Dimboola is the tiny town that's become Australia's capital of quirk

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2 days ago

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Riding to the Never Never is a song from the soundtrack of the 1979 film Dimboola and also an accurate description of my four-hour drive from Melbourne to its namesake town. A place I've never never been despite almost a lifetime living in Victoria.
The reason I'm finally visiting Dimboola is because I keep hearing that this wheatbelt town, population 1600, is defying the rural decline and having something of a revival. I also keep hearing about The Imaginarium.
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Housed in the former National Bank of Australasia (built – appropriately given our theme – in the Renaissance style), The Imaginarium is an extraordinary curiosity shop filled with unique gifts and a giant giraffe whose head almost brushes the 4.5m pressed-tin ceilings.
Upstairs there are five guest bedrooms decorated in distinct styles; I'm staying in the Italian room with its jewel-coloured Venetian-glass chandelier and assortment of busts, cherubs and crucifixes. If that sounds a bit quirky, well … welcome to Dimboola.
Chan Uoy in Dimboola's Imaginarium. Picture: Visit Victoria
The creative forces behind the Imaginarium are Chan and Jamie Uoy (pronounced Oi, as in 'Aussie Aussie Aussie'), Melbourne restaurateurs who made the tree change in 2019.
'The first time I came to Dimboola I felt like I'd entered the twilight zone,' says Cambodian-born Chan, who arrived in Australia as a child refugee in the late 1970s and, last November, was elected deputy mayor of Hindmarsh Shire Council. 'There was no one around!'
So the couple decided to create something to boost tourism and lure folks off the Melbourne-Adelaide highway. Enter The Imaginarium. 'We wanted a place that stimulates your mind and your imagination,' Chan says.
I could write an entire article about the Imaginarium and the energy and ideas of this dynamic duo – Chan is also the founder of the Wimmera Steampunk Festival, the region's biennial 'carnival of peculiarities', – but there's so much else happening in Dimboola. I want to give credit where it's due.
Owners Chan and Jamie Uoy at the Dimboola Imaginarium. Picture: Alex Coppel.
New arrivals to the main street of Dimboola include The Forbidden Forest, a showroom of fairytale-inspired spaces conceived by Melbourne transplants Shane and Kylie Harman. Wander through Hansel & Gretel's Candy Haus, Jack & His Beanstalk Farm, The Witches' Lair and more. Each an elaborate stage set where everything, from games and toys, lollies and giftware, is for sale.
'The one big thing we find here is all the businesses work together,' says Shane. 'And because we own our shops, we're the people you see and talk to,' says Kylie.
Across the road, Deb Howlett and Mark Gebhardt have opened That Little Vintage Shop with curated sections for men's and women's wear, haberdashery, millinery and kitchenware. Think of it as 'David Jones but with old stuff', says Deb.
'My shop is pretty quirky and not everyone accepts that, but here quirky is the norm.' She assures me that if the rain wasn't tipping down this late-July weekend, 'the street would be chockers'.
Potter George Khut in his studio with works by his students. Picture: Kendall Hill
Sydney expat George Khut opened Dimboola Pottery this winter in the old CFA shed and now operates a busy roster of four classes a week for the 'clay-curious' and plans to open a gallery showcasing his ceramic creations. He says he knew straight away Dimboola was the right place for him. 'It's affordable here and the community of shopkeepers have been really inviting.'
Pop in also to Dimboola Vintage, a trove of gadgets and mechanical wonders, and grab a coffee at Dimboola Store, but try to avoid the Sunday brunch queues.
Elsewhere in town, chef Cat Clarke has pimped out the kitchen at the Dimboola Golf Club to run a Thursday-to-Sunday restaurant on the banks of the Wimmera River. I loved the time-warped interiors of burnt orange and brown and her roasted duck with karkalla and muntries jus.
'I just cook with fresh produce ... and bush foods, the oldest ingredients around,' she says.
Chef Cat Clarke at Dimboola Golf Club. Picture: Kendall Hill
Meanwhile, at the Victoria Hotel, I have a juicy Angus scotch fillet with garlic mash and gravy in The Elbow Room, the one-time ladies lounge now a low-lit den strewn with Chesterfields, upright pianos and artworks. Owners Stoph and Meran Pilmore took over the century-old institution 10 years ago when the pub was mint green with laminate tables. Stoph says Dimboola has 'bucked the trend' of dying country towns and points to initiatives such as Wimmera's Silo Art Trail, said to be Australia's largest outdoor gallery, as driving the tourism boom.
Opening soon, a main-street microbrewery called Frank Fox, and the Wimmera River Discovery Trail linking Little Desert and Wyperfeld national parks. Stage one, a walking and cycling path between Dimboola and Jeparit, will launch next month. Just one of many reasons to ride to the Never Never.
The Wimmera River, Dimboola. Picture: Visit Victoria
The writer travelled courtesy of Visit Victoria.
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Down the road from Dimboola I spent a wonderful wet morning with volunteers at the Wimmera Mallee Pioneer Museum, a collection of historic buildings crammed with displays of everything bygone, from agricultural machinery to domestic paraphernalia. A must-see.
Originally published as Dimboola is the tiny town that's become Australia's capital of quirk