20230504 SA Tintinara to Coonalpyn
We left Keith following the water pipe line along the Duke Highway to Lake Indawarra, Tintinara, were we were chatting to a couple of woman when we noticed one had a Queensland number plate, we’ve meet quite a few people on this trip from our area and this woman come from Wynnum, we had a quick chat and a bit of a laugh then left. Just 27ks down the road is the small town of Coonalpyn where we are heading next to check out the new silo art.
The Tailem Bend–Keith pipeline provides treated water drawn from the Murray River to communities in the Upper South East region of South Australia. It extends 132 kilometres (82 mi) from Tailem Bend to Keith running parallel to both the Dukes Highway and the Adelaide-Wolseley railway line.
We arrived in Coonapyn, a small country town with a population of 815, located along the Dukes Highway, it’s situated along what used to be known as the Ninety Mile Desert, although it was not a desert in true sense, it once consisted of mallee scrub, yaccas and honeysuckle scattered throughout the area but has since been transformed into a major farming region within the district. But let’s not forget the main reason we stopped here and that’s to check out the new Silo Art.👄
Artist Guido, Van Helten almost became a local after staying here for six weeks engaging with and photographing members of the community before deciding to paint five Coonalpyn Primary School children on the Viterra silos with the intention to represent Coonalpyn’s ‘hope for the future.
Meet the silo kids: nine-year-old Ciara, six-year-old Blake, five-year-old Reef, six-year-old Kiarah and five-year-old Macey. The new silo has since brought many new visitors to the town along with new cafes.
The mural depicts the beef, sheep and wool industries of the surrounding district.
I’m not really sure if this mural is politically correct these days.😏
20230505 We camped at the back of the town where you scanned your card which gave you power until 11am the next day only it cut out at 10am running our batteries very low so we had no choice but to stay another day. In the after noon Des and I would grab a beer and go walking around the streets, we found a cemetery just up the road that made for some interesting reading, then found the local Lawn Bowls which was deserted so we took over the site and sat for a bit chatting away before walking back to the van.
We came upon this sign late one afternoon and I couldn’t help but laugh, only because the first thing that jumped out at you as turned the bend were theses 30 metres painted silos, I don’t think this sign is really necessary.
This Comet mill which is longer used after the Murray Pipeline passed the property in 1970, but pria to that it was a hard working windmill from the 1960s.
It was a local artist who worked on the design in 2016 then a dedicated team of about 27 local volunteers began cutting tiles and spent 3,000 hours making the mosaic.
In the afternoons Des and I would grab a beer and go walking the streets, we found a cemetery just up the road that made for some interesting reading, we then walked into the local Lawn Bowls where we took over the site and would sit for a bit chatting away before walking back to the van to finish our night off with night cape before hitting the sack.
20230506 We woke to another rainy day so we ended up staying another day which I am more than happy to do as we have power and I can leave the heater going. I caught up on my blog then Des shouted me lunch at the local cafe that to our surprise was really packed, it just goes to show how these silos are bringing towns like Coonalpyn back to life once again.
We came across another of the towns completed project’s with their Eyes on the Road, wedge tail Eagle image reflecting on the stories and history of the town.
I found the old washing tubs at the side of a shop and just loved it, this is encouragement for me to finish my mosaic piece I started two years ago.
By From Coonalpyn
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