Melbourne, Victoria to Mildura, Victoria - 535km
There's always a little apprehension as a Long Ride starts and today, day one of the 2016 edition was no exception as we all made our way to the starting point at Calder Park, a former home of the Australian Grand Prix.
Leaving a little later than expected the plan was still to head to the gold mining city of Bendigo to meet a few sponsors, so we headed off up the Calder Freeway - it was a prelude to what was to come, today's ride would more or less be a 'transport' stage.
Bendigo is an amazing city, full of history, culture and the most amazing heritage buildings. The locals are extremely proud of what they have and keen to share it with the world. One such couple is Chris and Mick from the Bendigo Homestead Motor Inn & Apartments, a proud supporter of the Long Ride and men's health in general.
Chris and Mick gave us some guidance as to what we should see in Bendigo including a number of exhibits that the Bendigo Trust have. These include the Central Deborah Gold Mine, the Heritage Tramway and the Chinese Joss House. The Bendigo Trust are also supporters of the Long Ride so it was great that these two were supporting each other.
It was brilliant being able to thank Chris and Mick personally for their support but we had to push on, getting to Mildura before dark was always going to be a tough task.
 |
| Kara Kara Estate Cafe |
The next stop was St Arnaud where we were to have lunch at Kara Kara Estate Restaurant Café. The place is brilliant, as was the food. The staff understanding what the Long Ride is about kindly made a donation, as did a number of patrons. Can't thank them enough.
Heading in a north westerly direction we made our made to a newly created magical place, in an insignificant little town that's clinging to survival. The magic is provided by the very thing that will help this town cling to survival.
Four gigantic paintings, so detailed that they look like a photograph, and adorn the side of the largest of farming structures, grain silos.
The paintings, of four locals from the area, were created by renowned large scale artist, Guido van Helten. The art was commissioned to get attention to Brim, which sits right on the middle of an area that has been drought stricken for many, many years. So bad is the drought that many towns are simply closing down. Brim had no intention of doing so, and so the 100 strong population of Brim set about reusing a structure that no longer had a use.
 |
| Some of the most impressive street art I have ever seen.. |
As you approach the silo from the south, it looks just like any other, a 10 or 12 story high concrete structure that towers above the landscape. Then subtly the images appear, but who are they? It doesn't really matter. They represent the community and the region, that's what matters.
It's been said that these images will be Australia's version of Mount Rushmore, well I'm not sure that they are on that scale or significance, yet they are something that needs to be visited.
From Brim it was time to follow the Henty Highway in a northerly direction until reaching the town of Lascelles, then on to the Sunraysia Highway which in turns become the Calder Highway. Where we had started was were we would finish, the Calder Highway.
Following the Calder it was starting to get dark as we got into Mildura, the Big 4 holiday park, our accommodation for the night was already closed so we made our way to the cabins. A workers donga was being the cabin. It was tidy, if not a little rundown, that doesn't bother me at all, but at $90 a night ... I don't think so!
So after three beers and pizza, it's off to bed. The real ride begins tomorrow ...
No comments:
Post a Comment