EXCEED MAY 2017 May_Emag | Page 20

Monday - 24th April Mustered at ‘half past’ and drove northward for 50kms or so to Patchewollock for more silos, and an installation of corrugated iron Mallee Fowl sculptures in a nearby park. The silos here were painted by Brisbane-based Finton Magee in October 2016. It features local farmer “Noodle Hulland’ who was deemed tall and thin enough (hence ‘Noodle’) to suit the tall, slim double silos. In the end we spent a good hour in Patchewollock as we viewed the silos, the sculptures and were given a private viewing of the local hall with its rich, hand sewn mural of local landmarks, flora and fauna. Coffee and ice-creams were also a feature before leaving for the drive south retracing our route to Hopetoun and then on to Rainbow. Rainbow was a recommended stop by club members Ron & Carol Reid (thanks guys) to view the 23 painted wall murals in the town. The viewing was preceded by lunch in the park of pies and sausage rolls from the Bow Bakery. Murals varied in content and quality but provided a pleasant half hour and some good exercise walking the town. The afternoon saw us head into Lake Albacutya Park to explore the area and some gentle off roading opportunities. No sign of water could we see as the lake is usually dry so our focus remained on the tracks. However, encountering some fairly soft and thick sand was discouraging for those of us with new vehicles and OEM tyres so a plough over one decent dune and a cautious circle back to regroup and we then pursued more conventional tracks albeit requiring 4H. Finding our way on the boundary of Wyperfeld National Park, we headed back to Hopetoun exploring some camps on the eastern boundary of Lake Albacutya en route as the weather took a decided turn for the worse with rain setting in as we got back. A final campfire under shelter saw us have an early night and talk of dawn service for ANZAC Day. Tuesday - 25th April 6am at Hopetoun RSL sub-branch saw an assembly of 40 or so people gathered in front of the hall paying their respects whilst recordings of the Last Post, Reveille and the National Anthem were played, including a minute’s silence in remembrance. With formalities all over by 6:10am it was into the hall for ‘gunfire breakfast’ of bacon, eggs and toast accompanied by tea & coffee! Back to pack a wet camp, at least the rain had gone, and so we drew our trip to a close. Our time spent with Peter & Nancy Miller had been most enjoyable and what knowledge they didn’t have on some subjects isn’t worth knowing! We dubbed them our ‘human strip maps’ as their knowledge of local history crops, flora and fauna during our travels was so helpful and expansive. We had one final encounter with each other in Charlton as we both co-incidentally stopped for morning tea traveling separately to our homes. Hope there will be more in the future. 18 Vol 34 No. 4- May 2017