Our continued exploration of the Wimmera and Mallee Regions of north-west Victoria!

Sea Lake > Dimboola > Kaniva > Goroke > Horsham, July 2023

(Psst! If you missed Part 1 of our Silo Art Trail Adventure, you can find our first few days here: Silo Art Trail, Victoria (Pt. 1) – A girl and her greyhound)

When we woke up in Sea Lake, there was no denying it – it was brutally cold!! Minus degrees Celsius, kind of cold!! This was far colder than I was expecting it to be, however as with the previous night at Lake Lascelles we were both toasty warm – my sleeping bag is rated to -10 and Taylor was like a little Michelin doggy with a houndtee, 2 coats, 3 blankets and a snood, and all tucked up in her bed.

Many people are put off camping in the cold, with or without a dog, and I was told on more than one occasion that I was “crazy” for going away in winter. Let me reassure you that you absolutely can go away and have an enjoyable camping trip in the middle of winter – the key is to be prepared for the weather and take the appropriate gear.

Thankfully it was a beautifully sunny morning and we weren’t in a rush to head off, so I waited as long as we could for the tent to dry before packing it up. Having to wipe frost off the tent was definitely a first for me, and I was grateful I’d packed a few microfibre cloths so I could wipe it down and help the drying process along while waiting for the sun to come out. Taylor certainly had no complaints about having a sunbake while trying to spot Peter Rabbit again!

Our first stop after leaving Sea Lake was only 30 minutes away at the Nullawil Silo (26 Calder Highway, Nullawil), which depicts a quintessential picture of Australian farm life – the beautiful Kelpie cattle dog. Having grown up with a Kelpie X, this silo certainly put a smile on my face 🙂

Next up was one of the longest drives between silos that we’d had so far, driving approx. 140km to the Albacutya Silo (side road off Albacutya Road, Albacutya). The silo is located at a working farm, and is a surreal depiction of the artist’s memories of growing up in the country. Art is very much a personal thing, and surrealism is not my cup of tea. I would have gladly kept driving if I knew this was what the artwork was (I hadn’t looked the silos up beforehand, so each one was a surprise to me as we pulled up at them!). However, there is a decent sized carpark at the viewing area and this was a great stop for Taylor to get out and have a little wander and a sniff.

Our last silo of the day was the Arkona Silo (835 Dimboola-Rainbow Road, Dimboola), which pays homage to a local legend called Roley Klinge. Klinge had passed away many years before the silo was painted, so the artist was not able to meet him. To overcome this, the artist decided to make him invisible, saying – “Although he’s not here anymore his memory and legacy remains, still inspiring future generations”. The detail of this mural was exquisite – right down to the fluff on the tennis ball!

Just 10 minutes down the road was our accommodation for the next two nights, at Riverside Holiday Park Dimboola. This is a beautiful green park, right next to the river (as the name suggests!) with both powered and unpowered sites, as well as cabins. Only the sites are dog-friendly, so if you’ve got your furbaby in tow you do need to be prepared to camp / caravan with them if you’re staying here. It was very quiet when we were there, with only a couple of other campers about, so we had free choice of where to pitch our tent in the unpowered section.

Not long after we’d arrived, the local Sulphur-crested Cockatoos (“cockies”) came home to roost in the nearby trees for the night. Their screeching was quite something, and went on for such a long time, even I’d had enough of it after a while! This was Taylor’s first encounter like this with cockies, and the screeching got too much for her quite quickly. She wanted to get in the car, which has become her safe space when we’re away on a trip, so I popped her in and left the windows down. She stayed in there for quite some time and I just kept checking on her, reassuring her that she was ok and wrapping her up in a blankie as the evening started to cool. I let her decide when she was comfortable to get out, and when she did, she happily ate her dinner…in bed, of course!

That night I lit the campfire (fire drums and wood are both available to purchase from the park), and Taylor decided to come and join me for a little bit before settling back into the tent. I didn’t last long by the fire either – it was so cold that it was more tempting to be rugged up in my sleeping bag! However…someone else had once again decided that my bed was quite comfortable, warming up my pillow for me!

As I was packing up after dinner that night (in the dark) I heard a strange noise by the tent. Shining my head torch around, I saw a nosy little brush-tailed possum had crept up and was having a drink from Taylor’s water bowl! Thankfully Taylor was in the tent already and so was none the wiser (she loves to chase the possums along the fence at home!). The little guy was cute; however, he was clearly used to being around humans as he came and checked out her water about 4 times, and wasn’t easy to shoo away. It was a good reminder to make sure no food or scraps were left out over night!

That first night, Taylor had wanted to sleep in the car, which obviously wasn’t an option. She did hop into her bed in the tent however she was initially quite restless as there was a dog barking in the nearby town, which she could hear, but she eventually settled down and we had a peaceful night.

The following day was a lazy rest day, with no plans to go anywhere in particular. It ended up being a cold and wet day, so we stayed in the tent and chilled for most of the day, getting out for walks around the park when the weather allowed, snoozed, I read my book and Taylor had a pig’s ear as a treat. I was quite tired after being on the road for a few days, even though the driving distances weren’t too long, so I appreciated the quieter and slower day. That night we decided to support the local economy, getting a veggie burger, chips, and potato cake from the local fish and chip shop for dinner – plus some chicken nuggets for Taylor, and we ate dinner in the tent!

One downside to the park – the camp kitchen is a great size and has two stoves, but there are no utensils so you need to have your own. The utensils I had for my camping stove weren’t appropriate to use in the camp kitchen, which was annoying when it was raining and I didn’t have shelter under which I could use my camping stove, however it was a good excuse to get takeaway from the local town.

The next day was our last day on the road before heading back to Horsham – but there was lots to see before we got there!

Ten minutes down the road from Dimboola is the Loch lel (Pink Lake) Reserve. Once commercially mined for salt, the lake’s pink colour now makes it a tourist draw-card. Unfortunately, as we got out of the car and started to walk down to the lake, there was a reactive on-lead dog ahead of us that kept barking and growling at Taylor, even from quite a distance. I wasn’t comfortable with the ‘discipline’ the dog was receiving from its owners, so I put Taylor back in the car for both dogs’ sakes, and ventured the short walk back down to see the lake by myself.

From the Pink Lake our next stop was the Kaniva Silo (31 Progress Street, Kaniva), which features a stunning mural of the Australian Hobby bird, a small falcon. There is a park right near the silo which also features some Sheep Art – life-sized sheep painted in bright colours, which threw Taylor for a minute until she’d had a good sniff of their derrières and realised that they were not, in fact, real.

Goroke Silo (1 Railway Street, Goroke) was next on the list, however we were so close to the border with South Australia, so we headed there for a quick happy snap…because why not?? The edge of the state, and the furthest west we’d been to date. As usual, I got Taylor’s typical “won’t look” selfie… The Goroke silo was actually 3 different murals, all of native Australian birds – the Magpie, Kookaburra and Galah. The details in their eyes and feathers, particularly the Magpie and Kookaburra, were once again exceptional.

The final stop on our trip was the Horsham Silo (35-39 Wawunna Road, Horsham), which is just a few minutes away from our final stay which was back at the Horsham Riverside Caravan Park. The Horsham Silo depicts a red-tailed black cockatoo, and Yanggendyinanyuk, a renowned tracker and talented cricketer, who was part of the first Australian cricket team to tour England.

Our Silo Art Trail tour over, we headed back to the caravan park and settled back into the same cabin we’d stayed in at the start of our trip. Thankfully there was a long handrail outside the cabin where I was able to hang the fly of the tent out to dry, as it was still quite wet from the rain we’d had in Dimboola and the dewy mornings along the route. It finished off hanging up in the shower that night before I packed it up to head home, where I could dry it properly.

Both quite exhausted, that night I grabbed a takeaway pizza from Bonnie & Clyde’s Pizzeria (reportedly the best pizza in Horsham), and we had an early night. There is a small library / book swap in the office of the caravan park, so the following morning I checked out, left a book that I’d finished for a future traveler to enjoy, and we headed back home to Melbourne – with one very successful camping road trip under our belts! Taylor had really been amazing the whole way, and I was so thrilled with how she’d taken to camping, albeit on just a short trip.

However, there really is no place like home… 🙂

Links (current as of 31 October 2024):

1. Sea Lake Travelers Rest: Sea Lake Travellers Rest – All You MUST Know Before You Go (2024)
2. Nullawil Silo Art: Nullawil Silo Art
3. Albacutya Silo Art: Albacutya Silo Art
4. Arkona Silo Art: Arkona Silo Art
5. Riverside Holiday Park Dimboola: Home
6. Dimboola Pink Lake: Loch Iel (Pink Lake) Lake Reserve
7. Kaniva Silo Art: Kaniva Silo Art – Kaniva, Victoria, Australia.
8. Goroke Silo Art: Goroke Silo Art
9. Horsham Silo Art: Horsham Silo Art
10. Horsham Riverside Caravan Park: Home Page – Horsham Riverside Caravan Park
11. Bonnie & Clyde’s Pizzeria: Horsham’s BEST Pizza | Order Online | Bonnie and Clyde’s