Travelling between Adelaide and Melbourne ‘the back way’: Part two - Caravan World Australia
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Travelling between Adelaide and Melbourne ‘the back way’: Part two

Written by: Robert Crack; Photography: Robert Crack and supplied

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Sea Lake Silo Art painted by Joel Fergie (a.k.a. The Zookeeper) and Travis Vinson (a.k.a. Drapl) (Robert Crack)


Take the back roads between Melbourne and Adelaide, exploring quirky Mallee towns, silo art, waterside stops and chilled-out camps away from the busy highways. 


We’re still not finished with travelling between Adelaide and Melbourne ‘the back way’. So, here is part two of our alphabetical journey, in which we cover 'O' to 'Z' and take in Ouyen, Pinnaroo, St Arnaud, Sea Lake, Tailem Bend and Wycheproof. 


Ouyen, Vic


The Centenary of Ouyen 1909–2009 plaque states, ‘Victoria Hotel is Ouyen’s first and only licenced hotel.’


It should have been ‘licensed’ rather than ‘licenced’, but you get the idea. The important thing is that this stately hotel is almost as old as Ouyen itself, having opened on 20 December 1919.


Before the railway arrived in 1903, the Ouyen district was home to a swag of sheep runs, including O’Sullivan Pine Plains Station, Lower Kulkyne Station, Kow Plains Station (a.k.a. Cow Plains or Cowangie) and Wonga Lake Station. Today, their names live on in Pine Plains Lodge, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Kow Plains Homestead and Wonga Camping area in Wyperfeld National Park.


Ouyen’s history isn’t only a pastoral one, however. It was also home to many railway workers on the Mildura to Melbourne line.


Fast forward to today, and it is tourism that is the new kid on the block. And it's 4WD and nature-based tourism in particular, thanks in no small measure to Ouyen being seemingly almost semi-encircled by parks and reserves such as Murray-Sunset National Park, Hattah-Kulkyne National Park and Wyperfeld National Park.


Be sure to drop into the elegant Victoria Hotel for a parma and a pot. This is the quintessential Victorian country pub, oozing heritage and relaxing vibes.


Around 30km west of Ouyen is Walpeup, home to strikingly emotive silo art by Julian Clavijo and Camilo Delgado. The artwork depicts Harold Thomas Bell, who enlisted in the First Australian Imperial Force (1st AIF) in 1917 at the age of only 16 years. He served at the Battle of Beersheba with the 4th Light Horse Regiment and was shot in the leg. He died of his wounds the next day. 


Where to stay


  • Ouyen Lake: Recently opened to overnight campers, this peaceful spot located on the northern side of the man-made lake is completely volunteer-maintained by members of the local community. It’s free as a day-use area, but contact the Ouyen Visitor Information Centre (P: 03 5092 2006) for campsite pricing. There are toilets and a camp kitchen with free barbecues and picnic tables. The lake has been stocked with rainbow trout, silver perch and golden perch (yellowbelly), so if you hold a Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence, you might even catch your dinner while you’re setting up your van. 

  • Hattah-Kulkyne National Park: Lake Hattah Campground and Lake Mournpall Campground are the two designated camping spots, both of which have toilet facilities (non-flush), picnic tables and fireplaces. You must book in advance and make payment online, noting that you are not able to reserve specific sites; it’s first in, best dressed. 



Pinnaroo, SA


Set right on the Mallee Highway near the borders of Victoria and New South Wales, Pinnaroo is a natural pause point for travellers crossing into South Australia. It also sits neatly on the most direct inland route between Adelaide and Sydney, making it a familiar stop for long-haul road trippers.


Pinnaroo also holds personal significance for me. As well as being a transit stop during my countless road trips to the Riverland, Victoria’s desert parks, Birdlife Australia Gluepot Reserve and between Adelaide and Melbourne, it was the first South Australian town I pulled into after just making it back across the SA border before it closed on Tuesday 24 March 2020 in the early days of COVID. I can’t recall ever being happier to see a ‘Welcome to South Australia’ sign or a South Australian town. And a very nice one at that.


I’d been camping and birdwatching in Yanga National Park just out of Balranald, having spent several days camping on the Darling River near Wilcannia with my brother before the impending ‘COVID closures’ forced us to go our separate ways at Walgett.


After spending a few days lazing on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River near Hay (and trying not to get caught up in The Great Toilet Paper Shopping Wars of 2020) I’d headed to Yanga NP, with the intention thereafter of spending a couple of nights in Wentworth before heading to the Menindee Lakes.


By chance I tuned into ABC News Radio after Balranald and learnt that Premier Steven Marshall had earlier announced the impending closure of the SA/Vic border.


Cancelling my accommodation booking in Wentworth and making tracks (within the speed limit, of course) to peel off the Sturt Highway and onto the Murray Valley Highway to get back home to SA was probably the easiest road trip decision I’ve ever made.


Anyhow, so that’s how Pinnaroo came to be a bit of a special place for me; it was where I got through the SA Police and PIRSA checkpoint with only a day to spare before the border was to slam shut and was permitted to go home.


Pinnaroo was a charming and welcoming town back then and it’s a charming, welcoming town today.


It grew from late-19th-century pastoral beginnings into a service hub for surrounding farming properties. Today, Pinnaroo blends practical amenities with relaxed country living. Here you’ll find shops and dining options along the village-like Railway Terrace South, a swimming pool and sporting facilities ranging from golf and lawn bowls to indoor courts at the school gym. The Mallee Tourist and Heritage Centre is a highlight, showcasing restored farm machinery, historic printing presses, grain collections and everyday artefacts that tell the story of Mallee life.


Beyond town, Pinnaroo is an ideal base for exploring nearby conservation parks. Ngarkat Conservation Park, Karte Conservation Park and Peebinga Conservation Park offer walking trails, birdlife, spring wildflowers and remote bush tracks that reveal the rugged beauty of this resilient landscape.


Where to stay




St Arnaud, Vic


You won’t find much here in the way of swimming, kayaking, boating, water skiing, beech forests or snow here.


If that’s what you are seeking, that would be Saint Arnaud in New Zealand, not Saint Arnaud in Victoria, Australia.


The twin silos at St Arnaud, Vic, rise like sentinels over a town shaped by grit and gold. In 2020, local artist Kyle Torney spent more than 800 hours bringing them to life. He climbed the structure up to 40 times a day, checking scale and sightlines so the finished work would command attention from the highway. Kyle also painted the town’s wall art murals. Set among heritage buildings and leafy parks, this former gold town invites you to slow down, wander and soak up its stories — one wall at a time.


‘Hope’ painted by Kyle Torney (Robert Crack)


Ron Reyne mural, opposite the 'Hope' silo art, painted by Kyle Torney (Robert Crack)


The Saint Arnaud Silo Art is titled ‘Hope’, and the artwork stretches across two silos and honours three early settlers from the 1850s goldrush. A miner studies his pan for that elusive glint. His wife dreams of food and clothing for the family. Their child looks ahead to a brighter future. The concept was chosen after Kyle presented four designs to residents, making the artwork a true community effort.


St Arnaud wears its gold-rush past proudly. What began as a mining camp in the 1850s quickly evolved into a confident regional town, once nicknamed ‘New Bendigo’, and today its streets still echo with stories of boom times and bold ambition.


Napier Street is the heart of town, lined with handsome heritage buildings, wide verandahs and ornate cast-iron lacework. Historic highlights sit neatly within the central precinct, including the circa-1866 post office and courthouse, and Victoria’s oldest fire station, now a small but fascinating museum. There’s no shortage of pubs either — perfect places to pause and imagine the bustle of miners, traders and travellers who once passed through.


Green spaces soften the streetscape. Queen Mary Gardens, Market Square and Pioneer Park offer shady retreats, while nearby Lord Nelson Park hints at the town’s mining roots — the last working mine once operated beneath its lawns. A lookout atop Wilsons Hill reveals views across town and surrounding bushland, its slopes riddled with old shafts from another era.


Beyond town, landscapes shift quickly. To the south, forested country leads into Kara Kara National Park, with walking tracks, 4WD routes and spring wildflowers. To the north, open Mallee plains support sheep, grain and emerging wineries.


Where to stay




Sea Lake, Vic


Despite its coastal-sounding name, Sea Lake sits deep in Victoria’s Mallee, nowhere near the ocean and not even on the lake that made it famous. That honour belongs to Lake Tyrrell, a vast salt expanse just north of town and one of the most striking natural landscapes in the state. It would not be going too far to state that Lake Tyrrell is the reason for Sea Lake’s tourism popularity, with the Sea Lake Silo Art painted by Joel Fergie (a.k.a. The Zookeeper) and Travis Vinson (a.k.a. Drapl) augmenting the tourism offering.


Sea Lake itself is compact but full of life. The main street covers the basics — supermarket, cafe, pharmacy — and is anchored by the much-loved Royal Hotel. When the pub shut its doors after a fire in 2017, locals refused to let it fade away. They banded together, bought the building and restored it piece by piece. Reopened in 2019, the Royal Hotel once again serves modern country fare built around regional produce.


Fuel bowser nostalgia at Stacey's Autos (Robert Crack)



Unless you want to park up your van and stay in a motel, your main option is Sea Lake Recreation Reserve Caravan Park. It’s on the Calder Highway, right in the middle of town, putting the FoodWorks supermarket, Royal Hotel, Skymirror Gallery and Cafe, Sea Lake Pharmacy and Sea Lake & District Co-op Hardware Store all just a short walk from your van. The Sea Lake Silo Art is right there too.


(Don’t miss trying out the Skymirror Gallery and Cafe’s scrumptious Egg’n’Bacon Muffin and barista coffee.)


Sea Lake Recreation Reserve Caravan Park has 33 powered sites and loads of unpowered sites. It really is a very large space. There are laundry facilities and a camp kitchen, plus the park is dog-friendly. Bookings are by phone only (0472 547 705) and you won’t be paying using credit card — you’ll need to pay for your site via an envelope on arrival, marked with your vehicle rego and placed in the refreshingly old-school honesty box. So be sure to have cash and a pen at hand. Maximum stay is two weeks.


If you’re chasing more space and have your own power setup you will find a quieter free-camping option at Green Lake Regional Reserve, about 10km south.


Green Lake Regional Caravan Park entrance, 4567 Birchip-Sea Lake Road (Robert Crack)


Green Lake Regional Caravan Park is a small campground centred around a broad freshwater lake and is easily reached from the Birchip–Sea Lake Road. It’s a laid-back camping spot that suits families, first-timers and seasoned road-trippers alike. The campground caters for tents, camper-trailers and larger vans, with powered and unpowered sites allocated on a first-come basis. Facilities are better than you might expect for a regional park, with hot showers, toilets, sheltered picnic tables and a good spread of coin-operated barbecues. It’s a paid campground, but the easy access and well-kept grounds make it good value.


When water levels are healthy, the lake quickly becomes the focus of the day. Clear water and sandy edges invite swimming, while kayaks and small boats are popular with those keen to explore quietly. Anglers are also well looked after, with regular stocking supporting species such as golden and silver perch, rainbow trout and redfin (Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence required).


Shady black box eucalypts ring much of the shoreline, creating pleasant spots for picnics, reading or simply watching the light shift across the water. Short walking tracks nearby encourage an easy leg-stretch and the open grassy areas are ideal for kids and dogs to burn off energy.


This park is also a first-come, first-served basis, so you can’t book ahead. For travellers wanting a calm, waterside camp with creature comforts — and without the crowds for much of the year — Green Lake delivers relaxed Mallee camping at its most approachable.


Pay your site fees at the self-registration station and make sure to have a stash of coins (big and small, gold and silver) for the barbecues and the showers.


Sea Lake also makes a handy base for the northern reaches of the Victorian Silo Art Trail, including a 140km round trip to Patchewollock. Add big skies, clear nights and a strong sense of community, and Sea Lake delivers far more than its size suggests.


Section of mural art painted by Joel Fergie (a.k.a. The Zookeeper) and Travis Vinson (a.k.a. Drapl) (Robert Crack)


Sea Lake Silo Art painted by Joel Fergie (a.k.a. The Zookeeper) and Travis Vinson (a.k.a. Drapl) (Robert Crack)


Where to stay




Tailem Bend, SA


Perched high above the Murray River, just a whisker under 99km from Adelaide, Tailem Bend feels like a classic river-meets-rail town with a story in every direction. Set at the junction of the Dukes, Princes and Mallee highways, it’s a natural pause point on any road trip between Melbourne and Adelaide.


Long before highways and locomotives, the Ngarrindjeri people thrived here, crafting bark canoes and living from the rich river system. European settlement followed the explorations of Captain Charles Sturt, but it was the railway’s arrival in 1886 — and the town’s proclamation a year later — that truly shaped Tailem Bend. The handsome Tailem Bend Railway Station still anchors the main street and retired rail workers now volunteer, sharing memorabilia and stories from the golden age of steam.


Today, you can tour Old Tailem Town — Australia’s largest pioneer village — with its collection of more than 110 historic buildings. Once you’ve come back to the future, head to Freds Landing to cast a line into the Murray River or enjoy a picnic at Dickson Reserve by the pontoon.


With riverfront caravan facilities, boating access and clifftop views where the Murray River swings toward Wellington, Tailem Bend blends transport heritage with the relaxing, ‘never in a hurry’ vibe that only the mighty Murray River can deliver — an ideal stop to slow down and for a day or three. 


Where to stay




 

Wycheproof, Vic


If you’ve ever watched a train rumble straight down the middle of a main street, you’ll understand why Wycheproof will stick in your memory. It’s one of only four Australian towns with a working ‘street running’ railway, the others all being in Queensland — Rockhampton, Maryborough and Mossman (cane train). Wycheproof’s main street, Broadway, is shared by cars, pedestrians and (in grain season) trains heading to the Port of Melbourne. Every now and again a heritage rail journey with Slow Rail Journeys will trundle along the street.


Broadway itself is a beauty. Peppercorn trees cast welcome shade, pressed metal facades nod to the late 1800s and Art Deco tiling adds character. A long verandah lines the eastern side — just like it did in so many other rural Australian towns back in the good ol’ days, perfect for a wander between shops.


Then there’s Mount Wycheproof, which is officially recognised as the world’s smallest registered mountain. At an elevation of 148m above sea level but in fact rising just 43m above the Mallee plains, this granite outcrop still delivers big views. On a clear day, the farmland seems to stretch forever.


Where to stay




Return for part three


In part three of this series, we’re turning away from our alphabetised route (there are no X to Z towns we can highlight), and instead will be taking the Wimmera Highway from Saint Arnaud towards Horsham, stopping in at Murtoa and Rupanyup along the way, then the Henty Highway through Warracknabeal, Brim, Beulah and Rosebery to meet the Sunraysia Highway.


Why are we taking these routes? More silo art!




This alternate route takes in silo art at Rupanyup, Murtoa (plus the Murtoa Stick Shed), Brim, Beulah, Rosebery and Lascelles. Plus, if you have your heart set on visiting Sea Lake and Lake Tyrrell, with Sea Lake only a touch over 30km from Lascelles, the side trip to both won’t exactly require you to take out a second mortgage to cover the extra fuel.


In part three we’ll also check out offroad caravan-friendly camping options in Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, Murray-Sunset National Park, Ngarkat Conservation Park and Wyperfeld National Park. 



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Related articles:


A road trip through the Wimmera


Travelling between Adelaide and Melbourne ‘the back way’: Part one


Head on an epic road trip in the Wimmera Mallee, Victoria


Book review: Silo Art Ultimate Guide | Fourth Edition



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