Horsham to home, via Murtoa - 01 Oct. 2016

A very special day – it was a long time coming. I'd wanted to visit here when I first found out about it 20+ years ago. For many of those years it was rarely open, and then by private negotiation – too off-putting for me. But when I decided to visit the painted silos at Brim, I thought I'd give this a try. I was rewarded with information that it would be open for the Murtoa Big Weekend, 30 Sept. > 02 Oct. This whole trip was planned around those dates.

And this is it ….

About 2/3 of the Stick Shed

The rest of it

When I walked into the Stick Shed at Murtoa, tears came to my eyes. Two years ago I was in Barcelona, visiting the Sagrada Familia … awesome! But I love the Stick Shed more:

- the vast space – approx. 900ft (275m) long, 200ft (60m) wide and 60ft (18m) high in the centre

- the stillness - not too many tourists here!

- the light – from skylights, no electricity

- the ingenuity of farmers who built this from corrugated iron, tree trunks, and quite thin metal bracing wires

It's a cathedral-like space, the purpose of which was to store wheat that couldn't be exported because of WWII.

Very few of the 560 Mountain Ash tree trunks (straight from the bush) have been replaced with metal poles. However, most have concrete reinforcing at the base, and a few have metal supports. The poles (the “sticks” of the Stick Shed) were put straight into the soil and have rotted over the years, some more than others.

It was awe-inspiring. It took my breath away. I took a lot of photos but not one of them does it justice. The place is too big, for a start. You really do have to experience it.

But back to the start of the day. I left Horsham after a good night's sleep and went back to Murtoa. The Big Weekend was just getting underway with the main street closed off, all sorts of stalls set up, the SES and CFA with hero volunteers and vehicles in attendance. I bought some earrings and what I thought was home-made jam but on closer inspection at home it's much more like the product of a cottage industry. There was honey straight from the hive but I'm not a huge fan of stringy-bark honey. And there was silverbeet and rhubarb straight from the garden but I thought the long drive home in a heated car wouldn't do them a lot of good. I did buy some definitely home-made quiche which made for a delicious late breakfast!

By then, opening time for the Stick Shed had arrived so I hot-footed it (drove really!) over there at the edge of town. At the risk of being boring, I'll say again how much I loved it. Awesome, inspiring, breath-taking, vast, peaceful. But I couldn't stay there forever.

Back again across the railway tracks, I took in a few historical sights while waiting for the art show to open at midday. An old buggy, seemingly abandonned to rot on a vacant lot, was the most impressive!

The water tower is apparently full of historical items but I backed out on seeing all the dead birds, animals, reptiles, you name it on the ground floor. Taxidermy might be a skill – or even an art – but it's not for me.

Next door was the last remaining building from an early Lutheran college plus the cap of the belltower from a building that has long since disappeared. The latter didn't make a lot of sense without a bell.

A quick up-and-down of the main street showed that I was lucky to have arrived early. There was a jive demonstration in progress, with live singer and band, but my main interest, the produce, was all but sold out.

Around the corner, the art show was a shambles. Well past opening time it finally opened. The quality of the works was not a patch on what I'd seen in the Flinders Ranges and the second-hand artworks (yes, that's how they were described) were an embarrassment. Time to hit the road!

From Murtoa, it was pretty much a drive straight home. Still plenty of water about.

Between Murtoa and Stawell

I stopped at Stawell for a leg-stretch break plus coffee and a strawberry lamington. While consuming those, I noticed a sign in the cafe saying they were vanilla slice champions. Well … couldn't resist that challenge, could I?! When I ate it later, it wasn't nearly as good as the Birchip vanilla slices.

Stawell

I had a quick stop at Ballarat too as my accelerator knee was getting a bit stiff. Coffee there too – at Macca's. I know, I know, the shame of it!

Then a pretty easy run on the home stretch. It was good to be home again, safe and sound, 3,614 km and 241 L of petrol later.

On reflection

.. This trip was an alternative to the much more costly trip along the Canning Stock Route. I'd still love to do that but being realistic …. Anyway, I've now learned first hand, what others who've done the trip before me know … the Flinders Ranges is a trip worth doing in its own right.

.. I had hoped to see the red earth of the Kimberley but that was always unrealistic. The Flinders is not quite so red and in any event, after an unusual amount of rain, plant life was lush and green beyond any normal expectations. The Ranges had their own beauty and I'm so glad I've seen it.

.. It would be good to go back and spend more time in and around Burra and the Clare Valley rather than whizzing through on the way to somewhere else. It's not so distant that that's an impossibility. I'd love to stay in the Paxton Cottages again!

.. I did manage to do and see all the things I wanted to do in the Mallee, in spite of it Raining A Lot. The Mallee, in fact everywhere I went, has also had an unusual amount of rain so being able to achieve all that I wanted couldn't be taken for granted in the end.

.. All good.

.. Deo gratias.

Birchip to Horsham - 30 Sept. 2016

Now this was a busy day, zig-zagging across the Mallee. But first stop before leaving Birchip was Sharp's Bakery – a last-ditch attempt to get another vanilla slice. Still in the oven. How long? 10 minutes. 30 minutes. Hmmm, what to do? First, admire the fascinators in the next door shop, getting ready for Melbourne Cup Day.

The two places I hoped to visit required a phone call first to check if they were open. So I went and sat in my car to make the calls. Both OK. When I said where I was in reference to how long it would take to get to Yando, Marilyn at Simply Tomatoes asked if I could pick up half a dozen vanilla slices for her too! LOL Luckily, by the time I'd made my arrangements, said goodies were available and I was able to set off with my half-dozen +1.

Did I mention both of these places are at/near Boort - another of my 'B' towns.

Lots of water in the Avoca River ... and it had a lovely bridge to cross!

On the (wrong) road to Yando - but not a problem at this point

I intended to go to Simply Tomatoes first but taking the wrong turn and following Google maps to the wrong end of the road, I was confronted by a stretch of road that had been overtaken by Venables Creek … and I'd left the car's water-wings at home. So back the way I came and now, running out of time, first I went to see the SpannerMan, John Piccoli, who makes the most amazing sculptures out of spanners. At one point I thought I might not make it - thought I might get bogged when the car went slip-slidey in some mud. But all OK, thank goodness!

The Spannerman (yes, in a wheelchair) and one of his creations

Eagle and prey

Marlin on the line

The SpannerMan also collects birds and although he has some rare, colourful varieties unknown to me, but I must admit that wasn't what I came to see.

After a tour of the birds and gardens, with history and explanations, there was time to wander at leisure, which I did before heading off to the right end of the road to reach what had originally been planned as my first destination.

My favourite ... and this thistle would fit in my garden too!

Simply Tomatoes was fun!  As I handed over the vanilla slices, I apologised for mucking around with the times and Marilyn apologised for blurting out her request - which I didn't mind in the least ... you couldn't say I went out of my way!
I caught the tail end of some other customers buying wool products because the other half of this business is making quilts, pillows, heat pads, you name it from wool from local farms. All very interesting. Then Marilyn brewed coffee and prepared my own personal tasting plate of the farm's tomato products. Yummmm!! Breakfast!

I bought a few samples then it was off to see the kitchen where all the processing is done (so many tons of tomatoes processed in what looked a tiny space to me) and to have a look at the shipping containers, buried in the ground, where the processed tomato products are stored at a constant temperature prior to sale and export.

Looking down into the underground shipping containers

Not to mention the beautiful homestead and the too cute geese!

This was all fascinating but I had such a lovely time because of the personal touch of doing the vanilla slice errand – which, of course, was no trouble at all. Just shows how little things can make a big difference.

I have to wear 2 kg weights on my ankles for some of the exercises at my balance class. This was the opposite. I left there feeling like I was buoyed up by soft, fluffy clouds.

It was handy that I felt like that because I had a bit of a drive ahead of me in indifferent weather. There was water on the roads in some places but thankfully, not enough to cause me trouble … and the rain held off pretty much the whole way to Horsham.

I don't think all that water is supposed to be there!

Not too far down the road, I stopped at Wycheproof for lunch – at the Bakery on Broadway. Loved this place! Wouldn't mind if it were my local!! It was chockers, much of the day's goodies had been sold already, and the staff were run off their feet – one of the few places open for miles around on account of the day-before-grand-final public holiday.

Bakery on Broadway at Wycheproof

Right next door was an industrial art “showroom”.

Not so sure about these in my garden. Hmmm?

Then it was the steady drive to Horsham, just beating the rain and just arriving at the caravan park before the office closed for the day. En route I passed through Murtoa so I knew where I'd be heading the next morning.

Sun and rain clouds fighting it out

I knew I'd found the place when I saw caravans in the street. I drove in, not realising that those caravans were queued to book in. Oops! I might have unwittingly jumped the queue but as I'd booked a cabin, it only took a minute to sign a bit of paper and get the key.

Then, instead of the RSL for tea as planned, the caravan park operators directed me to the local sports & social club. A group of locals got together some years back and decided, if pokies were coming to town, they'd make sure the money stayed in town. Smart move! And the pork wasn't bad either! .... Finally, back to the cabin in the caravan park to polish off that vanilla slice :-)

The tourist in Adelaide

Posted on March 1, 2014

It must be at least 15 years since I was in Adelaide, more than I can remember anyway. There are two things I’ve always liked about Adelaide. Firstly, the (relatively) low-rise office buildings, definitely no skyscrapers. Secondly, the (sand- or lime- ?) stone houses that I’d love to come home to each day. The beautiful stone public buildings are often more flinty. Those things haven’t changed. Adelaide is so lucky not to have Melbourne’s destructive “developers”, and politicians who are easily convinced it’s a good idea to destroy my city’s heritage.

North Terrace at East Terrace intersection, opposite the Botanic Garden

North Terrace, opposite the State Library

My tourist trekking began at Rundle Mall. I was underwhelmed, probably reflecting my lack of interest in and skill at shopping. Except at the Haigh’s factory where I bought more chocolate than was seemly after a short but interesting tour   No wonder Haigh’s chocolates aren’t cheap, there’s a heck of a lot that is done manually that I’d have expected to be done by machine.

My favourite visit was to the Art Gallery of South Australia. They were between special exhibitions but preparations were underway for their next, including an “artwork” in progress on the forecourt.

"Art" in progress!!

There is a small William Morris room, what’s not to enjoy?
I loved a Madonna and Child and an early Australian work by Hugh Ramsay.

Madonna and Child

The Four Seasons

But my favourite was in the foyer, couldn’t be missed as you entered the building – a series of icons by Brisbane artist Leonard Brown whose works are both sublime and “you’ve got to be joking”.

ICONOSTEASIS DEISIS TIER [‘CHRIST ENTHRONED’ WITH ‘THOSE WHO INTERCEDE’ 

               AND ‘MOTHER OF GOD OF THE SIGN’] by Leonard Brown (2007–09)

                                            …. plus part of one of his “other” works. 

At the Drill Hall by the parade ground behind Government House, I stumbled upon theHelpmann Academy 2014 graduate exhibition. It was mostly the usual “roll your eyes” works by young artists …. and one beautiful grouping of small works that I’d love to have on my own wall at home.

This won a $2000 acquistion prize - really!

I love this

The whole grouping

I went to the Migration Museum which was surprisingly honest and didn’t try to hide some of the more shameful aspects of Australia’s record. However, I found the small display about the building’s history as a home for poor and/or unwed mothers particularly interesting. Another surprise here too – they didn’t routinely take babies from their mothers.

I’m not such a museum buff but I did pop into the South Australian Museum where I bumped into and shared afternoon tea with a member of the library tour group. I went on to see the Aboriginal section where some of the exhibits chimed with things learned on my visits to Central Australia and the Kimberley in 2012.

Junction point of two wings of the Adelaide Museum

I paid a visit to the Central Market, reputedly one of the oldest/largest undercover markets in the Australia/southern hemisphere/the world – something like that! I’m sure Vic Market would challenge that! I really restrained myself and only bought a bagel to eat. I wasn’t so restrained when I went to the Sunday night market on North Terrace. I love roti so tried roti with banana – OK but plain roti is so much better. And I indulged in a treat that I only see occasionally – churros. Yummmmm!!

Central Market

As well as regular rides on the Glenelg tram in and out of town, I had a ride on the free city circular bus and Popeye, the Torrens River tourist boat. I did the North Adelaide part of the free bus ride – there’s a part of Adelaide I couldn’t afford to live! Lots of those beautiful old stone houses that I love! I didn’t do the full Popeye trip, just from the zoo to the city …. because the boat broke down! So, short but sweet.

Eating bamboo

Treat demolished

Tree hugger!

After the library visits ….

First posted on February 28, 2014

… I took myself off to the Adelaide Botanic Garden, drawn by the buildings there rather than the plants! In particular I was drawn to ....

Palm House

Amazon Lily Pavilion

Amazon Lily pads - amazing! 

Bicentennial Conservatory

The conservatory reminded me very much of my visit to the butterfly house at Kuranda in 2011. Tropical rain forest, very humid – minus the butterflies.

Outside the Palm House was a great collection of cacti and succulents – suburban gardens will be planted with these rather than roses, camellias and the like in the not too distant future.

Because it was near the Water Lily Pavilion and it hadn’t quite closed, a few minutes to go, I nicked into the Museum of Economic Botany – what a fantastic place! I was sorry I didn’t have a lot longer there.

Fake fungi

Seeds and plants, timber and reeds. So many varieties of fungi, apples, pears and more. The seeds, timber etc were real but the perishables were models – though if placed in the supermarket you would be hard pressed to find the fake. It reminded me of the models of flowers and plants that I saw at the Natural History Museum at Harvard in 2011.

Last but not least, it was good to get up close to the waterlilies that couldn’t be seen from such close quarters when on a boat in billabongs at Kakadu.

To end the day there was more food  – half of the group met for a meal at the Dublin Hotel in Glenelg. I suppose they serve green beer on St Patrick’s Day but it was hard to see what made it an Irish pub, apart from the name. OK food, Very Slow service. I suggested that instead of leaving a tip we could throw the loose change onto the sand at the beach for some lucky prospector to find. Imagine my surprise when I later discovered at Victor Harbour that beach prospecting hasn’t gone completely out of fashion!!! 

Prospector - Victor Harbour