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Trip- Colbinabin and Further North. Part 1
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roverdriver



Joined: 18 Oct 2008
Posts: 1210
Location: 100 miles from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

PostPosted: Fri May 28, 2021 12:19 pm    Post subject: Trip- Colbinabin and Further North. Part 1 Reply with quote

Colbinabin and Further North.

At about a quarter to 11 o’clock, on the morning of May the 23rd, we found ourselves at the small township of Redesdale in Central Victoria. We had covered about 160 miles since leaving home this morning, but had a couple of stops on the way and negotiated Sunday morning traffic through the suburbs of Melbourne. Our steed for this trip was our trusty 1959 Rover, a much travelled machine that has successfully taken us to many destinations, not the least of which was Alice Springs in the centre of Australia, on which excursion we clocked up over 4,000 miles. This trip was not so ambitious, only three-days and all within the state of Victoria.

The last tale that I wrote for the Forum was before the Chinese virus took a hold. It was about our visit to a string of grain silos that had been painted. Well this trip was for a couple more silos and a couple of water tanks as well.

The water tank at Redesdale celebrates the local agriculture, but also pays tribute to the volunteer fireman of the district, especially those who fought on the Black Saturday fires of the 7th of February 2009.









Another feature of the town is the very unusual bridge across the Campaspe River at Mia Mia, which has an interesting history. The trusses for the bridge were imported from England intended for a bridge across the Yarra River in Melbourne to join the new suburbs of Richmond and Hawthorn. The ship carrying the parts was the three masted schooner, the “Herald of The Morning” that arrived in Hobson’s Bay in November 1859. Unfortunately she caught fire before being unloaded and was sunk in shallow water nearby.





It was not until ten years later that the metalwork was salvaged and bought by Langlands and Company Melbourne’s first iron founders. Incidentally Langlands employed Herbert Austin later on and built parts for Wolseley shearing machines- but that is definitely another story!

The salvaged wrought ironwork was built into the bridge, designed by T.B. Muntz, using extra material made by Langlands. As well as the wrought iron, it has bluestone (basalt) piers and a timber deck. It was completed in 1858, although the plaque says ‘1857'.

We left, Redesdale and Mia Mia then motored the approx 22 miles to the much larger town of Heathcote. While looking for a lunch venue, I stopped to photograph a device known as a ‘Battery’ from the gold rush days. It is in fact a stamping mill or a device for crushing rock in order to extract the gold. It would have been powered by a stationary steam engine. In my younger days I would often see similar machines on or near the roadside in auriferous country, but I guess that most of them were scrapped many years ago.





We stopped at the Union Hotel (Heatcote) for lunch. The landlord, after asking where we were heading, kindly corrected our pronunciation of the town of Colbinabin- the first syllables are said quite quickly with the a stretched a little and a short ‘bin’ at the end. After a satisfying meal we set off again heading for Colbinabin. Here in Victoria we have route numbers as well as road names, but they don’t always tell precisely which road to take for a particular destination. Of course we set off on the wrong road, but realised our error and stopped to consult the map book (no GPS for us in our car!!). Where we stopped, a road lead off to our right, called ‘Schoolshouse Lane’ and it seemed to connect to the right road so off we went. There was only a few yards of tar-seal, then the road was gravel, but Rovers take such surfaces in their stride. At about half way along the six mile stretch, the smooth gravel gave way to loose bluestone screenings which were a little rougher, but still manageable. We were pleased though, to reach the black-top fairly soon.





We had now left the more severe hills behind us and were in gently undulating country. The hills were suitable for smaller agricultural pursuits, like apples at Harcourt and the now almost universal vineyards, along with grazing sheep and goats, but as the hills gave way to feeding cattle as well as sheep and producing grain crops, farms seemed to be much bigger.

It was the painted silo of Colbinabin that was our next destination, and we were certainly amazed by what we saw. Nowadays there is little of the town to see. The town and district population is just 297, but it has a school, shop and the inevitable pub. The railway opened in 1914 and closed in about 1987. Although wheat was the main local crop then, and some grain is still grown, the fact that the whole area has irrigation available has changed things. Hay and other fodder crops are grown and grape vines have taken over large areas.













The brick built pub is interesting. It is more than 100 years old and seems to be made from locally made bricks, although I can’t find any information on that. The hotel was slated for closure when the then landlord was to retire, but two local ladies have taken the licence and build up the business. Of course the visitors to the painted Silo certainly helps. The pub has its own painting too.







The next stop was at Stanhope, a little over 20 miles further on. This land is very flat, hence the ability to send irrigation water over a lot of it. One of the pluses of irrigation is that the land can sustain dairy herds. At Stanhope there is a milk processing factory operated by Fonterra. On the front wall of the building is a curious mural. It is made up of tiled photographs of local people, over 11,000 small pictures have been assembled into a mosaic mural.







From here it was just 12 and a half miles to Kyabram our overnight stop, so we booked into a tourist cabin at the caravan park. After a short break we ventured out to the land occupied by the local Water Trust, and there we were able to see a painted water tank, but alas visitors can’t get close to it so Noreen managed to miss the chain wire fence and used her telephoto lens to capture the images





It would be officially Winter on the first of June, but we found the weather quite mild, in fact much warmer than at home in Leongatha. Back at the Park, before we settled in for the night, I did my usual check of the car. Water, oil, brake fluid, tyres etc., just to be sure everything was in order for another day of touring. We settled down for the night looking forward to what the next day would hold for us. We had driven 268 miles
thus far.

Part 2 can be found here- https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/forum/phpbb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22108
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Last edited by roverdriver on Sun May 30, 2021 1:41 am; edited 2 times in total
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peter scott



Joined: 18 Dec 2007
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PostPosted: Fri May 28, 2021 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice photos Dane, and amazing murals. I particularly liked the Stanhope Mozaic.

Thanks for posting.

Peter
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Keith D



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Location: Upper Swan, Western Australia

PostPosted: Fri May 28, 2021 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You are a superb ambassador for our country, Dane

Keith
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Peter_L



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PostPosted: Fri May 28, 2021 1:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Dane and thanks for taking the time to post details of your trip. The Murals are excellent.
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Rick
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PostPosted: Fri May 28, 2021 1:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

An excellent read, thanks Dane, I particularly like the bridge and the red Austin K2 lorry.

RJ
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Ray White



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PostPosted: Fri May 28, 2021 3:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good to see the old Rover is being entrusted with another adventure. I imagine you get quite a few smiles as you glide past. Great photos. Wish I was there.
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