting to Kangaroo Island
In 2016, I visited Kangaroo Island with a friend, flying in and picking up a hire car. Unfortunately, this meant we could not go down the many dirt roads due to hire car restrictions on KI. Fast forward to 2019, and we decided to make a KI road trip. My sister and I drove over and took the ferry. We then met with the Victorian Photographers Collective members for a week of photography and fun.
Grey Skies and Sunshine
Our KI road trip started in drizzly weather. We had periods of sunshine interspersed with grey skies while we were driving. But as soon as we stopped the car to shoot Canola fields or silos or lakes, within a few minutes, it started raining again.
Victor Harbour
We drove straight through from Melbourne to Victor Harbour in a day. Then I spent the next three days chilling at Victor Harbour, booking into Victor Harbour Hotel on the Esplanade, and they were fabulous. I would definitely stay there again.
Granite Island
We spent Saturday swanning around Victor Harbour – after the 800km drive, we were both stiff and sore. By sheer luck, there was a natural therapy event on, so we got a great massage to loosen up. We then rode the horse-drawn tram across the causeway to Granite Island. The tram was excellent – the island, but not so much. The cafe had few menu choices, and there wasn’t much to see on the island, with the ‘sculptures’ disappointing. After a quick coffee, we headed back to Victor Harbour.
Hahndorf
Sunday, we headed to Hahndorf. Like Granite Island, this was a letdown. We had both wanted to visit Hahndorf for years – and should have gone years ago before they ruined it. The main street has lost most of its charming German character, with modern shop frontages and banners advertising various wares. I grabbed a hotdog and chips for lunch, chips were lovely. The beer was good.
Kangaroo Island
We drove to the Sealink Terminal the following day and boarded the ferry for Kangaroo Island, arriving in Penneshaw just after 1 pm. I met up with the group and went on an ocean safari. I saw some dolphins, seals, and a few birds. The weather was still hit and miss, and by the time we did the cruise, it was freezing when the boat was moving. I huddled down behind the people in front, using them as a windbreak and concentrated on not freezing death, only popping up when the boat stopped.
