Annual Getaways
Next Getaway
*** To be announced **
Past Getaway
August 31th – September 5th N.E. Silo Art Tour (Back to Linga Longa)
Day 1 - Sydney to Yarrawonga:
An early 8.00am start from Hews parade for the long drive to Yarrawonga. Morning tea at the Heather Brae pie shop, Sutton Forest, and a lunch stop at Yass Service centre broke the day up. We finally arrived at our hotel at about 5.15pm in time for a quick freshen up before going across to the Bourke Hotel for our cheese and wine tasting session followed by dinner. As the Central Motor Inn does not have a restaurant most of our meals were at the Bourke hotel.
Day 2 - Goorambat, Violet Town, Swanpool and Benalla:
The start of our silo art trail tour. We picked up a guide on the way who was able to explain how all the silos and buildings in the country towns on our trail came to be painted and a little about the artists who were involved.These are the first 2 that we saw:
Pictures above: 1) Clydesdales, 2) The Barking Owl nbsp; The magnificent Clydesdales are Clem, Sam and Banjo, and the Barking Owl was named Milli. The artist, Jimmy Dvate completed the paintings in 2018.
We had a delicious morning tea at Violet town while being told the story of the Southern Aurora train disaster. We then looked at the murals depicting the story, and also outside the RSL, a memorial tribute wall to the women who served during different wars and the roles they played, from nursing to combat roles.
Lunch was at the Swanpool Cinema where after homemade sandwiches we were treated to a silent movie, ‘Safety Last’ starring Harold Lloyd. After a slow start, this was the funniest film, which had some of us nearly wetting ourselves with laughter!!
Pictures above: The Swanpool Cinema
We toured Benalla looking at all the wall art then the Benalla gardens to see the memorials to Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop and Captain Hector (Hec) Waller.
Day 3 - Devenish, St James, Tungamah and Lake Mulwala
Today we visited the small towns of Devenish and St James to view their silo art before going to Tungamah for a sumptuos morning tea! Here we met Cocky an 80 year old cockatoo who was delighted to come out and chat to us! The art on the fence is by Sobrane another renowned street artist. Then it was back to Yarrawonga for a tour of the town and a visit to the dam before boarding the Cumberoona for a Champagne and chicken lunch while cruising around Lake Mulwala.
Pictures above: 1) Devenish and St James silos, 2) Tungamah art on the fence, 3) P.S Cumberoona paddle-steamer 
Pictures above: 1) Lake Mulwala, 2) Octogenarian Cocky Day 4 - Tocumwal and Deniliquin
The first stop was Tocumwal aerodrome which was once a major US air base! Who knew?? Another delicious morning tea, a talk on the history of the air base and time to look around the museum.
Next stop Deniliquin and the Depot Museum an amazing private collection of cars, and other motor vehicles.
Pictures above: Deniliquin - The Depot Car Museum
We also visited the Old Police Inspectors residence now a museum run by the historical society who provided our light lunch.
The final art work on the tour, the water tower in Scotts park painted with a country night sky on one side and a kookaburra on the other.
Pictures above: 1) Country Night Sky, 2) Kookaburra
Then it was back to Yarrawonga for dinner and the trivia night – how much attention had we given and how much had we learned on our tour? Lots of fun with Golden Oldies the winners and the Fantastic Six the last of the 4 teams!
Day 5 - Corowa, Wodonga and Bonegilla
First stop the Whiskey and chocolate factory – the fumes on entering what was once a flour mill were enough to intoxicate! The story of the conversion from flour mill to a dilapidated but heritage listed building to the current whiskey factory/bar restaurant was very interesting.
Our morning tea of scones with jam and clotted cream the best of the trip!
Next stop the Blazing Stump at Wodonga to be entertained by Lazy Harry a country music singer. Arthur McCarroll volunteered to help and rewarded us with his version of a steam train and a cow!! Well done Arthur.
Another delicious lunch before going on to the migrant museum at Bonegilla where we were offered tea and cake on arrival!! Fortunately they were happy to wait until after our tour of the site to serve this. The story of the migrant camp was most interesting and quite meaningful for Ariela who had stayed at the camp when her family migrated to Australia. ( Note - Claude and Claudine Andre also started their life in Australia here).
Finally back to Yarrawonga for our farewell dinner and the crazy hat night.
All had made an effort to participate wearing their creations. Winners on the night were ‘Pirate’ Cap’n Arthur, most colourful was Gwen with her flowery hat, Ken and Wendy both won the most creative.
A great way to finish a wonderful fun trip.
Pictures above: 1) ‘Pirate’ Cap’n Arthur and Gwen with her flowery hat, 2) Ken and Wendy most creative
A great way to finish a wonderful fun trip.
Day 6 - Yarrawonga – Sydney
The long and thankfully uneventful drive home. Many thanks were given to our driver Ken who with his driving skills, sense of humour and fount of knowledge had kept us safe and entertained on our tour.
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