Across Australia - Part 5 - Through the Wimmera Mallee, Victoria

 Good morning all. I hope you and yours are doing well. Did I say we needed rain? It has been cold with continual steady rain on Thursday and intermittent Friday and today, Saturday. Luckily we live on a bit of a slope so the rain water can run down the street! 

Welcome to Part 5 of our trip across Australia. If you missed any of the preceding posts, you can find them in the Blog Archive side bar. Here is the link to last time - Part 4 - South Australia to Victoria

Today we turn south from Swan Hill on the Murray River in north western Victoria and travel south through the Wimmera Mallee grain growing region. 

This was an area I particularly wanted to visit as my grandmother was born here, there is a Silo Art trail, history, filming locations for an Australian TV series, and the amazing Stick Shed. Below is a map - 

We decided to stay in the centrally located town of Warracknabeal, and devised a route radiating outwards that would take us to many of the silo art locations, as well as the other places we wanted to see. This proved to be a good plan. 

Warning - lots of silo art coming up! 

The Silo Art Trail was conceived in 2016 after the success of the first silo art in Brim. Artists from across Australia and the world met with locals and transformed each grain silo into a work of art telling the unique story of the host town. You can pick up a trail map and guide at Visitor Information Centres. The trail stretches over 200 kilometres linking towns in the area. 

The grain silos are easy to see as you come into the towns. They are usually near the railway line. For more information on the silos trail - Victorian silo art

Heading south from Swan Hill on the Murray River, we entered the Wimmera Mallee grain growing region of north western Victoria. It reminded us very much of our grain growing areas in Western Australia. The paddocks had already been harvested. 

The area was inhabited for thousands of years by the Aboriginal people before white settlers arrived. The southern Wimmera was first settled in the late 1830s to early 1840s. The drier Mallee was opened up much later during the 1890s.

Our first stop was Sea Lake. The lake itself, Lake Tyrell, is a salt lake located seven kilometres north of the town. There is evidence of indigenous occupation over 45,000 years. The lake is dry most of the time but sometimes covered in shallow water. Salt was first extracted from here in 1896 and 100,000 tonnes is extracted yearly. Visitors are advised not to drive onto the lake which is popular for photography. 

Below are the silos at Sea Lake painted by Joel Fergie, aka The Zookeeper, and Travis Vinson, aka Drapl, in October 2019. One side of the silo depicts a girl swinging on a swing over-looking Lake Tyrell. There are emus on the far left silo.

Our next stop was Woomelang, originally known as “Cronomby” after the natural waterhole that first attracted the early settlers to this area. At Woomelang you will find the eight mini silo (field bins) art trail scattered around the town depicting local endangered species and painted by various artists in 2020. There is a map to help you find them. You can find it here - Woomelang mini silos map

14kms further on is Lascelles named after the “Father of the Mallee”, Edward Harewood Lascelles. The silo was painted by artist Rone in 2017  and depicts a local couple, Geoff and Merrilyn Horman, who represent the enduring spirit of the community. Unfortunately the light around midday wasn't the best for photographing these sepia toned silos. 

On the road again, we had lunch by Lake Lascelles in Hopetoun, and discovered they have powered and non-powered camping around the lake. Just one of the things you discover when you are exploring new places, and you are already committed elsewhere.

14kms on, our next stop was Rosebery. The rural locality of Rosebery was named after the Earl of Rosebery who toured eastern Australia in 1883-84 and was Britain's Prime Minister in 1894. 

Painted by Kaff-eine in 2017, the silos celebrate the resilience and fortitude of the farming community and the connection between the land and its people. 

Only 9 kms down the road we stopped briefly in Beulah to see the horse mural painted by Kaff-eine on the old butcher shop. Looking at the website now, there is much more to Beulah that we could have explored, including more murals!  

Another short drive brough us to Brim and the silo art painted by Guido Van Helten in 2016. The anonymous faces depict the strength and resilience required to be a country Victorian farmer. It was the first silo art in Victoria. The name Brim is said to come from the Aboriginal word for spring or well of water. 

And so to Warracknabeal 20km from Brim, and our stopover for the next few nights. 

The Shire run Warracknabeal Caravan Park, is located next to the Yarriambiack Creek. There is shade, we could pick our own spot and it is only a short drive into town. The town was bigger than we expected, which often seemed to be the case in regional Victoria. It has everything you would need and I recommend staying in Warracknabeal if you are visiting the area. We decided we had chosen well. 

The first squatters to occupy land around the future Warracknabeal, were the Scott brothers, who in 1845 took up land and established their "run" on Yarriambiack Creek, which they called “Werracknabeal”, after the Aboriginal word describing the gum trees shading the watercourse.

Below here you can see clockwise from top left - our caravan at the caravan park, Warracknabeal sign, Yarriambiack Creek, the Post Office and war memorial, sunset over grain fields, and the cemetery where my Great Great Grandfather Alfred George Floyed (1831-1895) and my Grandmother's little brother, William Alfred Floyed (1893-1897) are buried. 

The family moved to Western Australia soon after little William's death from "the fever". It must have been heartbreaking for the family but they hoped to forge a better life in Western Australia. 

A walk path along the Yarriambiack Creek can be accessed from the caravan park. 

A few bird photos from my husband - clockwise from top left - Black duck, Coot, Dusky Moorhen, and a Long Billed Corella. 

We visited a small fauna park and picnic area along the river, maintained by the local Lions Club. Clockwise from top left - wombat, emu, some pink and grey galahs on a stick in the creek, and a kangaroo. 

After a peaceful night we headed south the next day following the silo trail to Sheep Hills.  Painted in 2016, artist Adnate's mural depicts Wotjobaluk Elder, Aunty Regina Hood, and two children. Matt Adnate shines the spotlight on the area's young Indigenous people, and their connection with the elders in their communities. Adnate has spent much of her career painting murals telling Indigenous stories. 

Our next stop was Minyip, which our son was excited to visit as it is the filming location for the town of Coopers Crossing in the long running 1980's Australian TV series, The Flying Doctors. Also used in the filming of the 2015 movie The Dressmaker, and the 2021 crime thriller The Dry. 

We walked down the main street taking photos of various filming locations and had morning tea in the cafe which had been Emma's Garage in The Flying Doctors. The Club Hotel was known as The Majestic in the series - unfortunately it was closed when we visited. There is lots of memorabilia around the town. 

Next stop Rupanyup. First surveyed in 1873, the town is located next to Dunmunkle Creek and was originally known as Lallat, but by 1876 was renamed Runanyup - an Aboriginal word meaning "branch hanging over water".

Painted by Sam Bates, aka Smug in 2025, the silo art was painted over the orginal, painted by Julia Volchkova, which had faded. 

14kms further on is Murtoa, and the location of my Great Great Great Grandmother Ann Gibbins (nee Phillips) (1893) grave. She arrived in the colony of Victoria in 1853 with my GGG Grandfather Henry Gibbins who died two years after their arrival and is buried in Port Fairy. 

Murtoa is the home of the amazing Stick Shed. Added to the Australia's National Heritage List in 2014, the Stick Shed is the only remaining emergency grain store built during World War 2. The Stick Shed was built over 4 months 1941-1942 and filled with grain within six months of construction. 

Walking through the vast cathedral like shed which is lit by skylights, you cannot help not be amazed. The description WOW says it all, but can't fully intepret the feeling as you are surrounded by a forest of 580 unmilled mountain ash poles. It is a breathtaking sight. My photos don't do it justice. Our visit to the Stick Shed became one of the highlights of our trip. 

By the 1930s the Australian wheat industry was producing between 150-160 millions bushels per year, with 100 million for export. It became apparent by 1939 that wheat exports could not continue during the war, especially after exports to Asia and the Pacific were abruptly halted when Pearl Harbour was bombed in 1941. It was decided it would be necessary to store the upcoming harvests. 22 emergency stores were built across Australia. Used up until 1989, The Stick Shed at Murtoa is the only one remaining. Evidently the stick sheds in Western Australia had sloping sides, whereas this one has straight sides. 

The Stick Shed covers 16,000 square metres under the roof, measuring 265 metres long, 60 metres wide and almost 20 metres high at its apex, and could hold 3.5 million bushels or about 92,500 tonnes of wheat. Much of the building was constructed with little mechanical aid and a limited workforce due to the war.

Wartime restrictions necessitated adapting Austrlian traditional building materials and techniques, and use of raw, local and recylcled materials. 

A steel shortage mean the shed was built from readily available timber, and 580 lenghts of unmilled mountain ash poles were used for the uprights. The concrete was manually barrowed in and poured 4 inches thick. There is over 150 tonnes of corrugated iron on the roof. New South Wales black butt poles are being used for replacement poles today. 

Here is a video from You Tube which tells some of the story - 

Usual opening hours are 10am to 3pm daily. Fees apply. Please check website to confirm and find out more. The Stick Shed can be booked for private functions. 

After visiting my GGG Grandmother's grave, and checking out the silo art in Murtoa painted by Sam Bates, aka Smug in 2023 (unfortunately a little hard to see), and our picnic lunch in the park, it was time to move on. 

Next stop the silo art at Horsham, also painted by Smug in 2022, telling the story of Wotjobaluk Aboriginal man Yanggendyinanyuk, a skilled tracker, talented cricketer and cultural exponent. His totem, black cockatoo, is painted on the adjacent flour mill. 

And then back to camp at Warracknabeal. 

Next day we drove to Jeparit - where my Grandmother was born in 1888. 

Jeparit is also the birthplace of Sir Robert Menzies, Australia's longest serving Prime Minister - 1939-1941 and 1949-1966. 

There is a commemorative park on the site of the the Menzies family store. 

There was not much happening in the small town of Jeparit when we visited, but there is a Heritage walk if you want to linger. I discovered when we met up with our friends in South Australia, that our friend's Grandmother was also born in Jeparit, though later than my Grandmother. Small world. 

Jeparit was surveyed in 1883 and gazetted in July 1903. So my grandmother's family would have arrived there in the very early days of settlement. The name Jeparit is believed to be derived from an Aboriginal Gromiluk word meaning 'home of small birds'. 

We visited the Wimmera Mallee Pioneer Museum at Jeparit - Fees apply. Their extensive collection is very interesting and so much to look at! Machinery, shops, houses, etc etc take you back in time. It is certainly worth a visit. I was hoping to find some reference to my ancestors, but found none. Please check Facebook for opening hours as they are not open every day - Wimmera Mallee Museum on Facebook

Leaving Jeparit we stoped briefly at the unusual faceless tennis player silo art at Arkona painted by Smug in 2022 highlighting the importance of tennis to small communities, 

before having lunch in a park in Dimboola, and then back to Warracknabeal. 

We could have stayed longer in the area, and explored further afield, and there was silo art at Nullawill, Patchewollock, Albacutya, Kanica and Goroke which we didn't see, but we were on a timetable, we had to have a little repair done to our caravan in Bendigo, and so it was time to move on. 

We enjoyed our stay at Warracknabeal and visiting beyond, and I especially enjoyed connecting with my family history. I still have a few places to go to later in our trip. My ancestors left the grain growing region of Victoria for the grain growing region of Western Australia. Perhaps they felt the connection there. 

Thankyou for visiting. I hope you have enjoyed today's post. Next time we travel east to Mansfield in the foothills of the Victorian High Country and visit Jim Craig's hut from the Man From Snowy River movie. We had now covered 4,445 km from home and we hadn't even got to the Main Event yet! 

To discover more Australian silo art visit here - Australian Silo Art - there is even a downloadable app - of course there is!

Visit Wimmera Mallee Silo Art Trail

You can read more about The Stick Shed -

The Stick Shed - official website

Australian Government - Heritage Places

www.cricketetal-why you must see the stick shed - fascinating reading

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