Well, now that we are back on the mainland it is time for another 'electroinc fast forward'. After spending yet another brief but most enjoyable sojourn at Mouth Martha, the time had come to make our way back to Adelaide.
We took the familiar route west along the Western and Dukes Highways, through the Wimmera region and into South Australia via Bordertown and beyond. We revisited Dimboola for our first overnight stay and then had to make the decision as to a destination for our second stop-over. Because we were travelling over the Easter long weekend, many parks on our list of options close to Adelaide were fully booked out, so we decided to take a punt on the small Dukes Highway town of Coonalpyn. What a good choice that proved to be.
You may remember from previous offerings, this is the town which put itself on the map with the first of the 'silo paintings', huge murals decorating the massive grain silos in the centre of town.
Reports we had gleaned from various sources suggested that the council owned park here offered grassed and shady sites and that the amenities which formed part of the nearly town swimming pool were basic but adequate.
We approached the tell tale blue sign ahead of us on the highway just beyond the 'CBD' with some minor sense of anxiety but with a 'we'll make do no matter what' attitude.
From the moment we turned off the highway and made our way towards the park entrance
we began to relax. This all looked pretty promising...and it was quite!
For a small country town park, this one is expansive. We hove to just beyond the entrance whilst I did a foot recce before deciding on a site at the dead end of one of the entrance roads.
This did prove a tad tricky to get on to, but once we had settled, we had plenty of room, only one neighbour, no potentially damaging branches immediately overhead,
and a patch of thick green lawn at the rear of the van which provided just the spot for a late afternoon happy hour.
As you can see looking over our rear tool box and heater tank, the pool changing rooms, toilets and showers were but a short stroll across the intervening sward, and the facilities were, as we had hoped, rustic but perfectly adequate.
Although our chosen site did abut a local road, the traffic along here could best be described as minimal. We were as happy as pigs in the proverbial with our decision to overnight here.
We had passed the silos on our way into town
and later did pause in our wanderings to capture yet another shot of this magnificent work of art which has spawned so many like it around the SA countryside and, as I said earlier, done so much to reinvent Coonalpyn.
And it was when we set off to roam around the town we soon discovered that this has become a place where the artwork on the silos was just the beginning.
We had barely reached the main thoroughfare again when we came across this fascinating work on the cyclone mesh fence surrounding the local basketball courts.
A close inspection showed us that this arresting eagle's head, cleverly incorporating a road safety message in its title of 'Eyes On The Road', had been made of massed coloured metal tiles attached to the wires of the mesh. What a very clever and innovative piece of work.
We soon discovered similar works like this in other parts of town, but first, a quick look at the Coonalpyn main street (the highway) to find what else is on offer here.
Needless to say, as was hoped by the locals, the advent of the silo painting has resulted in many more tourists now stopping to take a close look. This, of course, has led to the establishment of several nearby cafes,
including one inevitably named 'The Silo'
and another which, to our amazement, specialises in waffles of all things (an by all accounts they are pretty good).
Needless to say, the Coonalpyn pub, which has stood here seemingly unchanged since the days in the late 1960's when I was stationed as a very young copper in nearby Keith, has taken full advantage of the increased tourist trade,
as has the local bakery. On each occasion we have passed through, all seemed to be doing good business.
Another feature of Coonalpyn, which our stroll around town gave us time to appreciate, is the array of old stone buildings. Local sandstone was extensively used here in the early days such as can be seen in this church,
the impressively large original Coonalpyn Institute building (now the community hall)
and the local RSL.
Apart from the public buildings, many of the town's homes were built of the same material and continue to exude a sense of stability and quite country charm.
But now it's back to the town artworks, beginning with the colourful wall of the public toilet block on the western side of the highway.
This striking mosaic is a creation by artist Mike Tye. He worked with a team of 27 local mosaic enthusiasts who painstakingly cut each tile by hand. The finished wall, which features flora and fauna native to the region, took over 3,000 hours spanning a year, to complete.
Apart from the arresting effect of the end result, this work also contains a very clever twist in the tail. The nearby information board, which amongst other things shows photos of some of the locals
hard at it, also presents this challenge, clearly directed at children, but what adult could resist? We certainly couldn't!
Like a pair of overgrown kids, Liz and I persevered until we had spotted the lot. Here, for example, is the bee and the lizard,
and here the ladybird, which did take some finding! What a simply stunning piece of artwork this is, one which brought so many of the community together (at a time of severe drought in the area), taught them new skills and left the town enriched in more ways than one.
The same can be said about the tunnel which takes folk under the main railway line which parallels the highway. As we wandered off down to take a look I could not help but admire yet another innovative feature of this town park, a public water fountain which is not only of a colourful and interesting design, but also caters for the four legged companions of passers by in a very clever way. If you look at the bottom of the unit you will see a small circle and adjacent knob.
When the instruction to 'press' is obeyed, the dog bowl disc is depressed to form a bowl which then fills with water and allows any passing fido to lap up some cool refreshment. How good is that, I ask you?
Now to the tunnel, where we were treated to yet another community art project, and another clever play on words in its name .....'Tunnel Vision'.
And here a further surprise awaited us. This project, which involved the children of the town,
was born out of an idea put forward by the local Police Senior Constable. Now that's community policing at its best!
Again, the end result is well worth seeing
and has transformed this otherwise functional but dreary public space with an injection of colour and interest.
Of the pieces on display here, many depict local life and the seasons
and events which bring the community together. These are but two examples.
Mixed amongst the more definitive works we found a number of examples of a more abstract nature,
and again I've restricted this presentation to but two of them. Frankly , I'm no expert when it comes to art, far from it, but both Liz and I were blown away by the variety and standard of the work of the local kids of the area still known by the locals as 'The Ninety Mile Desert'.
That name still resonates with yours truly. When I was roaming around this district in my official capacity (as twenty-two year old) the entire area, which had indeed been unproductive desert country, was being transformed by the addition of trace elements, most notably cobalt. The resulting change went well beyond the expectations of those involved, and today this is, apart from times of inevitable drought, productive cropping and grazing land.
As we strolled back to our digs, where we took a last look at the silos which dominate the town and sparked this remarkable community focus on town decoration,
we could not help but reflect on the extraordinary way in which the Coonalpyn community had embraced a grand idea and progressed it so wonderfully well. We were also more than pleased with our decision to say here and were again reminded of just what incredible sights country Australia can offer those who take the time to look.
we began to relax. This all looked pretty promising...and it was quite!
For a small country town park, this one is expansive. We hove to just beyond the entrance whilst I did a foot recce before deciding on a site at the dead end of one of the entrance roads.
This did prove a tad tricky to get on to, but once we had settled, we had plenty of room, only one neighbour, no potentially damaging branches immediately overhead,
and a patch of thick green lawn at the rear of the van which provided just the spot for a late afternoon happy hour.
As you can see looking over our rear tool box and heater tank, the pool changing rooms, toilets and showers were but a short stroll across the intervening sward, and the facilities were, as we had hoped, rustic but perfectly adequate.
Although our chosen site did abut a local road, the traffic along here could best be described as minimal. We were as happy as pigs in the proverbial with our decision to overnight here.
We had passed the silos on our way into town
and later did pause in our wanderings to capture yet another shot of this magnificent work of art which has spawned so many like it around the SA countryside and, as I said earlier, done so much to reinvent Coonalpyn.
And it was when we set off to roam around the town we soon discovered that this has become a place where the artwork on the silos was just the beginning.
We had barely reached the main thoroughfare again when we came across this fascinating work on the cyclone mesh fence surrounding the local basketball courts.
A close inspection showed us that this arresting eagle's head, cleverly incorporating a road safety message in its title of 'Eyes On The Road', had been made of massed coloured metal tiles attached to the wires of the mesh. What a very clever and innovative piece of work.
We soon discovered similar works like this in other parts of town, but first, a quick look at the Coonalpyn main street (the highway) to find what else is on offer here.
Needless to say, as was hoped by the locals, the advent of the silo painting has resulted in many more tourists now stopping to take a close look. This, of course, has led to the establishment of several nearby cafes,
including one inevitably named 'The Silo'
and another which, to our amazement, specialises in waffles of all things (an by all accounts they are pretty good).
Needless to say, the Coonalpyn pub, which has stood here seemingly unchanged since the days in the late 1960's when I was stationed as a very young copper in nearby Keith, has taken full advantage of the increased tourist trade,
as has the local bakery. On each occasion we have passed through, all seemed to be doing good business.
Another feature of Coonalpyn, which our stroll around town gave us time to appreciate, is the array of old stone buildings. Local sandstone was extensively used here in the early days such as can be seen in this church,
the impressively large original Coonalpyn Institute building (now the community hall)
and the local RSL.
Apart from the public buildings, many of the town's homes were built of the same material and continue to exude a sense of stability and quite country charm.
But now it's back to the town artworks, beginning with the colourful wall of the public toilet block on the western side of the highway.
This striking mosaic is a creation by artist Mike Tye. He worked with a team of 27 local mosaic enthusiasts who painstakingly cut each tile by hand. The finished wall, which features flora and fauna native to the region, took over 3,000 hours spanning a year, to complete.
Apart from the arresting effect of the end result, this work also contains a very clever twist in the tail. The nearby information board, which amongst other things shows photos of some of the locals
hard at it, also presents this challenge, clearly directed at children, but what adult could resist? We certainly couldn't!
Like a pair of overgrown kids, Liz and I persevered until we had spotted the lot. Here, for example, is the bee and the lizard,
and here the ladybird, which did take some finding! What a simply stunning piece of artwork this is, one which brought so many of the community together (at a time of severe drought in the area), taught them new skills and left the town enriched in more ways than one.
The same can be said about the tunnel which takes folk under the main railway line which parallels the highway. As we wandered off down to take a look I could not help but admire yet another innovative feature of this town park, a public water fountain which is not only of a colourful and interesting design, but also caters for the four legged companions of passers by in a very clever way. If you look at the bottom of the unit you will see a small circle and adjacent knob.
When the instruction to 'press' is obeyed, the dog bowl disc is depressed to form a bowl which then fills with water and allows any passing fido to lap up some cool refreshment. How good is that, I ask you?
Now to the tunnel, where we were treated to yet another community art project, and another clever play on words in its name .....'Tunnel Vision'.
And here a further surprise awaited us. This project, which involved the children of the town,
was born out of an idea put forward by the local Police Senior Constable. Now that's community policing at its best!
Again, the end result is well worth seeing
and has transformed this otherwise functional but dreary public space with an injection of colour and interest.
Of the pieces on display here, many depict local life and the seasons
and events which bring the community together. These are but two examples.
Mixed amongst the more definitive works we found a number of examples of a more abstract nature,
and again I've restricted this presentation to but two of them. Frankly , I'm no expert when it comes to art, far from it, but both Liz and I were blown away by the variety and standard of the work of the local kids of the area still known by the locals as 'The Ninety Mile Desert'.
That name still resonates with yours truly. When I was roaming around this district in my official capacity (as twenty-two year old) the entire area, which had indeed been unproductive desert country, was being transformed by the addition of trace elements, most notably cobalt. The resulting change went well beyond the expectations of those involved, and today this is, apart from times of inevitable drought, productive cropping and grazing land.
As we strolled back to our digs, where we took a last look at the silos which dominate the town and sparked this remarkable community focus on town decoration,
we could not help but reflect on the extraordinary way in which the Coonalpyn community had embraced a grand idea and progressed it so wonderfully well. We were also more than pleased with our decision to say here and were again reminded of just what incredible sights country Australia can offer those who take the time to look.
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