Robinvale is a town on the south bank of the Murray River in north western Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is connected by a bridge to Euston on the other side of the river in New South Wales. At the , Robinvale had a population of 3,313, however a population study conducted by the

Rural City of Swan Hill The Rural City of Swan Hill is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the north-western part of the state. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 20,759. It includes the towns of Swan Hill, Lake Boga, M ...

that was undertaken in 2019 identified Robinvale had an estimated population of between 7,000 in November and 8,800 in March each year.

History

The Robinvale region is home to at least five indigenous groups with traditional ownership belonging to people from the

Latji Latji The Latjilatji, sometimes spelt Latji Latji or Latje Latje are an Indigenous Australian people of the state of Victoria, Australia. Name The ethnonym Latjilatji consists of a reduplication of the word for "no" (''latja''). Language Latjilatji is ...

and

Dadi Dadi The Dadi Dadi or Tatitati are an Australian Aboriginal people whose traditional lands are located along the southern banks of the Murray River in Victoria Australia. Language The Dadi Dadi language is a nearly extinct member of the Lower Murr ...

people. The region, particularly Bumbang Island houses a large number of culturally significant sites and heritage items. The town is named in memory of Lieutenant George Robin Cuttle, who was killed in action during air combat over France in 1918. The Post Office opened in 1924 as Bumbang, but was renamed Robinvale in August of that year. Robinvale was connected to the rest of the Victorian railway network when the line from

Manangatang Manangatang ( ) is a town in north-west Victoria, Australia. At the , Manangatang had a population of 309. It is sometimes noted for its unusual name, from an Aboriginal term - "manang" meaning ''land'' and "kaaiti" meaning ''water''. Transport ...

was opened in 1924. Work began in the 1920s on a extension of the line across the Murray River to Lette in

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. It was never completed, and work was officially abandoned in 1943. The combined rail-road bridge across the river at Robinvale, which was constructed as part of the project, continued to be used until 2006, when a new road bridge was opened. The lifting span of the former rail-road bridge has been placed in a nearby park, as a permanent historical display. Lock 15 on the Murray River is just downstream of the town providing a pool of irrigation water and ensuring that the river near Robinvale is permanently available for water activities such as

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...

. The weir and lock were completed in 1937, the last one built on the Murray (Locks 12–14 and 16–25 were never built). The town, fictionalised as "Sunray", was the setting of the 1996 Australian feature film ''

Love Serenade ''Love Serenade'' is a 1996 Australian comedy film written and directed by Shirley Barrett. It has the tagline: "Two sisters will do anything to hook the right man". There are not many characters in ''Love Serenade'', which is set in a fictitiou ...

'', directed by Shirley Barrett, which won the Caméra d'Or award at the

1996 Cannes Film Festival The 49th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 May 1996. The Palme d'Or went to '' Secrets & Lies'' by Mike Leigh. The festival opened with ''Ridicule'', directed by Patrice Leconte and closed with '' Flirting with Disaster'', directed by ...

Today

Robinvale is known for production of grapes, olives, carrots and almonds. There are many attractions in Robinvale, such as the original home of Robin Cuttle, an antique museum, park, and a caravan park overlooking the Murray River. The river is home to a great array of native birds and fish such as the pelican, swan, perch and the murray cod. Robinvale is a popular camping area on the Murray. Robinvale has a rail line that is used seasonally by

Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New ...

freight trains.

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross ...

runs coach services to Swan Hill and Mildura, Victoria, connecting with train services to Melbourne at

Swan Hill railway station Swan Hill railway station is located on the Piangil line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Swan Hill, and it opened on 30 May 1890.

. Robinvale Airport serves the town. Robinvale and its twin town, Euston is home to an Italian population from the southern region of

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It also has immigrant populations of

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

ns and Vietnamese and a significant

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

community, with Aboriginal people making up 8.1% of the population as of 2016 . Robinvale also had an irrigation project funded by Lower Murray Water, completed in late 2010.

Sister city

Robinvale is a sister city with the town of

Villers-Bretonneux Villers-Bretonneux () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Villers-Bretonneux is situated some 19 km due east of Amiens, on the D1029 road and the A29 motorway. Villers-Bretonneux border ...

in the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

in northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Sport

Robinvale hosts numerous sporting events, a tennis Easter tournament, football, cricket and the annual Robinvale Ski Race. The town has an

Australian Rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

football team the

Robinvale Eagles Robinvale is a town on the south bank of the Murray River in north western Victoria, Australia. It is connected by a bridge to Euston on the other side of the river in New South Wales. At the , Robinvale had a population of 3,313, however a ...

competing in the Sunraysia Football League.

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

players who've played for the club include Brownlow Medalist John James,

Kevin Curran Kevin Curran may refer to: * Kevin Curran (cricketer) (1959–2012), Zimbabwean cricketer * Kevin Curran (cricketer, born 1928) (1928–2017), Zimbabwean cricketer * Kevin Curran (footballer, born 1919) (1919–1986), Australian rules footballer ...

, Ivan Smith, Dick Vandenberg, Des McKenzie, Pat Curran and

Phil Egan Phillip Egan (born 9 February 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club and Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Egan played 125 games for Richmond from 1982 to 1990, ...

, along with cricketer

Jamie Siddons James Darren Siddons (born 25 April 1964) is an Australian cricketer, renowned for his involvement in Sheffield Shield first-class cricket over a 16-year career. He initially played for Victoria, and later for South Australia. He is currently a ...

. Rugby League is also played with local club Robinvale Storm participating in the Sunraysia Rugby League competition. Golfers play at the course of the Robinvale Golf Club on the Murray Valley Highway.

References

External links

Local information on Robinvale, Victoria can be found at: https://www.visitrobinvale.com.au/
Euston Weir (Lock 15)
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Towns in Mallee Rural City of Swan Hill