Things to Do in Murray Outback

Cultural & Historical Attractions

• Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement
  Australia's first heritage museum, the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement, a recreation of a riverside port town of the paddle-steamer era. Entrance to the township is through the PS Gem, one of the largest riverboats to serve on the Murray. The settlement has numerous historic displays, local Aboriginal culture and a huge collection of vintage equipment and vehicles, with paddle-steamer cruises, horse-drawn wagon rides and an evening Sound and Light Show.
• Located 15km south-east of Swan Hill, Lake Boga is a popular area for watersports with an annual Easter yacht sailing regatta. The small town has a re-built Catalina flying boat and a museum in the original war bunker, and a collection of egg artwork at the Imperial Egg Gallery.
• Mildura Arts Centre
  An excellent complex combining art gallery, theatre, gardens with sculpture trail, and Rio Vista, the original home of W B Chaffey now a historical museum with displays depicting life in the 19th century.
• Take a sight-seeing tour of Mildura via The Chaffey Trail, taking in the paddleboats wharf, the Mildura weir and lock, the Mildura Blass Winery, the Old Psyche Bend Pump Station and the Old Mildura Homestead, a heritage cottage on the banks of the Murray.
• Paddle-steamer cruises on the Murray, various durations from two hours (PS Melbourne), lunch and dinner cruises (PS Avoca), five and six days (PS Coonawarra). The PV Rothbury offers day trips to the Golden River Zoo and the Trentham Estate.

Wineries

• Wine tasting and sales at the numerous wineries, including Lindeman’s Karadoc Winery, the largest in the southern hemisphere, Allambie Wine Co, Trentham Estate, and Mildara Wines.

Natural Wonders

• Enjoy vast open spaces, plentiful wildlife and a colourful array of wildflowers in spring in Murray-Sunset National Park. A highlight is the Pink Lakes - fed by subterranean springs, their pink hue is a result of carotene from a type of algae.
• Hattah-Kulkyne National Park is Based around the Hattah Lakes system, filled by Chalka Creek, and a branch of the Murray River. Middens, canoe trees and shield trees are evidence of Aboriginal occupation. There are kangaroos, goannas and over 200 species of birds, particularly pelicans, ibis and other waterbirds on the lakes. Emus, mallee fowl, miners and white-winged choughs can be found away from the lakes. River red gums are plentiful around the waterways while black box woodlands predominate on drier land. Cypress pine and buloke inhabit the sandy plains and  mallee eucalypts flourish on the higher sandy ridges.
• Wyperfeld National Park is one of Victoria’s largest national parks, accessible only by 4WD. Kangaroos, emus and birds inhabit the semi-arid landscapes of sand dunes and spinifex, mallee scrub, heathlands and native pine woodlands. There are plenty of opportunities for bushwalkers, 4WD exploration, an enormous sandhill called The Snowdrift, O'Sullivan Lookout and several accommodation possibilities.