RAINBOW

Went for a drive  around the small farming towns around this area. It’s all farming, as in all different crops. 

We headed for Beulah...a very small town of about 350 people. On the way there, at Rosebery... we found one of the many grain silos around the country that have been painted. 

The artist Kaff-eine....is from Melbourne, and this is how she describes her painting. “ The silo on the left captures the grit, tenacity and character of the regions young female farmers, who regularly face drought, fires and other hardships living and working in the Mallee. In her work shirt, jeans and turned-down cowboy boots, the strong female sheep farmer symbolises the future.

The silo on the right portrays a quiet moment between dear friends. The contemporary horseman appears in Akubra hat, Bogs boots and oilskin vest - common attire for Mallee farmers. Both man and horse are relaxed and facing downward, indicating their mutual trust, love and genuine connection.”

These paintings are just amazing. I’ve seen them on the internet....but it’s nothing compared to being up close to them and in awe of the scale, and how they had to contend with the height and the wind!! 

Beulah is a very small town, and like a lot of these towns in the Mallee, they are suffering. Most of the shops have closed down, the houses are empty...but...the people that are still here....are the most friendliest of people you could meet. They are always up for a chat and a friendly “g’day” and wave. 

These are murals in the town...and I just had to include the next one......

This made us laugh as we remembered when we lived up this way and we had a huge mice plague come through. 

You could not see the white line in the middle of the road while you were driving as the road would be full of mice....and everyone would stuff steel wool down the drain pipes and in every other crevice to try to keep them out of the house but the shits just chewed through it all !!! 

They came in plague proportions for the wheat....and we used to get the plagues of grasshoppers....when you couldn’t see out of your windscreen!

Apart from that and the massive dust storms...it was a great place to live wasn’t it Michelle :)

So the next town we went to was Rainbow. This is another wheat town in the Mallee with a population of 650.

Nice murals

The old flour mill..

Main Street and these next photos are of the emporium which sold anything and everything....

Check out the ceiling...

We had the best coffee and cake in here...it was an old house converted into a shop. Inside was just beautiful with the tin pressed ceiling and wooden floors with stained windows. Just gorgeous.

And leaving the town...we had a lovely day. Did the round trip and back to Hopetoun where we are staying. 

And a lovely end to the day....

Oh and on our walk around our lake here...we found this plaque...near a clump of trees.....which I thought was lovely....