General News
9 July, 2024
Murtoa & Dimboola hit the silver screen
Two of the Wimmera's small towns are set to take centre stage as some of the region’s top “destination-vacation” spots showcased on a national TV tourism program - Postcards.
The Channel Nine show was filmed in Dimboola and Murtoa last month, with the segment to air in mid-July as part of a roadtrip series.
While in Murtoa, presenter Madeline Spark and the team crew visited the newly-renovated Stick Shed and viewed the Murtoa Silo Art.
Ms Spark interviewed Yarriambiack Shire Council mayor Kylie Zanker, along with Murtoa Progress Association and Stick Shed committee member David Grigg about the wonders of the Wimmera.
"It was fantastic to have Postcards visit Murtoa," Cr Zanker said.
"Having the opportunity to showcase and highlight the amazing tourism opportunities we have in our backyard: the Murtoa Silo Art, Stick Shed, and Lake Marma - the tourism opportunities we have across our shire are phenomenal."
Cr Zanker said she hoped the snapshot of what Yarriambiack had to offer would entice people to travel through the shire.
“Woods Museum, Wheatlands Museum, Hopetoun Lake, the Silo Art Trail,” Cr Zanker said.
"Every town has a showcase piece, and Postcards highlighting what we have to offer is just the appetiser.”
Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism partnership manager Kerrie Mulholland said the organisation had put in a tender for five episodes of Postcards to be filmed in the region, and is expecting the episodes to air here from July 21.
"There was lots of excitement having Madeline Spark, the host, along with the Channel Nine crew in the region," Ms Mulholland said.
"Postcards has a highly engaged audience, so be sure to check out the story and help promote our amazing region to family and friends."
The television crew travelled to Dimboola the next day - a town once ranked among the 40 most disadvantaged towns in Victoria, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The Age, on its front page of February 26 2007, said its socio-economic status placed it among communities which were "being held hostage by a succession of social ills from joblessness to jail time, child abuse, poor health and limited education, according to a study that maps disadvantage across the nation."
How times have changed.
My Uoy previously engaged with Grampians Tourism and now works closely with the reformed Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism to encourage visitors to extend their travels outside the national park into the Wimmera and Mallee’s small towns.
“The Wimmera Mallee had been in the shadows of the Grampians from a tourism perspective,” Mr Uoy said.
“From a business perspective, in Dimboola, I had to figure out how to get my foot in the door so that my business, and my town, would gain recognition.”
Presenter Madeline Spark and her team filmed at both the Dimboola Imaginarium on Lochiel Street and Victoria Hotel on Wimmera Street.
Mr Uoy said filming at the Imaginarium was completed in about 90 minutes, but the television crew had stayed overnight, taking advantage of the upstairs accommodation.
Mr Uoy said he became a financial member of Grampians Wimmera Mallee Tourism to reap the benefits of promotion to a wider audience.
"The Imaginarium is unique - we want to create a shop that people in Adelaide and Melbourne want to experience, but to do that they need to get off the freeway," Mr Uoy said.
"They can't get off the freeway if they don't know what's here in Dimboola.
"We pay that membership because we need to get Dimboola exposed through the Grampians channel."