Robinvale Victoria |
|||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Perrin Street, the main street of the town
|
|||||||||||||
Coordinates | 34°35′S 142°46′E / 34.583°S 142.767°ECoordinates: 34°35′S 142°46′E / 34.583°S 142.767°E | ||||||||||||
Population | 2,134 (2011 census) | ||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 3549 | ||||||||||||
Elevation | 61 m (200 ft) | ||||||||||||
Location | |||||||||||||
LGA(s) | Rural City of Swan Hill | ||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Mildura | ||||||||||||
Federal Division(s) | Mallee | ||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
|
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 2011 census, Robinvale had a population of 2,134.
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 was opened in 1924. Work began in the 1920s on a 37-mile (60 km) extension of the line across the Murray River to Lette in New South Wales. 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. 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, directed by Shirley Barrett, which won the Caméra d'Or award at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.