Nhill

In the small wheat town of Nhill they're proud of the fact that they're exactly half way between Melbourne and Adelaide on the Western Highway. About 80km east of the South Australian border in the Wimmera Region of Victoria, Nhill's pleasant Goldsworthy Park features shade trees, well-grassed and BBQ-equipped picnic spots, a playground and a memorial to the magnificent Clydesdale - the draught horse that played a pivotal role in opening up and developing this productive rural region. The locals also claim they've got the biggest single-bin silo in the southern hemisphere. For those tuned to the call of nature, the Little Desert National Park is just up the road, and Lake Hindmarsh - Victoria's largest freshwater lake - lies 45km to the north on the route to Lake Albacutya and Wyperfield national parks. Born in South Australia, the celebrated poet John Shaw Neilson spent part of his adult life living, working as a farm labourer and writing of his experiences in and round Nhill. A cottage brought from his birthplace of Penola has been set up as a memorial and museum in the Shaw Neilson Park on the western fringe of town.