Birchip, Victoria: Travel guide and things to do

Located 320 km north-west of Melbourne on the road to Mildura, Birchip is notable for its Pioneer Fountain (located in front of the council chambers) and its huge 29-metre granary. The first is a memorial to the town's pioneers and the importance of water to the whole Mallee district's development and the second is a reminder of the fruits of that water supply, the water upon which Birchip's prosperity has largely depended.

One of the last regions of Victoria to be settled, Birchip was established in 1882, at the junction of the Wycheproof, Beulah and Donald tracks. The original settlers did not seem to know how to spell the town's name. At various times they wrote 'Wirrumbirchip', 'Wurmburcheep', 'Wirmbirchep', all approximations of an Aboriginal word, most commonly thought to mean 'one way', as it was the one thoroughfare which allowed Aborigines, travelling north-east to the Swan Hill area, to avoid the Mallee scrub. The abbreviated pronunciation favoured by the early settlers became the official name in 1896.

Initially a camp for surveyors and those clearing the scrub to the north, it became a nucleus for the region's farmers. In order to encourage former goldminers to colonise the heartland, the Lands Act of 1869 had limited the size of allotments to 320 acres. The local farmers from the surrounding area circumvented this restriction by using family and friends to purchase individual blocks of land, which were then joined to form larger holdings.

The arrival of the railway in 1893 meant that the town functioned briefly as a railhead for wheat farmers, until the line was extended. However, it was the construction of the Wimmera-Mallee open channel stock and domestic water system in the early twentieth century which established the region as a major source of wheat. Carrying water hundreds of kilometres from the Grampians, the open channel system (which can still be seen around the town) is reputedly the largest water distribution system in the southern hemisphere.

Things to see

Tchum Lake
The availability of water is celebrated at the man-made recreational spot, Tchum Lake, 8 km east of the town. Amidst native flora and fauna, visitors and locals can enjoy swimming, boating, canoeing, water-skiing, windsurfing and fishing.

Other Attractions
The Soldiers Memorial Park in the centre of town, with its large and shady Moreton Bay figs, also makes a pleasant spot for a picnic.

In addition, Birchip possesses the largest amateur tracking station in Australia. Its radio telescope has followed the course of numerous satellites, including the Apollo series, and has employed the Moonbounce Principle to explore communication techniques. North-west, on the road to Mildura near Kinnabulla, is the 221-mile peg a remnant of the massive dog fence, constructed in 1883 in order to keep rodents out of the area.