The Magic of Dimboola, Australia: Pink Lake, Art, Food & Small-Town Charm

Jack Hibberd chose the title for his play Dimboola by blindly sticking a pin in a Wimmera map. His 1969 play became a hit and an Australian classic. So, like Jack, I hit the road for Dimboola, a slight detour off the Western Highway, not far from the Pink Lake near Dimboola on the SA/Victorian border.

I stumbled upon what might be the friendliest town in Victoria — perhaps even the world. I enjoyed my first visit so much that I recently returned with a friend to show her my discovery. She, too, couldn’t believe how sociable Dimboola was. She’s already planning a return trip with another friend. One tourist down, another on the way — stories of Dimboola spread by word of mouth like a domino effect.

Dimboola Victoria Hotel Accommodation

On both visits, I stayed at the Victoria Hotel, a grand 1924 country pub with cast-iron balconies. The locals gather here and mingle with tourists. Some even ride their mobility scooters up the road and park right outside the bar — very Dimboola.

Stoph and Meran Pilmore have run the hotel since 2015. Meran has an eye for op-shop chic; the décor is an eclectic Belle Époque fantasy of brocade fabrics, vintage lights and artwork. Bedrooms have a cosy, chenille-bedspread charm.
On my first visit, Meran noticed I was travelling solo and said, “I’ve put you in the middle of the Elbow Room — what was the Ladies’ Parlour — so you’ll have plenty of people to chat to.” She was right. When the other diners weren’t admiring the nude prints and replica of Melbourne’s Chloé, I had no shortage of conversation.

The Victoria Hotel is the only place in Dimboola serving nightly dinners, and thankfully, the food is excellent — pub favourites alongside restaurant-quality dishes such as salt-and-lemon myrtle calamari and tempura prawns. I finished with a plum clafoutis while Edith Piaf, The Little Swallow, warbled in the background. Perfect.

Dimboola Imaginarium

The Dimboola Imaginarium recently featured in Condé Nast Traveller, and no wonder — everyone who walks in is amazed.

An imaginarium is somewhere designed to spark imagination. A life-size giraffe looks down from the upper level, patterned walls transport you to far-off places, and quirky hot-air balloons float overhead like a scene from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

When I wandered in, co-owner Jamie Uoy said, “I saw you at dinner last night.” Dimboola’s grapevine is the length of its small main street. Dimboola can be like living in a fishbowl, he said — ‘but in a comforting, friendly way’.

Jamie and his husband, Chan, moved from Melbourne in 2019 and bought the grand 1919 National Bank of Australasia building — a two-storey redbrick beauty with Renaissance-style features. It cost “a song”, but their transformation is more operatic theatre: exotic, indulgent and impossible to forget.

They wanted a home but also a business that would lure people off the highway, reversing Jack Hibberd’s line that “Dimboola is a place you drive through on the way to somewhere else.”

Visitors are usually given a grand tour:

• The bank vault is filled with historic photos, gold bars and a chandelier
• The five-bedroom former bank manager’s apartment, now a lavish Airbnb
• Richly decorated bedrooms, one slightly risqué if that’s your thing
• And yes, there’s even a fishbowl-themed bathroom light fitting.

Their passion has made the Imaginarium a must-see and one of the most welcoming stops in the Wimmera.

Lloyd Street

Most of Dimboola’s shops are on Lloyd Street, with the Imaginarium at one end. Across the road, the Pilmores are creating a new craft beer/wine bar — a work in progress, Sistine Chapel-style, with Meran overseeing every imaginative stroke. The name is also in flux, but like most Dimboola projects, it will be worth the wait.

Jamie pointed me towards the tourist information across the street. I stepped inside and found Bev — sporting streaks of purplish-pink hair — sitting in what was her lounge room. Ivy, her greyhound, lounged among half-chewed toys. 

“Best room in town,” she said. “I see everybody and everybody sees me.”

Lloyd Street is only a short walk, but it can take hours because locals love to chat.

Shops aren’t generic — each one is its own world:

• Forbidden Forest Fairy-Tale Oasis – magic, mayhem and decadent sundaes
• The Little Vintage Shop – homewares, furniture, clothing; a retro department store
• A classic country op-shop
• Dimboola Store – great coffee
• Wimmera Bakery – legendary slices and creamy prawn pies
• A stylish laundromat redesigned by Meran Pilmore- with a retro feel
• Andrew Bertuliet’s Photography Gallery – local landscapes

Look out for the Dimboola Tower Park murals – and works by international artist Smug (Sam Bates) and Travis Price

Note: Not all shops are open daily, but most operate on weekends.

The Nolan Studio

Modernist painter Sidney Nolan was stationed in Dimboola, Australia, during WWII. The vast Wimmera landscape inspired his groundbreaking Wimmera Landscape Series, which transformed Australian landscape art.

The small garage where he painted is occasionally open for visitors. Ask at the Imaginarium for opening times.

Dimboola Railway Station

Built in 1882–83, the historic station is a short walk away. While serving in Dimboola, Nolan guarded army supplies in the railway yards — scenes later captured in several of his abstract works, now held in the NGV. Information boards on site explain the station’s history.

Best time to visit Dimboola’s Pink Lake

The famous Pink Lake Dimboola — officially Loch Iel — sits about 6 km north-west of town on the Western Highway. It was vivid pink on my second visit and pale on my first. When I asked a local how often it shines pink, she said, “Every time I drive past, it’s pink.” So chances are good you’ll see its rosy glow.

The colour comes from a salt-tolerant alga in the lake’s crust. After heavy rain, fresh nutrients trigger algae growth, turning the lake a bright flamingo pink. For the best colour, time your visit shortly after rain.

A short walk leads down to the lake’s edge. In April, you may see Mount Zero Olives harvesting salt by hand in partnership with the Barengi Gadjin Land Council. Royalties support the local Aboriginal community, and the harvest is intentionally small-scale. Locals say they look after the lake because the lake looks after them.

Little Desert National Park, Dimboola

A giant arch at one end of Lloyd Street marks the entrance to Little Desert National Park.

A major fire in early 2025 affected parts of the park, but the remote western area remained untouched.

We drove there, and the drive was hauntingly beautiful — blackened trunks surrounded by carpets of wildflowers: pink fairies, blue tinsel lilies, and golden wattle. Nature softens its own scars with colour.

The unscathed western region glows with camel-coloured sand, deep green gums and a vast, blue sky.

Check Parks Victoria for the latest reopening updates.

Dining: Chef Cat Clarke at Dimboola Golf Club

Chef Cat Clarke now runs the Golf Club’s kitchen right on the banks of the Wimmera River. She champions bush foods, serving wattleseed damper, saltbush-seasoned mains and desserts celebrating Davidson plum and finger lime. You’ll likely meet her — wearing a bush hat and apron — as she checks in with diners.

Hours:

• Thurs–Sat: 4 pm–9 pm
• Fri lunch & Sun lunch
• bookings@catclarke.com.au 0428 138 856

Riverside Walks

The Mallee River Walk, across from the Riverside Holiday Park, is especially lovely — a Dimboola sunset treat. 

The Wimmera River Discovery Trail opened in September 2025 and stretches 56 km from Dimboola to Jeparit, with camping sites along the way. You can hike/bike sections or attempt the whole route.

Silo Art Trail

The Silo Art Trail spans several hundred kilometres across north-west Victoria. Dimboola makes an excellent overnight stop between sites.

International street artist Smug stayed at the Dimboola Imaginarium while painting the Arkona and Horsham silos (2022) and the Murtoa silo (2023). His photorealistic murals honour local legends and regional fauna and flora.

Murtoa

Just 40 minutes from Dimboola, Murtoa is home to the extraordinary Stick Shed — the last surviving bulk wheat storage shed from WWII. Built from 560 unmilled tree trunks, it feels like a cathedral made of timber and light. Despite being designed to last only a decade, it has survived more than eighty years.

Murtoa’s Museum Precinct includes the old station, the Water Tower Museum (open 12–2 pm), and James Hill’s enormous taxidermy collection — one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.

Smug’s silo mural depicts local birds inspired by Hill’s collection and commemorates locally born Dr John Cade, who discovered the mood-stabilising effect of lithium in 1948. There are 30 brightly coloured birds on the silos, with one unique glowing bird representing the 1 in 30 Australians who experience mental illness.

At dusk, the mural is transformed with a two-hour light show.

Where Can I Stay in Dimboola?

• Dimboola Riverside Holiday Park – walkable to the pub; caravan sites, cabins
• Horseshoe Bend Camping Area – in Little Desert National Park
• Dimboola RV Free Camp – basic, central
• Victoria Hotel – character rooms, shared unisex bathrooms
• Dimboola Imaginarium Airbnb – five bedrooms, but always booked as one private group stay, whether one or up to 10 people.

2 electric car chargers at Old Weir Ln – free but slow; plenty to do while waiting.

Wimmera Steampunk Festival

Founded by the Uoys, the Wimmera Steampunk Festival is held every two years, most recently in April 2025. Visitors arrive in imaginative Victorian-era, retro-futuristic costumes and the whole town comes alive with art, theatre, music and creativity. Around 5,000 people attend — remarkable for a town of Dimboola’s size. But then Dimboola is simply remarkable—a small town with a huge heart and boundless creativity.

How to get to Dimboola from Melbourne 

Drive: 3 hrs 49 mins from Melbourne

Train:

• The Overland (Journey Beyond): Melbourne ↔ Adelaide on Mondays & Fridays; Dimboola ↔ Melbourne on Thursdays & Sundays. 
• V/Line: Train to Ballarat, then weekday coach services stopping opposite the Imaginarium

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