I know that you have all been hanging out for it so here it is first up. Your much anticipated photo of The Big Murray Cod. The fish was actually manufactured and played a starring role in the movie ' 8 Ball '. Yeh, I haven't heard of it either. It is one of the better cared for Big Things that we have seen on our travels.
Arriving in Swan Hill on the public holiday Friday meant that not a lot was open so it was fairly quiet in the town. On the Saturday morning we got your much anticipated photo of the big fish and then had a quiet stroll along Riverside Park. It is just next to the Big 4 Caravan Park and a short walk to the Pioneer Settlement. It was a very relaxing walk along the River track and through the park. Walking past the Big 4 I am so glad that we didn't go there. The vans were squashed in like sardines and, being school holidays, there were noisy screaming savages running around everywhere.
A quick stroll past the Pioneer Settlement and we got some tickets for a sound and light show to be held later that night. It was called The Heart of the Murray, and read quite well on the brochures. The town was pretty quiet, so after a coffee it was home to our quiet park to prepare for the Grand Final. There were probably only about a dozen vans in the park and very few kids.
The football was a bit boring and I gave up on watching it at half time. After a gastronomical feast cooked by me on the bbq it was off to the Sound and Light Show.
There were probably about 150 people watching the show, which cost $28 per adult, not sure how much for the kids. It started with a bit of a laser light show and had some fairly good graphics of the early boats on the river. The narrative gave a bit of a history of the river and then, to our amazement, it was all over. Probably went for about 25 minutes. We didn't think it was very good value. Just a case of not learning from my past mistakes and believing the tourist brochures. Got a couple of snaps on the way out of the Pioneer settlement but not overly impressed.
Sunday was a bit of a quiet time. Swan Hill really has very little to see and do. Apart from the Pioneer Settlement or fishing. Went into the info centre and the attendant could only offer a catalina plane museum at Lake Boga. We had a bit of a drive around but just ended up back at the park, to prepare for the MAIN EVENT of the weekend. The Melbourne Storm NRL Grand Final of course.
After another gastronomical extravaganza we settled in to watch the Grand Final. How awesome was that. What a great team Melbourne Storm are.
Monday morning we packed up and headed out of Swan Hill. We were now headed to check out some of the silo art.
Our first stop was at Lascelles. This tiny town has a population of about 80 persons. The painting was done by the renowned street artist, Tyrone 'Rone' WRIGHT. There are 2 silos at this place and on one is Geoff HORMAN and on the other is his wife Merrilyn HORMAN. These are well known farmers whose families have lived and farmed in the area for over 4 generations. The art work was quite faint, and blended in quite a bit with the colour of the silo's. The bright sun didn't help to get a good photo but they were still so very lifelike.
From Lascelles we headed off to Rosebery. The silo at this location is currently being painted and we were lucky enough to have the artists busily working when we arrived. They were up fairly high in a cherry picker, with the work probably being about 50% completed. The artists are Kaff-eine and her assistant Georgia GOODIE. Kaff-eine is an ex lawyer and is an internationally known street artist who has been working overseas of late. The art is of a farmer with his trusty horse and will look great when it is finished.
We then headed off towards Warracknabeal, passing the fantastic silo at BRIM that we saw last year. I still love those silo's as they are just so life like.
We stopped at Warracknabeal for a bit of a rest, and of course, a coffee before continuing on our journey towards Sheep Hills. I had seen this art work on the internet and I was quite looking forward to it.
I must say, it was not a disappointment. I was fantastic. I depicts 2 aboriginal children from Horsham, Curtly McDonald, 9 yrs and Savannah Marks 2 yrs. The adults in the art works are Wimmera elders Ron Marks and Regina Hood. The art represents the passing of knowledge from generation to generation and it is fantastic. This was painted by an International artist, ADNATE, and was completed in 2016. It is a real work of art, with even the whiskers on his chin being visible. It is well worth a trip to see.
Our final destination was Rupanyup, which was only about 30 kilometres away. The artwork in Rupanyup is on 2 of the smaller metallic silos, but it is very impressive. It was painted by Russian Artist Julia VOLCHKOVA, who was so impressed with the love of sport displayed by the youth of the town, that she chose local teenagers, Ebony BAKER and Jordan WEIDEMANN to be her subjects. The work is so impressive you could almost talk to them.
After leaving Rupanyup we had a bit of a rest in Murtoa for a snack before heading towards home, arriving back in Hamilton at about 5.15 last night.
We were only away for 11 days but it was a very enjoyable trip, with the silo art trail being a trip that everyone should try to do.
That's all for now and hope to be blogging again in the near future.
Barry and Deb.
