WELCOME TO HOPETOUN

Home of the unique Mallee Bush Retreat located on the foreshore of Lake Lascelles, this little township has more to offer than first appears. Hopetoun is named after Lord Hopetoun the Governor of Victoria and later Australia’s first Governor General who often visited Lake Corrong Homestead as a guest of Edward Lascelles. Settle in, take a break and enjoy this magical destination.

EXPLORE

Hopetoun is home to Lake Corrong that is approximately 660 hectares in size and at capacity, holds 17,200 Megs. It is filled from the Yarriambiack Creek and is 1 of only 5 waterways that flow inland in Victoria. Powered and unpowered boating is permitted including sail boats although infrastructure and access is limited when the Lake is at it’s capacity. The lake is a must for wildlife and bird watching, fishing and yabbying.

Lake Lascelles is located on the edge of town and filled by the Wimmera Mallee Pipeline. This lake has been redeveloped and beautified over the past 3 decades and is now a popular venue for water sports and fishing. Accommodation, gas barbeques, playground, toilets, boat ramp and general picnic facilities on well-kept lawns are a feature of the lake. In wet years the Yarriambiack Creek empties into another lake east of Hopetoun called Lake Corrong. Sometimes dry, but when full provides a haven for a variety of water birds, and is a favourite fishing and yabbying spot.

EXPERIENCE

The Mallee Bush Retreat. The complex provides a range of unique accommodation options including 2 Silos, 2 Cow Sheds, Stables, Machinery Shed and a Limestone Grain Store with 33 beds available. The Shearing Shed is a fully functional kitchen with fireplace, television, tables and chairs. This facility is used for dining, functions and as a multipurpose room.

Corrong Homestead -built by the Mallee’s first settler Peter McGinnis and now fully restored to its original pioneer state. Corrong Homestead is believed to be the oldest original house in the Mallee.

Hopetoun House was built in 1891 for Edward Lascelles from local limestone quarried from just north of town. Classified by the National Trust, but privately owned, this magnificent home features a large underground room and storeroom, which provided a retreat from the heat and apparently hosted a number of dance parties during the 1920’s.

The Historical Mural, painted by local artists Shirley Decker & Trish Hogan, is a backdrop to the Memorial Park in the main street. The 20m by 3.5m wall mural depicts many facets of Hopetoun’s unique heritage such as drovers, wool bales, aborigines and native fauna, flora and bird life.