Initially we had ambitions to ride the silo art trail, but with distances large, fitness levels not yet at pre-lockdown levels and only a few days up our sleeve we decided an a drive/bike combo – basing ourselves in Warracknabeal and looping round the silos from there.

We headed up the Calder instead of following the GPS west, which was a slightly longer route but gave us a chance to explore some of the little towns along the railway and dream of a tree change. Kyneton, Woodend and Macedon were buzzing but as we headed further and further north-west there were many empty shop fronts in the smaller towns. We arrived in St Arnaud and our first silo mid afternoon.

Arriving in our little cottage late afternoon we plotted out two drive loops and one ride to ensure we get to see all the region.

Day 2: Did our ‘northern loop’ today which included a total of six towns with a mix of silos and street art- Nullawill, Sea Lake, Pachewallock, Lascelles, Rosebery and Brim. The scale of these things is magnificent and the photos can’t hope to do them justice. Definitely worth the 300k+ drive (especially for the person in the passenger seat!).

Day 3 was our bike day. One silo (Sheep Hills) was within coo-eee of our accomodation – so we set off eagerly. On paper (literally as we have no phone/google maps service here) it looked quite straight-forward – how hard can 50k on flat back roads be? Well…quite as it turned out. ….

The route we plotted used dirt roads, largely between farm paddocks, most often (we discovered) used by tractors – making for a bumpy and sandy ride. After one tumble, luckily more of a graceful slip, we decided it was safest to walk the sandy bits. There is no doubting the impact of climate change up here.

After a picnic lunch near this beauty we opted for the tarmac main road back to Warracknabeal – the shoulder was good and traffic polite.

Day 4: The ‘western loop’. Our best made plans came a slight cropper this morning  with the closure of the Western Highway. Nonetheless with a bit of detouring we managed to get to all bar one of the planned towns. 

The highlight for  us today however was the Murtoa Stick Shed – a 4 acre tin shed built in the early 40’s for grain storage and constructed from logs (full height trees really) carted from the Dandenongs.   Incredible.  It apparently has fabulous acoustics but there were a few too many people around to put this to the test.