(Temporary Backup) MINYIP, MURTOA & RUPANYUP

We left our lovely spot at the lake at Hopetoun as the weather turned sour so decided to do a bit of a drive and explore all these lovely little towns in the Wimmera region.

First stop was Minyip...an aboriginal word meaning “ashes” and know as the heart of the wheat belt. 

It was also made famous for the location of the television series “The Flying Doctors” , representing the fictional outback town of “Coopers Crossing”

Very popular show....first episode...1st May 1986....(you can thank me all later for reminding you all just how long ago that was:(

This hotel holds all the memorabilia from the show...and where it was filmed.

This is the fictional garage in the show



And this is is the centre of the roundabout in the town.....I’m sorry but I find this quite a strange looking bit of art....cracked me up...must be my warped sense of humour....

Then on to Rupanyup...aboriginal name for “branch hanging over water”

And is another stopover on the Silo Trail....

This one depicts two locals dressed in their respective sports gear....( these small towns place a lot of emphasis on their sports, for young and old) 

So the young lady is a 25 year old naturopath who was selected as she was about to jump on to the netball court during training .....her family have a long history in the farming area. 

The young boy was at footy training one night kicking the footy around. He said he got a bit of stick from his mates but his nana loved it, so he was happy about that.

So it’s nice to read the stories that accompany the paintings. 

Sadly the town has many shops but they are nearly all closed now. It would have been so nice in it’s time as it’s another lovely town. Hopefully the silo art brings more travellers although it’s hard to spend any money in the town.

There is one shop open and that’s the local grocery shop, but looking through the window...there’s not much stock on the shelves. 

The stock has been there so long the labels are fading....

There’s a house under that wisteria!

Like a ghost town...

A lot of work went into this shop front at some time...

So we have made our camp here for the night. The local lions club have provided this great stop over with power, water & hot showers for the princely sum of $10

As you can see...there’s a few here. It’s quite a treat to have power for a couple of days :)

I forgot to add these pics of these beautiful creatures...they were back at our lovely spot at the lake at Hopetoun...

Gentle giants.....