And how good is Patchewollock?   Truly a shining example of dogged Aussie resilience!

This tiny northwestern Victoria town (population 149 according 2021 census) with the push of dynamic leadership,  got together and enticed an amazing cross-section of musical artists local and further flung, and an estimated up to 1000 visitors and campers in 2023, for a vibrant celebration of music and getting together in an iconic rural location for their 9th Patchewollock Music Festival.

Apart from a rich diversity of musical artistes, there were raffles, childrens activites, a street parade(!), sheep races, and of course, a rich diversity of Aussie spring weather presentations from stinking hot one day to b….y freezing the next!

Patchewollock is a rural township located within the traditional lands of the Wergaia tribes, whose Aboriginal expression literally means the “place of the plenty porcupine grass”. By the end of World War I, the town was came into its foundation as a soldier settlement.

The town’s most notable feature is a giant mural silo portrait, which depicts the life of grazier and grain farmer, Nick “Noodle” Hulland, painted in 2016 by street artist Fintan Magee.

The name Patchewollock originated from two Aboriginal words: putje, plenty, and wallah, porcupine grass.^[3] The town was first established after the First World War, when soldier settlement blocks were appearing in the area. A post office (originally a receiving office) opened on 27 July 1920.^[4]