Hope Painted on Silos

This morning I cycled in to Rutherglen in Victoria expecting nothing more than the quiet end of another rail trail. Instead, I found colour, creativity, and hope towering above me.

Three enormous grain silos stood at the edge of town, transformed into art. An Eastern Spinebill, a Helmeted honeyeater, a Red-capped robin and a Rose robin. Their bright feathers stretching across concrete used to store wheat. Where trains once came to collect grain, people now come to admire beauty.

I hadn’t planned to find them. Like so much of my #eBike4Australia adventures, I stumbled upon them by chance - at the exact point where the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail ends. The same railway line that once connected rural Victoria’s farms and towns to the cities is now a place for cyclists, walkers, and families to connect with each other and with Country.

And it struck me: this is what positive progress can look like.

The False Divide

There’s a tired old story int Australia - that people in the cities care about the environment and in the they regions don’t. That urban Australians are pushing for biodiveristy conservation and climate action, while rural Australians resist it.

But that’s not what I’ve seen on my bike across this vast continent.

From Collie in Western Australia to Rutherglen in Victoria, I’ve met people who are proud of their communities, of their ingenuity, and of their connection to Country. I’ve seen solar panels gleaming on farm sheds. I’ve met farmers protecting endangered birds and experimenting with regenerative grazing. I’ve watched towns revitalise their main streets, restore wetlands, and reinvent themselves through art and tourism.

The idea that rural Australia is “anti-environment” or “anti-progressive” is simply false. What I’ve seen are communities adapting - creatively, quietly, and with care. These aren’t people turning their backs on change. They’re shaping it, in ways that work for their landscapes, their livelihoods, and their sense of place.

A Different Kind of Growth

The Rutherglen silos symbolise something important. Growth doesn’t have to mean expansion or extraction. It can mean transformation. These concrete towers once stood as monuments to production - to a time when value was measured in tonnes and trains. Now they stand for creativity, culture, and connection. The railway that once carried freight now carries cyclists, climate-conscious travellers and locals walking their dogs. The silos still hold grain, but now they also hold stories of birds, of Country, and renewal.

That’s active hope in action: not waiting for change, but making it. Repainting the landscape, literally and figuratively, with optimism.

Bridges, Not Borders

What I love about the rail trail and silo art movements is that they blur the line between rural and urban Australia. City people come to towns like Rutherglen for a weekend ride in the vineyards or a dose of quiet beauty. Locals meet travellers and tell their stories. Everyone leaves changed. The divide shrinks.

This is what we need more of - projects that connect us, that turn old boundaries into meeting places. Whether it’s a trail, an artwork, or a conversation, every bridge we build between country and city strengthens the social fabric Aussies depend on.

Rolling On

Now as I pedal south towards Melbourne for #CitSciOz25, I keep thinking about these moments of surprise - the ones that remind me why I ride. Hope, as I’ll say on Monday in my keynote address, isn’t something we wait for. It’s something we do. It’s painted on silos, planted in paddocks, and carried in conversations between people who believe that positive change is possible. And in places like Rutherglen, you can see hope rising tall against the sky - bright, bold, and unafraid of being seen.

Gregory at Rutherglen's silo art.