Elevated over the Avon Valley National Park in the Chittering Valley, the view resembles an exhibition of the Heidelberg School. The scene below could very well have been the inspiration for artists, Frederick McCubbin, Arthur Streeton or Tom …
We make a pit-stop at the Japanese Cemetery, one of the largest Japanese cemeteries …
Representing life and hope, an injured Tiger Quoll is brought to veterinarian Andy (Myles Pollard; A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Drift) after mining mogul Harry (Matt Dyktynski; Black Swan roles include Day One, A Hotel, Evening and Boundary Street) accidentally hits the rare marsupial …
“I would love for my husband to do it as he works so hard & has made so many sacrifices, he deserves it.”
Happy jumping!
Thank you everyone for your entries and keep up the fun times!
Happy travels,
Carmen.
8 discoveries on Western Australia’s Public Silo Trail
Western Australia’s Public Silo Trail is a 1000km self-drive journey linking six towns in the Wheatbelt all the way through to Albany in the Great Southern region.
While the silos themselves are worth the drive to admire the artworks created by world-class local and international artists, the journey reveals an abundance of culture, tasty cuisine and luxurious accommodation. The road might be long and dusty, but the welcome is always warm and intriguing.
Pingrup on the Public Silo Trail
1. Public Silo Trail
The juxtaposition of painted silos set against the red ochre earth, olive green scrub and the everchanging sky of blues and greys seems surreal. The sheer scale of the artworks transforms the Western Australian landscape into the state’s largest and most iconic outdoor gallery among golden canola, pastoral fields, granite outcrops and pink lakes.
The trail spans from Northam to Merredin, Ravensthorpe, Katanning, Pingrup, Newdegate and Albany. The trail can be broken up into segments covering The Golden Edge Trail (Northam and Merredin), Wave to Wave Trail (Newdegate, Ravensthorpe and Albany) or the Central Heart Trail (Katanning, Pingrup and Newdegate). Maps can be found along the trail and are downloadable at publicsilotrail.com
2. Luxurious Accommodation
Katanning’s converted flour mill into the luxurious Premier Mill Hotel wouldn’t be out of place in any cosmopolitan city. Moody, industrial and oh so chic, each of the 22 rooms are unique and a throw back to the glory days as a profitable flour mill once owned and managed by Frederick Henry Piesse. He founded the building in 1890 and invigorated Katanning with a water reservoir, orchards, vineyards, installed the first electric generator, traded in sandalwood and manufactured lemonade – which you can sample in the hotel’s basement at the Cordial Bar as well as cocktails and tapas.
At Mary’s Farm Cottages in Kukerin the one and two-bedroom cottages are a great place to base yourself while exploring the region along the Public Silo Trail. Fully self-contained, you can enjoy all the gourmet goodies you’ve collected along the way.
Beach House at Bayside is Albany’s premier bed & breakfast accommodation. Owners Craig and Sally Pullin offer a personalised service to each and every guest staying in their 10 beautifully designed rooms. Always on hand to offer advice on exploring and eating your way through the region, Craig is a wealth of information ranging from the coastal walking trails just moments from the property to day trips to The Stirling Ranges, Porongurups, Denmark and Walpole.Not that you’re likely to ever go hungry in these parts, but the brownies, banana bread, port and chocolates left in our room were a lovely touch.
Walkers Hill Winery
3. WA’s most remote winery
Australia’s Great Southern wine region needs no introduction, but you mightn’t expect to stumble across a winery in the middle of the Wheatbelt. Bill Walker, the original owner of Walkers Hill Winery, realised his land wasn’t conducive to planting cereal crops. Since he was a fan of wine, he planted some vines in 1995, yielded his first crop in 1998 and won his first award for his Shiraz in 2002. The vineyard was taken over by its new owners in 2011 and they’ve continued on with the wines and also run functions and events from the rustic cellar door.
4. World class food
While there’s nothing quite as quintessentially Australian as a counter meal in an outback pub, you might be surprised to discover Waygu beef, Asian cuisine, Mt Barker chicken, Plantagenet meat, freshly baked goodies, handmade relishes, jams and spreads are just part of the course along the Public Silo trail. Our picks are the Riverside Café (Northam) for the views, Lume Café (Northam) for the huge Waygu burgers, Dome’s After Five menu (Katanning), The Cordial Bar (tapas and cocktails in the basement of the Premier Mill Hotel, Katanning), The Store Café (Pingrup) for freshly made everything, fresh yabbies from Cambinata yabbies (North Kukerin), Hybla (Albany) for local beef and lamb, the upmarket pub Three Anchors (Albany), Hooked (Albany) voted as the best fish and chips and the epic breakfasts at The Beach House at Bayside (Albany).
Lake Dumbleyung
5. Vast waterways
While driving past vast canola fields we also passed a number of boats. Now why would anyone have a boat hundreds of kilometres from the coast? There quite a number of large lakes covering the region including several salt lakes in Lake Grace and waterways and wetlands in The Wheatbelt offering magnificent scenery and watersports. Lake Dumbleyung was made famous when Donald Campbell broke the water speed record in 1964 in his Bluebird. You can swim, water-ski and paddle around the lake, which is home to over 20,000 bird species, and also enjoy a picnic on the waters edge or at Pussy Cat Hill, which gives some perspective on the enormity of this extraordinary waterway and surrounding landscape.
6. Art & Culture
Apart from the Public Silo Trail itself, the landscape would inspire the artist in any of us. Northam’s Bilya Koort Boodja Cultural Centre celebrates the culture of the Nyoongar people through a gallery and interpretative exhibitions, plus the town offers some unique architecture. Visit the outdoor sculptural gallery in Wagin and its famous giant ram. Stroll through Katanning’s historic streets and follow the public art trail and if possible, time your visit to catch the Harmony Festival in March for a celebration of the town’s multiculturalism. Pop into Newdegate’s Hainsworth Museum for a taste of pioneer life. While in Dumbleyung check out Dumbleyung’s Mini Mall for locally made products and the Bluebird Replica. Using nothing more than a chainsaw and wood, artist Darrel Radcliffe has created over 100 sculptural pieces in an open air art gallery on the Chainsaw Sculpture Drive in Albany.
Dumbleyung Mini Mall
7. Community spirit
While a rural lifestyle on a remote farm seems idyllic and peaceful, you might be surprised to discover life can get hectic, especially for the farmer’s wives who not only raise families often with limited resources, but they also help manage the farms, do community work and run their own businesses. The Store Café in Pingrup is one prime example of three women getting together to set-up and manage the café – before its opening in 2018 they were one hour away from fresh bread and milk.
8. Vast beauty
Don’t forget your camera! The amount of times you will want to stop along the way could easily add hours onto the journey – the scenery is just that staggering and as the light changes throughout the day and seasons no two scenes ever look the same.
A furry friend hanging out at Dumbleyung Mini Mall
We generally associate mangoes with the tropics but about an east of Perth in Gingin, there are about 20 commercial growers handpicking their juicy fruit as I write this. The Mediterranean climate in the part of the world allows the fruit spend 120 days on the tree, which is one month more than in the tropics. The extra time before harvesting allows the sugars to become more developed, making them sweeter to eat, and the warm temperature also means minimal …
As the outback scrub gives away to hills of faded gold, the Southern Wheatbelt region is dotted with cattle languidly grazing in paddocks while lorikeets and galas nibble on roadside picnics of seeds. The quintessential outback town of Wagin is at the crossroads of the Great Southern region; with Albany …
Where those of ill-repute reigned over what was once Australia’s roughest port town, Fremantle reinvented itself in the 1950’s with the arrival of Europeans immigrants. Then after winning the America’s Cup in 1987 the town rejoiced as the streets became lined with cafes, bars, shops museums, and buskers; the revellers may have dispersed but the party still remains 30 minutes west of Perth.
Imagine having to pay for the air you breath? Or worse still, not being able to afford it? Injected with Ben Elton’s signature sharp wit, Gasp! will leave you, dare I say it, gasping for air between laughs at this satirical poke at Perth’s mining boom and political landscape. Co-produced with the Queensland Theatre Company and the Black Swan State Theatre Company, Gasp! showcases some of Brisbane’s and Perth’s most talented actors, including Greg McNeill who I had a chat …
On a recent journey to Bali’s tranquil Ubud I didn’t find myself and despite hunting high and low not even Javier Bardem frolicking in the rice paddies either, sorry girls. I did however discover many enticing ways to eat, lay, bend and write, with a few naughty detours along the way.
Set during a time where writers and actors were black-listed by Senator Joseph McCarthy for …
Conspiracy theories will always abound about Pope John Paul I’s death. Never accepted into his sudden position of power after the death of Pope John XXIII, speculation festered about how he met his maker, especially among those closest to him during his brief 33 day reign in the Vatican in 1978. The Last Confession examines the unsolved crime, if in fact a crime was committed?
Tell me about your character Konstantin in The Black Swan State Theatre Company’s production of “The Seagull”?
You’re an Egyptian immigrant working as a taxi-driver to put yourself through university. Your passenger is unbelievably …
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