Prue and Luke Milgate have thrown their hat into the ring for the Bendigo Advertiser Hay Bale Sculpture Competition, creating a solar powered Christmas tree at their property on the Loddon Valley Highway in Serpentine.
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Ms Milgate said the project had been a spur of the moment thing, intended as a surprise for her dad.
"He thought it was a pretty good joke," she said.
"It was my husband’s idea, mostly his work, I just did decorating."
"He wanted to see if he could make a Christmas tree out of hay bales."
The fifth generation farming couple got married on the property in September and used solar powered fairy lights left over from the celebration to light up the tree.
"Because we don’t live in town you don’t have the Christmas lights to drive by so we thought it would be nice to bring some Christmas cheer," Ms Milgate said.
"We pretty much decided that we wanted to put out a Christmas message to the district."
"We didn’t even know about the competition, we saw it in the paper and just as a bit of a laugh we sent it in later."
Jenni Hedstrom and family have created Mr and Mrs Claus on their Chanters Lane property in Tylden.
Derby sheep and cattle farmers Rodney and Narelle Broom have created two teddy bears and a Christmas tree on the Calder Highway near Collins Road.
Maiden Gully couple Mick and Georgia Hernon’s two sons Tom, 12, and Gus, 14, have applied a comic touch to their entry with displays featuring Santa Claus engaged in extreme sports on Allies Road, just past the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion.
All entries will go to a public vote on the Bendigo Advertiser website from January 21 to decide a winner.
The entry gaining the most votes through the Bendigo Advertiser website will win return airfares for two adults and five nights at the Sun Island Legian Hotel and Spa in a Legian Suite room, and five nights at the Santi Mandala Villas and Spa in a Plunge Pool Villa.
The $4500 prize is sponsored by Grogan's Machinery, Krone and Bendigo Travel and Cruise Centre.
Property owners with land in the Bendigo Advertiser readership area are eligible for the prize.
Sculptures must be built close to a public road using at least one large hay bale or five small bales.
Entrants will receive a poster to put on the fence in front of the sculpture for public voting and are reminded to use safe work practices in building any hay sculptures.
(My husband) thought it was a pretty good joke.
- Prue Milgate
