VICTORIAN SILO ART TRAIL & GRAMPIANS

Melbourne is a vibrant city year round and especially so in Spring and we will take in many of our Southern Capital’s highlights. Our accommodation is 4 star all the way with 2 night stays in Melbourne and Halls Gap and 1 night at Swan Hill, Shepparton and Wagga. This allows a more relaxed pace (minimising packing and unpacking) and time to experience the best of these regions. 

Heading west from Melbourne to the Grampians, we pass through the towns of Ballarat and Ararat. Renowned for its rugged ranges, the Grampians National Park is one of Victoria’s finest and most visited. The rocky grandeur of the park covers more than 167,000 hectares and apart from exploring its spectacular lookout we will travel through valleys of river red gums, gullies lined with tree ferns and traverse slopes covered with stringybark. 

The Silo Art Trail is Australia’s largest outdoor gallery. The trail stretches over 200 kilometres from Rupanyup in the south to Patchewollock in the north and provides an insight into the spirit of the Wimmera Mallee region. Conceived in 2015 it celebrates the regions people through a series of large scale mural portraits on silos donated by Grain Corp as canvases for the artist’s work. The project has resulted in an influx of visitors and widespread media attention on the Wimmera, reinvigorating some of its smallest towns. We will take in the eight silos that formed the basis of the original project along with other murals that have sprung up on a variety of buildings across the district. 

Turning east our focus will shift to the Murray River and it’s tributaries, the Goulburn and Murrumbidgee Rivers. Swan Hill, Shepparton and Wagga Wagga are thriving rural centres. Each has its own unique character but they share fascinating histories and surprising cultural facilities. 

Highlights of this tour include:

• Melbourne city highlights including Southbank, St Kilda, Botanic Gardens, Federation Square and Port Phillip Bay 
• Ballarat guided tour and Lake Wendouree Botanic Gardens 
• Ballarat Regional Art Gallery 
• Seppelts Great Western tasting & Cellar tour 
• Halls Gap and Grampians National Park 
• Brambuk Cultural Centre 
• McKenzie Falls 
• Silo installations at Rupanyup, Sheep Hills, Brim, Rosebery and
  Lascelles 
• Murray Paddle Steamer cruise 
• Swan Hill Regional Gallery 
• Lake Boga Flying Boat Museum 
• Heart Beat of the Murray Laser Light Show 
• Port of Echuca tour 
• Shepparton Botanic Gardens Art Gallery and Victoria Lake 
• Benalla Botanic Gardens and Gallery 
• Benalla Murals and Goorambat, Devenish and St James Silo
  installations 
• Albury, Culcairn and Henty 
• Wagga city sights tour and Lake Albert 
• Wagga National Art Gallery and Botanic Gardens 
• Junee and Cootamundra