Published on 08 February 2021
Logie award winning TV producer and presenter Greg Grainger visited West Wimmera Shire last week to curate content for his next Travel Oz documentary show. The TravelOz episode is a Victorian tourism special.
The Travel Oz Victorian special will go to air on Saturday 6 March 2021 at 8.30 am on Channel 7TWO.
Mr Grainger will produce a three minute feature of West Wimmera as part of the episode. The feature was funded from council’s annual tourism development budget.
Locals Julie Finch, owner of Kaniva Puppet Shop and farmer Richard Waite, former chair of Wimmera Mallee Tourism Board, both spoke briefly on the tourist drawcards of West Wimmera.
The feature’s key focus points were regional art, local birdlife and lakes, wetlands and waterways.
Mr Grainger commenced the shoot at the north end of the shire in Kaniva. He captured the street art, Kaniva’s painted sheep and the latest additions to the silo trail at Kaniva and Goroke along the way. His crew then visited Apsley’s lively main street and mural and Edenhope’s jewel, Lake Wallace and the bird mural on the bank followed by a trip to the Glenelg river at Harrow where local children were filmed catching Redfin. The day’s shoot culminated in a campfire with the freshly caught fish on a hotplate.
At this stage, it is unsure how much of the footage will be highlighted in the final cut but GraingerTV certainly got a good appreciation for the region and council is confident the feature will be money well spent.
Interim CEO, Mr Paul Brumby, sees the West Wimmera feature as an essential promotional tool to boost the local economy and tourism trade.
“All levels of government are sending out the message to Australians to book a ‘holiday at home’ to drive tourism and we wish to echo this too”, he said.
“Our tourist economy was hit hard during last year’s lockdown with both border closures and Melbourne’s ‘ring of steel’ taking away a lot of our Australian visitors. There’s not much we can do about international tourism at the minute, but we’d love to see our fellow Aussies get out and about here in West Wimmera.
“We have an absolute bountiful supply of tourist attractions for art lovers, nature enthusiasts and people who value the great outdoors that bring both new and repeat visitors to our shire annually.
“We are confident this episode will entice our local community and prospective tourists to put us at the top of their bucket list for getaways and outings; we have so much to offer in West Wimmera shire.”