Ouyen, Victoria
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Ouyen () is a town in Victoria, Australia, located at the junction of the Calder Highway and Mallee Highway, 107 kilometres south of Mildura, 457 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, in the Rural City of Mildura. The town has an approximate population of 1500.
The area was originally occupied by the Wergaia Aborigines. The name is believed to be is derived from the Wergaia word 'wuya-wuya', which some believe means 'pink-eared duck', whilst other claim it means 'ghost waterhole'.
The town was established around a railway station, built in 1906 along the Mildura Line. It is also the junction for a railway line west along the Mallee Highway. This line is presently in poor condition and used only for collecting grain from silos in small towns between Ouyen and the South Australian border, as the Victorian part is broad gauge, but the line from Pinnaroo to Tailem Bend has been converted to standard gauge, with no facility for handling the break of gauge. The line was used for The Overland as a broad gauge connection while the main Melbourne to Adelaide line (through Bordertown) was being converted from broad to standard gauge in 1995.
Property became available for purchase in 1910, and much of it was cleared for sheep grazing, and crops of wheat and oats.
Ouyen is the commercial and transport centre for the surrounding grain farming region. Trucks arrive at harvest time to transport grain to Portland for shipping, or to flour mills for processing.
The town hosts the Autumn Art Show in April, the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph in August, and the Mallee Wildflower Festival in October.
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