Sea Lake
RURAL TOWNS FIGHTING BACK series by Kerry Anderson
Like many rural agricultural towns Sea Lake in northern Victoria’s Mallee district has visibly struggled with a declining population in recent decades. While the big dollars are still in cropping, a new generation of diverse small businesses are popping up in this township thanks to Lake Tyrrell’s photogenic sunsets and Silo Art.
Many inland rural towns struggle to adapt to a declining population thanks to the industrialisation of our agricultural industry. Sea Lake also endures the tyranny of distance from a capital city. For this reason it is truly heartening that this community is enjoying a change of fortune. Whether by good luck or good management, tourism has made a positive and very visible difference as I saw firsthand during a recent visit.
While Lake Tyrrell has always been a local asset, it’s full potential has only just been realised in recent years thanks to stunning photographs going viral worldwide. Tourists have discovered the photographic beauty of the lake and bring with them disposable income and a need for hospitality and accommodation. It goes without saying that an influx of international and domestic tourists presents its challenges, with them often arriving late in the day wanting to access food and accommodation after hours. The local community has scrambled to get on board.
Existing accommodation providers, the Sea Lake Motel and the Royal Hotel, have been upgraded, and Lake Tyrrell Accommodation built afresh to house tourists by the busload. New small businesses have also sprung up. To feed visitors at the end of the day the Juke Restaurant has opened its doors to supplement the two existing (Top and Bottom) café’s. Sea Lake Tyrrell Tours provides guided access to view the lake and, most important of all, gum boot hire for those who haven’t come prepared. The Sky Mirror Gallery provides stunning photographs for those unable to capture their own magic moments.
Thanks to Google, Sea Lake has a much more significant online presence with google maps, online booking platforms and social media reviews; a far cry from my first overnight stay eight years ago in the ‘that will do’ motel, the only one available. Today it pays to book ahead to guarantee a bed, and a much more expensive one I might add.
After years of trying to find ways to invigorate their dwindling and volunteer fatigued community, Alison McClelland, a tireless worker for Advance Sea Lake Inc, admits to feeling more positive about the future. With the community’s popular Mallee Rally recently encountering some logistical obstacles, the fact remains that there is still a lot of work for only a few dedicated community leaders. In the right circumstances, however, a new generation are willing to step up as evidenced by The Royal Hotel Cooperative.
Days after my most recent visit Sea Lake proudly unveiled the latest in the silo art trail by Brisbane based artists Travis Vinson (DRAPL) and Joel Fergie (The Zookeeper), adding to the local attractions. The art features a young girl swinging from a Mallee eucalyptus tree looking over Lake Tyrrell, and a big open sky fading from dusk to night. It is breath taking.
Buloke Shire CEO Anthony Judd likens the growing Silo Art Trail as the Wimmera Mallee’s equivalent of the Great Ocean Road. The Calder Highway is now a sea of domestic and international tourists exploring our rural towns and filling previously quiet country motels to capacity, but more on that in my next article ...
POSTSCRIPT: Don't be fooled into thinking life is now easy for Sea Lake or any of our rural towns. Every day requires hard work, resourcefulness and collaboration to keep building into the future. Some initiatives work. Others fail. Thankfully rural people keep trying. I am so in awe of them.
“Tough times don’t last, tough people do.”
If you enjoyed this article you might also like to read more about Sea Lake’s Royal Reopening and New Beginnings
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KERRY ANDERSON: Founder of the Operation Next Gen program and author of Australian Rural Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship: It’s Everybody’s Business, Kerry works with small businesses and rural communities to help them embrace new opportunities. In 2018 she was named as one of Australia’s Top 50 Regional Agents of Change. READ MORE