Nhill: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Nhill sits almost exactly halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide, and for most travellers it is a fuel and coffee stop on the Western Highway. It grew in the 1880s as a wheat town on the new railway, and it has had a second life since 2010, when refugees from Myanmar came to work here. This route stays in and around town: an hour on foot through the centre, then two short drives. Start at the lake in the morning, when the birds are out.

A short history of Nhill

Nhill is a small farming town in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, roughly halfway between Melbourne and Adelaide. It grew up in the late 19th century as a centre for farmers who grew wheat and grazed sheep, and during the Second World War a Royal Australian Air Force base for training pilots was set up nearby. Since 2010 the town has been known for its community of Karen refugees from Myanmar, who came to work at a duck-processing plant and brought their families with them. In a town of fewer than 2,000 people they became a considerable part of the population and helped halt the decline in the number of residents.

The ten best sights in Nhill

1
Nhill Draught Horse Memorial
A statue in the main street to the horses that broke this country for wheat
2
John Shaw Neilson memorial
A roadside memorial to one of Australia's finest lyric poets, 6 km out
3
Ebenezer Mission
Ruins and a cemetery of a 19th-century mission on the Wimmera River
4
Wimmera-Mallee Pioneer Museum
In Jeparit, 40 minutes: the machines that cleared the mallee
5
Jeparit
The small town where Robert Menzies, Australia's longest-serving prime minister, was born
6
Nhill Lake
A boardwalk and birds five minutes' walk from the main street
7
Little Desert National Park
Not a desert: heath and mallee scrub that flowers in spring; tracks are sandy
8
Little Desert Nature Lodge
Book the evening malleefowl tour; this is the place to see one
9
Kiata Campground
The oldest corner of the Little Desert park, with a short nature walk
10
Pink Lake
A salt lake by the highway that turns pink in the right light; stop for ten minutes

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in Nhill →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Nhill:

Free walking tours in Nhill

The town halfway

Nhill Lake · Water for the lake, like for the farms and towns of the whole district, now arrives through the Wimmera-Mallee Pipeline, finished in 2010. It replaced about 17,000 km of open earth channels that lost most of their water to evaporation and seepage.
Nhill Station · The railway between Melbourne and Adelaide was joined at the border in 1887, and Nhill grew as a station on it, with wheat leaving by rail for the ports. The Overland passenger train still stops here, though only on a few days a week.
Information Centre bus stop · From 2010 the local duck-processing company began hiring Karen refugees from Myanmar, and a couple of hundred people followed. In a town whose population had been shrinking for decades, the newcomers filled jobs, houses and school places, and Nhill became a national example of regional resettlement.
Nhill Draught Horse Memorial · Before tractors, teams of heavy draught horses pulled the ploughs, rollers and wagons that turned the Wimmera into wheat country. The memorial in the main street thanks the animals rather than the farmers.
Nhill Airport · During the Second World War this was an RAAF base where aircrew were trained, many of them in Avro Ansons. Volunteers have rebuilt an Anson in the old hangar of the aviation heritage centre here.
John Shaw Neilson memorial · Neilson worked most of his life as a farm and road labourer, with almost no schooling, and his eyesight failed so badly that he dictated many of his poems to workmates. He is now counted among Australia's finest lyric poets, and his family farmed in this district.

The Little Desert

South of Nhill the wheat stops at a long band of sandy heath and mallee scrub that the early surveyors called the Little Desert. It is not a desert at all — in spring it is full of orchids and flowering shrubs — and it nearly became farmland. This route crosses it to the salt lakes and the river at Dimboola: about 120 km in all, the park tracks sandy and best in a high car. Ask at the Nature Lodge about tracks before driving in.

Little Desert Nature Lodge · The malleefowl, a ground bird the size of a chicken, does not sit on its eggs. The male builds a mound of sand and rotting leaves, and spends months testing its temperature with his beak, opening and closing it to keep the eggs near 33 degrees.
Kiata Campground · The park began here: in 1955 a small reserve near Kiata was set aside to protect the malleefowl, which locals called the lowan. Everything else in today's park was added around that first patch.
Little Desert National Park · In 1969 the state government planned to clear part of the Little Desert for new farms. The public outcry became one of the first big conservation battles in Australia; the plan was dropped, and the land was protected instead.
Pink Lake · The colour comes from a salt-loving alga, Dunaliella salina, which makes red pigment to protect itself from the sun in very salty water. The pink is strongest on bright days, when the lake is shallow and the salt crust shows.
Wimmera River Heritage Area · The Wimmera is a river that never reaches the sea. It flows north out of the Grampians and ends in the lakes of the mallee, and in dry years it stops long before them.
Dimboola · The town gave its name to Dimboola, a 1969 comedy by Jack Hibberd about a country wedding reception, in which the audience sits at the tables as guests. It became one of the most performed Australian plays and was made into a film.

North to the lakes

North of Dimboola the Wimmera River runs through the old mission country to Jeparit, and ends in Lake Hindmarsh, the largest natural freshwater lake in Victoria. This is mallee country, cleared for wheat only after machines were invented that could deal with its stumps. The drive is about 150 km as a loop from Nhill, on quiet sealed roads. Take water and lunch: the towns are small and close early.

Ebenezer Mission · Moravian missionaries from Germany founded Ebenezer in 1859 on the land of the Wotjobaluk people, and it closed in 1904. The ruined church and cemetery are now in Aboriginal hands again, returned to the traditional owners.
Jeparit · Robert Menzies was born here in 1894, the son of the town storekeeper. He went on to be prime minister twice, for more than eighteen years in all — longer than anyone else in Australia's history.
Wimmera-Mallee Pioneer Museum · Mallee eucalypts grow from huge woody roots, and after clearing, the stumps broke any ordinary plough. The stump-jump plough, invented in South Australia in 1876, rode up over them and dropped back into the soil — and that is what opened this country to wheat.
Four Mile Beach · During the Millennium Drought of the 2000s Lake Hindmarsh dried out completely, and the beach was a strip of sand facing a dusty plain. The floods of 2010 and 2011 refilled it, and the water has come and gone since.
Lake Hindmarsh · Hindmarsh is a terminal lake: the river runs in, and the water leaves only by evaporation. In very wet years it overflows north along Outlet Creek, which is the only time the lakes beyond it get any water at all.
Rainbow · Rainbow is the gateway to Lake Albacutya, a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. It fills only when Lake Hindmarsh overflows, which has happened just a few times in a century, and most of the time it is a dry lake bed ringed by red gums.

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Getting to Nhill and getting around

Nhill Station · The Overland between Melbourne and Adelaide stops here, only a few times a week
Nhill Airport · No airline flights; it is a wartime airfield, now home to the aviation heritage centre
Information Centre bus stop · Coaches along the Western Highway stop in the main street

Cheap eats in Nhill

The Wimmera grows wheat, barley and lentils, and Nhill is home to one of Australia's biggest duck producers, but none of that shows on a menu. Eating here is country-town simple: a bakery pie and coffee for the road, a counter meal at one of the pubs in the evening. Everything is on or just off Victoria Street, and most kitchens close early, so do not plan a late dinner.

Wimmera Bakery · Pies, pasties and coffee on the highway, about A$5-8
Union Hotel · A counter meal at the pub, a parma about A$25-30
Amber's Cafe · Breakfast and toasties on Victoria Street, about A$10-20
Mr Le · Bakery-café on Clarence Street, about A$5-12
Nhill Dine In · A sit-down plate on the main street, about A$15-25

Museums in Nhill

Nhill Airport · The aviation heritage centre in a wartime hangar; check opening days
Ebenezer Mission · Ruins and graves by the river near Antwerp
Wimmera-Mallee Pioneer Museum · Farm machines and pioneer buildings in Jeparit
John Shaw Neilson memorial · A quiet roadside stop for a poet
Nhill Draught Horse Memorial · In the main street, beside the park

Nature and day trips near Nhill

Little Desert National Park · Spring wildflowers; sandy tracks need care
Little Desert Nature Lodge · Malleefowl tours and walks
Pink Lake · Ten minutes by the highway; best in sun
Lake Hindmarsh · Victoria's largest natural freshwater lake, when it is full
Wimmera River Heritage Area · Red gums and a riverside walk at Dimboola

Things to do in Nhill with kids

Nhill Lake · A boardwalk, a playground and room to run
Four Mile Beach · Sand and shallow lake water, when there is water
Little Desert Nature Lodge · See a malleefowl at its mound
Nhill Airport · An old training plane in a real hangar
Pink Lake · A lake that is pink — that is enough

Where to eat in Nhill

The Farmers Arms · Pub dinner on Victoria Street
The Commercial Hotel · Counter meals off the main street
Union Hotel · Parma, steak and a beer
Nhill Dine In · An alternative to the pubs on the main street

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Frequently asked questions about Nhill

What is there to see in Nhill?

The top sights in Nhill are Nhill Draught Horse Memorial, John Shaw Neilson memorial and Ebenezer Mission. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Nhill?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Nhill without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Nhill?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Nhill, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The town halfway.

How do you get to Nhill and get around?

The main ways are Nhill Station, Nhill Airport and Information Centre bus stop. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Nhill, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Nhill that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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