2 NIGHTS

We start our Art Odyssey in Adelaide and will be staying for 2 nights in the centre of this elegant and beautiful city. Tonight, we come together with our fellow travellers to enjoy our first Group Dinner and get to know one another. This holiday promises to be an amazing journey of discovery.

Overnight: Adelaide

South Australia was settled as a free “Christian Colony” and its capital, Adelaide, is still known as the “City of Churches”. Colonel William Light was tasked with the foundation and design of Adelaide and his vision of “city in a park” created a capital that is both beautiful and immensely liveable. Light designed the original “Garden City” and today’s tour will explore this city layout before travelling to nearby Glenelg and then through the Adelaide Hills to the Mt Lofty Botanic Garden. Enjoy spectacular panoramic views across Adelaide’s city skyline to the coast.

Enjoy an afternoon at leisure exploring the beautiful North Terrace precinct and its many fascinating civic spaces; State Library (voted second most beautiful in the World!), Museum of South Australia, SA Art Gallery, Botanic Gardens, War Memorial and lots more.

An early dinner before we drive up to Windy Point Lookout for breathtaking panoramic views from the Gulf of St Vincent to the Adelaide Hills. Enjoy stunning 180-degree vistas, as the late sunset and city lights creates a sparkling spectacle.

Overnight: Adelaide

This morning is off to a delightful start with a guided tour of the Lyndoch Lavender Farm. From here we travel to historic Angaston, the Barossa town named after George Fife Angas, and tour the Union Chapel, one of the oldest churches in South Australia. We stop in the pretty Barossa town of Tanunda; its four Lutheran churches attest to its origins as another of SA’s early German settlements. Then it is on to Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop for a brief talk on the history of the property and Maggie’s culinary career and a tasting of some of her products. Yum!

Then let the Silo Art Trail begin as we set off to explore part of this uniquely Australian outdoor gallery – these gigantic murals are not only great works of art but also give us an insight into the people who live in the various small communities we visit.
Silo art is often used to depict endangered native flora and fauna of the local area, and the Waikerie Silos are titled ‘Healthy River Healthy Community’. These silos have been painted by two world class artists and feature a giant Yabby and such endangered species as the Regent Parrot, Murray Hardyhead and the Spiny Daisy. There is also a giant, semi-abstract river landscape with many quirky, local, native river creatures, like assorted birds, frogs, fish and turtles plus the Rain Moth, from which the town of Waikerie gets its name.

In Paringa the four silos celebrate famous citizens, with each featuring an individual silhouette containing a depiction of that person’s contribution to the local community.

We are headed towards Renmark, a town situated on the banks of the River Murray. The first irrigation settlement in Australia, Renmark was established by the Canadian Chaffey Brothers in 1887. Today this historic town is the largest in the Riverland and its principal products are citrus and stone fruits, grapes and wine, vegetables, wheat and wool.

Overnight: Renmark

3 NIGHTS

Renmark is in the heart of the Riverland and enjoys beautiful surroundings with impressive ochre-coloured cliff tops and wetlands brimming with birdlife and riverscapes. It is also famous for its glorious roses so we will “stop and smell the roses” at Ruston’s Rose Garden, Australia’s largest rose garden. Soak up God’s glorious Creation as you wander 26 acres of garden, surrounded by more than 4000 varieties of roses.

We travel to Mildura where, after lunch, we board the PS Melbourne (built 1912) to travel downstream through Lock 11, originally built to bypass the weir across the river; experience the workings of a lock as the Melbourne is lowered to the downstream level and raised again on the return journey.

Enjoy learning about the river and its history, the local fauna and flora, as we relax and watch the world go by. Meanwhile the fireman will be hard at work, and we can see them fire the boiler and enjoy the magic of the old engine as it drives the massive gears of the paddlewheels.

We will be staying 3 nights in Mildura so settle in and enjoy some country hospitality.

Overnight: Mildura

This morning, we will join a service in Mildura for worship and enjoy fellowship with the local congregation. A look around “Aladdin’s Cave”, a wonderful collection of crystals, fossils and carvings from around the world, at Woodsies Gem Shop. Watch and learn how gemstones are cut and polished before being turned into jewellery before browsing the gift shop for souvenirs.

We visit the historic “Rio Vista” (River View) house, once the home of the pioneering Chaffey Brothers; built at the height of their success as irrigation entrepreneurs, there was no expense spared on this Queen Anne style mansion. Today it houses Mildura’s Art Gallery so you can admire the craftsmanship of the building as well as the local art.
We return to our hotel after a town tour that includes Lock 11 and the historic irrigation pumps established by the Chaffey Brothers.

Overnight: Mildura

Mungo Lady and Mungo Man are perhaps the most important human remains ever found in Australia and their discovery on the shores of Lake Mungo re-wrote the ancient story of this land and its people. These 42,000-year-old ritual burials are some of the oldest remains of modern humans (Homo sapiens) to be found outside of Africa. Mungo Lady is the oldest known cremation in the world, representing the early emergence of humanity’s spiritual beliefs. Along with 20,000-year-old fossil human footprints, they tell an incredible story of First Australians’ long history and led to the establishment of Mungo National Park.

We visit the National Park, located at the heart of NSW’s Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area, for a guided tour of this extraordinary place that is of great significance to the Ngyiampaa, Mutthi Mutthi and Southern Paakantyi people. As we as learning about its history we will tour the incredible Walls of China, where erosion has sculpted sand and clay into fragile yet imposing formations. What a day!

Overnight: Mildura

We bid farewell to Mildura to take in the wonderful regional art that celebrates some of the local characters of the Wimmera-Mallee; Patchewollock, a very small town in the north-west region of Victoria has the fourth set of silos to join the Australian Silo Art Trail Collection and feature a hard working lanky local by the name of Nick “Noodle” Hulland who exemplifies the no-nonsense, hardworking spirit of the region. Meanwhile the silos in Lascelles, a town with a population of just 48 people on a good day, celebrate local couple Geoff and Merrilyn Hormans whose family has lived in the area for four generations. In Roseberry we see the artwork of a talented female artist, only one of five women who have painted for the Trail; she captures the image of a young female farmer, a strong woman who is used to the hardships of the land, on one silo whilst on the other is a typical Mallee farmer with his Akubra hat, boots and oilskin vest sharing a tender moment with his horse.

In Woomelang seven mini silos have also been painted with animals, the spotted tail quolls and other endangered species of the area. The silo in Nullawil also features a farmer with a good mate, this time it’s Jimmy the kelpie dog.

We travel on to Swan Hill, a town which was founded in 1846 on the south bank of Murray and, being the only crossing of the Murray within 100 km grew up around the punt crossing; the ill-fated explorers Burke and Wills crossed the Murray here in 1860. Today, Swan Hill is a thriving, modern city which services the irrigated hinterland, stretching along the Murray Valley into the Mallee in Victoria and the Western Riverina in New South Wales.

After dinner we have the wonderful opportunity to experience the world-class ‘Heartbeat of the Murray’, a 360-degree multi-media spectacular unlike anything ever seen in Australia. Using water, light, laser, sound and special effects to tell the story of the Murray, you’ll be transported back 30 million years, before travelling forward through time to the Murray River as we know it today.

Overnight: Swan Hill

2 NIGHTS

Today we visit Swan Hill’s Pioneer Settlement, a recreated river town of the late 19th century with over 50 original and recreated buildings, including a non-denominational church, a working blacksmith’s shop and a working print shop, as well as display vessels PS Gem, a paddle steamer, and the barge Vega. Volunteers demonstrate old fashioned crafts, and the buildings are filled with over 60,000 antique and historic objects to add life and realism.

The time-warp continues when we travel further along the Murray River to Echuca. By the 1870s Echuca had become Australia’s largest inland port with over a hundred pubs and hotels with a vast timber wharf which was originally 332 metre long. Echuca Wharf is an important relic of Australian history and included on the Australian National Heritage List – take some time to look around the wharf’s many shops and attractions before we check in to our accommodation.

Overnight: Echuca

This morning, we visit the Port of Echuca, a living monument to the 1870s when it was the third largest port in Australia, only behind Sydney and Melbourne. Home of the TV series “All the Rivers Run”, the Port of Echuca provides us with a glimpse of what life was really like in the late 1800s and its steam-powered exhibits are not to be missed. We board a classic paddle steamer powered by seasoned logs of local red gum trees, to enjoy a two-hour scenic cruise and a delicious lunch. There’s nothing to do but sit back and RELAX. This is the life!

Overnight: Echuca

A scenic day filled with wheat fields coming into full head and fields of bright yellow canola as well as plenty of painted birdlife; Deniliquin water tower portrays two kookaburras resting on gum tree branches, Lockhart features local parrots whilst Milbrulong voted unanimously in support of a rosella themed mural as Milbrulong is the Wiradjuri word for ‘rosella’.

Wagga Wagga is located half-way between Sydney and Melbourne and is known as the “City of Good Sports” with Australia’s sporting heroes such as former Australian cricket captain Mark Taylor, rugby league great Peter Sterling and AFL legend Paul Kelly hailing from this regional city. We visit the beautiful Botanic Gardens which feature nine distinct garden areas, a Chinese pavilion, a mini zoo and an aviary. Not to be missed is the Tree Chapel; originally funded by the Combined Churches of Wagga Wagga, the Tree Chapel provides a venue for open air services and weddings and all the trees and shrubs in this area have Biblical relevance. We celebrate the last night of our holiday with a final Group Dinner.

Overnight: Wagga Wagga

It’s time to head home but not before enjoying a taste of childhood at the Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory – a sweet end to a wonderful tour!

We take the “Road to Gundagai” and then stop in Goulburn for lunch as we travel back towards Sydney.

Our wonderful holiday full of Art and Exploration may have come to an end, but we return home with memories of unique experiences and of days filled with fun and fellowship with like-minded people.