WEDNESDAY MAY 10     WARRACKNABEAL

John slept in until about 11am. I couldn’t really blame him as it had been a really cold night and the morning was initially so sold. If it hadn’t been for the needs of the dog, I would have stayed much longer under my warm doona too.

After we eventually got going, drove north on the Henty Highway for about 20kms, to Brim.

The painted silos installation here, completed in December 2015, was the first to be done in Victoria, but not in Australia, because some had been completed a few months earlier in WA.

The artist here was Guido Van Helten. The theme was a tribute to farmers.

Brim Painted Silos

A theme seemed to be emerging of these silo works paying homage to some aspect of their community, be it original people, pioneering farmers, district youth. I would be interested to see what subject matter would emerge for the planned new silo art works at Lascelles and Rosebery.

The Silos being painted

I liked this Brim work, just as I had that at Sheep Hills.

There were information boards placed in the parking area across the road from the silos.

Information board at silos

We were not alone, with several other people there viewing the work, too. The silos were certainly bringing visitors to the region, or keeping them here longer.

We then drove around through the little hamlet of Brim, which still had some operating businesses.

I wanted to look at the Redda Park camping ground here, that has been refurbished and kept cheap enough to attract travellers.

Bush camping area at Redda Park Brim

We found a very pleasant area. Parking bays carved from the bush, beside a lake formed in the creek. There were plenty of low mallee trees about. Some of the bays had power poles, but it seemed to me that one might need to get here early in the day to snaffle one of those.

One of the powered camping bays

There were basic amenities in a steel building, plus a BBQ and play area. All very well done. It seemed the charge was $10 a night.

BBQ and play area at Redda Park camp

We were very impressed and thought in many ways it was nicer than where we were at Warracknabeal, though John really does prefer to have an en-suite site when he can, these days.

A weir across the Yarriambiallik Creek has formed a lake. We walked through the campground and along the lake for a short way. Dog was kept very firmly on her lead, much to her disgust.

Yarriambialik Creek by Redda Park campground

A set of display boards gave information about the 2011 floods of the area, the largest ever at Brim. Last year’s flood event was much lower.

Information board about 2011 floods at Brim

Photo displayed on the Information board, showing floods

We drove back to Warracknabeal. I needed to get milks at the IGA and while I was doing that, John snuck off and bought himself a pie at the bakery.

By the time we got back to Bus, and I could get myself some lunch, it was 3.30pm. That was far too late for a midday meal. We really needed to do things differently – like get up earlier? Take a packed lunch even on short trips?

Relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon. John played WOW on his laptop. I took Couey for a long walk along the creek path – on the lead! She had seemed to have an upset stomach this morning. I blamed the creek water ingested on yesterday’s frolic. So She is not going back in there.

An unusual rig came into the park today. Perhaps a bit of a battler? He had an old station wagon, towing some sort of small commercial van that had been made into a camper. I wondered how legal it was?

Tea was steak, mushrooms, fries.

Watched more Masterchef on TV. Quite a juxtaposition – sitting in my very basic Bus kitchen seeing the contestants in their kitchen equipped with every cooking gadget one could think of, and many I’d never encountered in real life!